Es Cavallet is a naturist beach, and the first on Ibiza to be formally declared one, which is worth knowing before you arrive. It is not naturist along its whole length: the northern end nearest the car park is mixed and largely clothed, and the stretch running south towards the watchtower is where most people are not.
It sits inside the Ses Salines Natural Park at the southern tip of the island, with dunes and low juniper behind it rather than buildings. That protection is why it looks the way it does, and why nothing has been built along the back of it.
The beach itself
Pale sand, turquoise water, and a long shallow shelf that makes it a good swimming beach rather than just a place to lie down. It faces east, so the morning sun is on it early and the afternoon brings some shade at the back near the dunes.
Because it is a long strip rather than a cove, it absorbs people. Even in August it is possible to walk five minutes and find space, which is not true of most beaches on this coast.
The walk south
From the far end of the sand a path carries on to the Torre de ses Portes, an old defence tower looking across the channel at Formentera. Keep going past it and the coast turns west and brings you out on Ses Salines beach, which makes a good hour's walk between the two if you leave a car at one end.
It is flat the whole way, but there is no shade and no water, so it is a morning walk in summer rather than a midday one.
Where to eat
El Chiringuito sits behind the northern end and is the long lunch on this beach. La Escollera is at the corner where Es Cavallet meets the Salinas side and has been cooking there for over thirty years. Chiringay is the third, further along, and is the centre of the beach's long-standing gay scene. How these compare with the rest of the coast is in our guide to the beach clubs.
Quick answers
Is Es Cavallet a nudist beach? In part. The southern stretch is naturist; the northern end by the car park is mixed and mostly clothed.
Is it suitable for families? The northern end, yes, and the water is shallow and calm. People do bring children to that part of it.
Is there parking? Yes, a large car park behind the northern end, and it charges in season and fills by the middle of a summer morning.
Can you walk to Ses Salines from there? Yes, about an hour along the coast past the Torre de ses Portes.
Are there restaurants? Three along the beach.
Is it sandy? Yes, pale fine sand, with dunes behind.
Worth knowing
The beach is inside a natural park, which means the dunes behind it are fenced in places and the paths through them are marked. Staying on them is the reason the dunes are still there.
It is ten minutes from the airport and fifteen from Ibiza Town, so it is one of the easiest beaches to reach from the south. The salt pans on the road in are worth a stop for the birds, which we cover in our guide to the salt flats and flamingos.