Sail to the Med: The Balearics

Vicki and Andi Dunkel run sailing and diving holidays around Europe on board Isicia II, a classic First 51 sailing yacht.

This year their route takes them from Scotland to the Mediterranean and here is a travelbite from their ship’s log:

The Balearics

For the last six weeks we have enjoyed the fantastic sailing area of the Balearics. The islands of Ibiza, Formentera and Mallorca offer a great cruising area and we were amazed to find even quiet anchorages away from the busy tourist spots.

Ibiza was our first destination and the small island is perfect for a relaxing week’s sail. We started at Ibiza town, overlooked by the old town and castle and sailed clockwise round the island enjoying the scenery and anchoring at night. One of our favourite anchorages was in the north-east of Ibiza: the dramatic Clot d’es Llamp with sheer cliffs and fantastic rock formations.

Formentera is a much smaller and flatter island and funky beach bars are the main attraction at night along this endless sandy beach. The swell restricted our anchoring to one spot in the north of the island, Espalmador, which was very busy as a result but still stunning with its turquoise water. We easily circled the island in a day escorted for some of the way by dolphins, much to the delight of our guests.

The winds around Ibiza and Formentera are predominantly influenced by sea breezes. Light winds in the mornings, a moderate sea breeze in the afternoon and a still night ensuring a good night’s sleep in the anchorage.

The diving has been lovely in warm, clear water with plenty of fish. Some of our guests experienced their first scuba dive or completed their PADI Open Water Diving course. We were lucky not to be affected by jellyfish too much, which have inundated some areas of the Mediterranean this summer. Over development of the coastline has destroyed many breeding grounds of turtles that feed on jellyfish. Neptune grass has also been spreading in the bays making it more difficult to find sandy patches to anchor in, but we always found a patch eventually.

The much bigger island of Mallorca offers very similar sailing conditions to Ibiza. As Mallorca is too large to circumnavigate on a one-week trip due to the light winds, we concentrated on exploring the west coast. The south-west corner of Mallorca is dominated by various Cabos and Calas (headlands and bays) and the attractive harbour of Andraitx. Further west lies the nature reserve of Dragonera Island with its spectacular and sheer cliffs. Heading further around, the coastline becomes very rugged and very little tourist development has taken place around this part of the island. The 20-mile stretch to Puerto de Soller offers some dramatic views of the unexpectedly high and jagged mountains.

Our next trip will bring Isicia II to the Catalan capital of Barcelona before heading further north through the Gulf de Lion to the French Riviera and Corsica for our autumn trips.

To find out more about holidays on Isicia II (suitable for all experience levels) visit their website at www.sailaway.eu.com or call (+44) 07904 267 561.

	Cooking fresh fish on board Isicia II
	Isicia II passing Dragonera Island