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What is Atlantis?
Get ready for an adventure as we fill you in on how to get to Ibiza’s secret beach Atlantis! Otherwise known as Sa Pedrera de Cala D’Hort, this hidden beach cove is the site of a former sandstone quarry, giving it its unique geometric shape. Nowadays, Atlantis is where in-the-know locals (and some savvy tourists) go to escape the crowds that frequent the other well known Ibiza beaches. However, the journey to Sa Pedrera de Cala D’Hort isn’t for the faint of heart. It involves a bit of wayfinding and a steep, sandy, rocky hike – BUT the reward is one of the best of Ibiza beaches!
How to Find Atlantis
Now the real adventure begins. The best free parking area is rough, I’m not gonna lie. We were in a low-riding standard sedan rental car, and our car definitely scraped the bottom of the rocky landscape. The exact coordinates of the parking area are linked here. It’s a small dirt parking lot with giant potholes and some rocks at the entrance, but once you get past those obstacles the actual parking spots are quite even. There’s only space for about 20 cars, so we advise that you make your way to this beach early! From the parking lot, follow the dirt path straight. You’ll soon come to a subtle fork in the path. We continued straight, and unwittingly ended up at the beautiful Mirador des Vedrà after about a mile. This is a stunning viewpoint with the glistening sea stretched out before you on this exposed cliffside and has excellent views of of the island Es Vedrà . Be careful with your footing, it’s a long ways down! We tried to find Atlantis beach from here – don’t make the same mistake we did! To find one of the best beaches in Ibiza, from the carpark you will turn left at the subtle fork in the road just after the stones along a fence line (or from Mirador des Vedrà turn back around and look to turn right at the fork). It looks like this:
You can see how this was easy to miss! Continue on for about a quarter of a mile slightly uphill. Once you get to a flat area where you can see the ocean, there will be a steep looking path on the right that continues up a hill. It’s tempting, but don’t take this path, it’s a “long cut.” Instead, take the plethora of sandy trails that are in front and slightly to the left of you. There honestly isn’t a best way to get to Atlantis beach from here, as all of the various trails ultimately lead down to the ocean. The paths are steep and rocky for most of the way, and there’s some deeper sandy sections that definitely make finding your footing a bit challenging – I do not recommend the hike to the best Ibiza beach to individuals who aren’t in good health or small children. As you get closer to the water, you’ll see the amazing white, geometric rocks that form a secret pool that seemingly pops up out of nowhere.
You can spend time climbing around on the sticky sandstone rocks, moving between the Atlantis quarry pool and the ocean, it’s awesome! There’s also this really cool rock formation that is a perfect hole in the wall and allows you to see through to the ocean on the other side of Atlantis.
The Way Back
We spent only about an hour at Atlantis beach because we spent so much time getting lost after mistakenly trying to find the beach from Mirador des Vedrà ! I hope this post can prevent you from making that mistake. After enjoying this Ibiza beach and cooling off in the water, mentally prepare yourself for the challenging hike back! As they say, what goes up, must come down (vice versa, in our case). You may imagine that the steep hike on the way down feels event steeper going back up. It was sooooo hot at the end of July that we were dripping sweat on our return hike. We had to take several water breaks, but awhile later we finally reached the top of the hill! Like I said, the journey to one of the best beaches in Ibiza is not for the faint of heart, but the solitude you will find there was worth it to us. Take care to wear good footwear, because I got some pretty gnarly blisters from my sandals after pushing off the ground on the hike back up. I hope you have a blast hunting for Atlantis beach in Ibiza!
