A day on the water is the one Ibiza expense almost nobody regrets. It is also the one where the number you are first quoted and the number you eventually pay are furthest apart, and where the small decisions — which marina, which direction, whether you eat ashore — matter more than the size of the boat.
Start With the Marina, Not the Boat
Charters here mostly leave from three places, all clustered around the harbour at Ibiza Town: Marina Botafoch, Marina Ibiza and Ibiza Magna. They are within a few minutes of each other, so the practical question is how you get to the pontoon at half past nine in the morning. If you are staying in Ibiza Town or Talamanca you walk or take a short ride. From the north, add an hour to your alarm and arrange the car the night before, because morning taxis in August are no easier to find than the ones at closing time.
Ask which berth before the morning of. Marina names get used loosely in confirmations, and three of them within walking distance of each other is exactly the kind of detail that costs you the first half hour.
There Is Really Only One Route
Almost every good day runs the same way, and it runs west. Out of the harbour by ten, along the south coast past Ses Salines and the salt flats, down the south-west shoulder of the island towards Cala d'Hort and Es Vedrà, an anchorage stop for a long lunch, then back for around six in the evening. Eight hours, one direction, no rush.
The variations are minor and worth knowing. Anchoring off Cala Jondal means you can tender in for lunch at Blue Marlin, which costs you an hour and a soaking on the way back. Carrying on across to Formentera adds distance and cuts your swimming time; it is a better plan on a fast boat than a comfortable one. The skipper will also move you if it is blowing — the west side is exposed, and an anchorage that was flat at noon can be uncomfortable by three. Let him choose.
What the First Quote Does Not Include
The daily rate is the beginning. Fuel is usually separate and on a fast boat it is not a rounding error. So is the skipper on some arrangements, the mooring if you berth anywhere other than home, food and drink, and tax. Crew gratuity at the end of the day is customary rather than compulsory, and cash is easier for everybody.
Expect roughly a few hundred euros for a place on a shared trip, from around four figures for a small private boat with a skipper, and a serious sum for anything with a crew and cabins. Ask one question when you get a quote: what is not in this number. Our charter guide and the prices page go into how the totals build up.
When the Ferry Beats the Charter
If what you actually want is Illetes and lunch at Juan y Andrea, do not charter anything. The fast ferry from Ibiza Town takes about half an hour, runs repeatedly through the day, and leaves you money for the rest of the trip. Charter a boat when the boat is the point — the swimming, the anchorage, the eight hours away from everybody — not as transport.
Choosing the Size
Match the boat to the group and then go one size up. Ten people on a boat built for ten is a long day; eight on the same boat is a good one. Shade matters more than length: an afternoon at anchor with nowhere to get out of the sun is the most common reason a day ends early.
For company on board, our yacht day service explains how full-day bookings are arranged, and the yacht escorts page covers what to agree before you leave the pontoon.
