Ses Salines, salt and dunes.

Ses Salines in two minutes

The park covers the south of Ibiza, the north of Formentera and the channel between them. It protects salt pans, dunes, juniper woodland, cliffs and posidonia meadows.

It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site listed in 1999 and is a listed wetland for birds.

It is also one of the busiest corners of the island in July and August. Arriving early, by bus or bike, and walking a little further along the beach is the easiest way to find the quieter park behind the crowds.

• Distancecomputed from coordinates, a straight line from Ibiza Airport.
• BeachesPlatja de ses Salines and Es Cavallet.
• LandmarkTorre de ses Portes, a watchtower at the southern tip.

Getting there

Buses run from Ibiza Town in season and are the easiest way to arrive on busy days. By car it is a short drive from the airport, but parking near the beaches is limited and may be paid in summer.

The flat roads suit a bike, and arriving early beats the heat and the crowds.

The salt pans and the birds

Salt has been harvested here since antiquity, and the pans are still worked, with the harvest in late summer. The pink tint in some pans comes from algae and tiny shrimp.

Flamingos, herons and other wading birds stop here, especially during migration. Bring binoculars and keep off the walls between the pans.

The pans look like still water, but they are a working system of channels and basins. Walking on the walls or into the pans damages them and disturbs nesting birds, so viewpoints and paths are the way to see them.

The pans have been worked for centuries, and the birds have been coming for far longer.

The beaches and dunes

Platja de ses Salines and Es Cavallet are long, open beaches backed by dunes and juniper. The dunes are fenced in places to let the plants recover.

A path leads to Torre de ses Portes at Punta de ses Portes, with views across to Formentera.

Behind the beaches, the juniper woodland and the dune plants hold the sand in place against the wind. Many of the dune plants are adapted to salt and drought and grow back only slowly once trampled.

Where to stay

There are very few places to stay inside the park. Most people base themselves in Sant Jordi, Playa d'en Bossa or Ibiza Town, all a short ride away.

Staying close means you can visit early or late, when the park is quietest.

When to go

May, June and September have warm water and fewer people than July and August. Birdwatching is best in spring and autumn.

In winter the beaches are nearly empty and the pans are at their most reflective.

A short walk through the park

A simple route starts at the Platja de ses Salines car park and follows the coast south towards Punta de ses Portes. The path runs past dunes and juniper, then over low rock to the watchtower at the tip.

From the tower, Formentera is a short way across the channel, with the islets of Es Freus between. On calm days the water over the sand is pale turquoise; the darker patches are posidonia.

Allow an hour or two there and back, more if you stop to swim. There is little shade, so bring water and a hat, and go early or late in summer.

Salt, from pan to plate

Sea water is let into shallow basins, where the sun and wind slowly evaporate it. As the brine concentrates, its colour changes, and in late summer the salt crystallises and is harvested.

Ibiza salt was traded across the Mediterranean for centuries and is still sold today, including the fine flower of salt skimmed from the surface. A bag of local salt is a better souvenir than shells or stones from the beach.

Practical notes

The beaches have lifeguards and facilities in season. Out of season most beach businesses close, and the park is at its quietest.

Bring cash and a card, as some kiosks are small. Swimwear is for the beach; cover up for the bus and the villages. If you go by car, check current parking rules before you leave, as they can change by season.

• Best forLong walks, swimming, birdwatching.
• BringWater, a hat, binoculars, a bag for rubbish.
• AvoidWalking on the pan walls or fenced dunes.

Part of a World Heritage Site

In 1999 UNESCO inscribed a site called Ibiza, Biodiversity and Culture. It has four parts: the posidonia meadows and coastal ecosystems between Ibiza and Formentera, the fortified upper town of Dalt Vila, the Phoenician settlement of Sa Caleta and the necropolis of Puig des Molins. Ses Salines falls inside the first. The listing treats the salt pans, the sea and the shore as one working landscape rather than separate sights, which is why protection here is not only about the beaches.

Sa Caleta lies a short way west along the same coast, in Sant Josep, and is easy to combine with a morning at the pans. The Phoenician settlement is older than the salt works you see today, and the two are usually read together: an anchorage, a shallow bay, a flat shore where salt forms. The site is open ground, exposed, with very little shade. Check access before setting out, as opening arrangements change, and take water.

The park was declared in 2001 and is also a Ramsar-listed wetland. In practice that means the pans are a working saltworks and a bird reserve at once, and the rules around them come from three places at different levels: the natural park office, the Consell d'Eivissa and the Govern de les Illes Balears. Access, parking and seasonal restrictions change, so ask before building a day around the salt pans. Outside the main season the area is quiet and the light is better.

The Meadow Under the Water

Posidonia oceanica is a flowering seagrass found only in the Mediterranean, and the meadows between Ibiza and Formentera are a large part of why the area was listed. They grow from the shallows down to about 30 to 40 metres and are the reason the water off the south coast reads so clearly: the plants slow the swell, trap sediment and hold the sand that makes the beaches. From a boat the meadows show as dark patches.

Anchoring over the meadows is regulated by a Balearic decree. In some bays on this coast, mooring buoys are installed for the summer season, and picking one up is the simplest way to avoid damage. The exempt areas, the buoy fields and the rules change from year to year, so check with the Govern de les Illes Balears or the natural park office before dropping anchor. A scar in the seagrass recovers slowly, and in the shallowest water it may not recover at all.

Swimmers see the meadow from above: dark blades, paler sand channels, the occasional fish. It is a plant, not seaweed, and it should not be pulled up or trampled where it reaches close to the surface in the shallows. Small boats, paddleboards and kites should keep clear of the shallowest beds. The clearest water in the park is also the most fragile, and the busiest weeks put it under the most pressure.

West to Es Vedrà and Sa Talaia

West of the pans, the road into Sant Josep passes the small church of Sant Francesc de s'Estany and then climbs towards Cala d'Hort, with Es Vedrà ahead. The islet rises to about 380 metres, a limestone block with no landing, protected as a nature reserve with Es Vedranell and the western islets since 2002. Cala d'Hort, Cap Llentrisca and Sa Talaia make up the natural park that frames it. There are stopping places on the road where the islet fills the horizon.

Inland, Sa Talaia is the highest point on Ibiza at about 475 metres, and roads and tracks climb it from the Sant Josep side. From the top the whole south coast is laid out: the airport, the salt pans, the low dunes, the line of the shore and, across the water, Formentera. It is the quickest way to understand how the flats, the beaches and the sea fit together, and how narrow the protected strip really is.

From the southern edge of the pans, Formentera shows across the water, and the same natural park continues onto its northern shore at Ses Illetes and the Espalmador islet. The two islands share the meadow and the anchoring rules. Fast ferries from the port of Eivissa reach La Savina in about 30 to 35 minutes; sailings are frequent in season and fewer in winter, so check operators. Allow most of a day and watch the return crossing.