San Antonio has a reputation that applies to about a kilometre of it. The town centre holds the West End bars, the Sunset Strip and the clubs, and it is as loud as everyone says. Round the bay, twenty minutes away on a coastal footpath, Port des Torrent and Cala de Bou are small family beaches with calm water and almost none of that.
Which of those two you mean decides whether San Antonio is right for your week, and the distance between them is short enough to walk and long enough to matter. We have set the two sides out separately so you can pick the one you want.
The centre
The Sunset Strip is the row of bars along the western seafront, Café del Mar and Café Mambo among them. People gather there from late afternoon because this is the side of the island the sun goes down on. It is busy, it is loud from about seven, and on a clear evening it is still worth doing once.
Behind it, the West End is the concentration of bars that gives the town its reputation. Eden and Es Paradis are the two clubs, facing each other across the street, and Ibiza Rocks runs live acts and daytime pool parties a few minutes inland. The full picture of the island's rooms is in our guide to the clubs.
The harbour end is different again: a marina, a promenade and a run of restaurants that have nothing to do with any of the above.
Round the bay
Walk or drive fifteen minutes west and the town stops. Port des Torrent, Cala de Bou and Cala Gració are small sandy bays with shallow water. A water taxi crosses to the town centre, so a family can stay on this side and dip into the other.
Cala Gracioneta is the smallest of them, thirty metres of sand with one restaurant on it, reached down steps from Cala Gració.
The boats
San Antonio is the island's departure point for the west coast. Boats run to Cala Bassa and Cala Conta through the season, and the crossing takes a fraction of the drive. It is also where the Formentera and Es Vedrà excursions leave from.
Good to know before you book
Pick your end of the bay and be deliberate about it. A room above the West End in August is a different holiday from an apartment at Port des Torrent, and the pictures do not always make clear which is which.
The sunset is a scheduled event. From about six the Sunset Strip fills and the road behind it backs up. Either be there for it or avoid the area entirely at that hour.
It is the best-connected town on the island after Ibiza Town: buses run frequently, the discobus covers the club nights, and the airport is about 25 minutes.
Quick answers
Is San Antonio just party town? No. The centre is; the bay round from it is family beaches and quiet water, and they are twenty minutes apart on foot.
Where is the sunset? The Sunset Strip on the western seafront, from about seven in summer.
How far is the airport? About 25 minutes.
Is it good for families? On the Port des Torrent and Cala de Bou side, yes. In the centre, no.
Can you get to the beaches by boat? Yes, to Cala Bassa and Cala Conta through the season.
Is it open in winter? Partly. The town keeps going; most of the seafront does not.
Who it suits
San Antonio suits groups who want the nights within walking distance, and it suits families who stay on the far side of the bay and treat the centre as somewhere to visit. It is the one part of Ibiza where being precise about the address matters more than the town name.
If you are not sure which side you are looking at, ask our advisors: they know the bay street by street.