LOS MOLINOS

Es Cavallet is not the only popular gay beach.

The one you're most likely to use, if you're gay and/or in the know, is what's commonly known as "The Little Beach at Figueretes". Midway between Ibiza Town and Figueretes, beneath Puig des Molins ("hill of the windmills"), the easiest way to get there is to ask someone for directions, as it's well off the beaten track.

The beach is small, secluded, covered in pebbles, and comes complete with a strategically placed rock that you can swim out to, and adorn with your golden-brown, sun-kissed body. If you can't swim, you're stuffed.

Come to that, if you are not too good at impersonating a mountain goat, you could have trouble getting to this beach in the first place.

From Figueretes, head uphill towards Ibiza Town along Calle Ramon Muntaner (once you've past the Panoramic apartments, the road becomes first a car park, and then a dirt track), keep going until you reach the telephone box, then turn right down the unlikely-looking street of Calle Cirer y Vela (the path leading to the Rosello Apartments).

Alternatively, if you're coming from Ibiza Town, start at Dalt Vila's Portal Nou (the back passage to the old town, beneath the huge "La Caixa" sign in the main square), and head uphill until you come to a wide road tunnel (also part of Calle Ramon Muntaner). Go through this, and further uphill you take a dirt track branching off to the right. This will take you to the same telephone box near the Rosello Apartments.

From this point, head down Cirer y Vela (basically a long, terraced staircase) until you get to a small turning off on your right (through two posts), that looks like it's going nowhere. This is the top of some very precarious steps. Follow the steps to the bottom, and then follow the coastline (clambering over rocks on the way that are not for the less able-bodied or faint-hearted), until you get to a very picturesque, and secluded, pebble beach.

Nude-sunbathing is fine, but there are no facilities, and it will get very crowded. Very popular with clubbers, and bar and club staff (basically, people who get up way too late to make the trek to Es Cavallet, or who want it a bit quieter than the other beaches).

If Los Molinos beach is too busy (you will be able to judge this as you start walking down the steps), go back up to Calle Cirer y Vela, and follow the steps/road down to the bottom. There are again rocks to shimmy over, but these are nowhere near as intimidating as the ones to the Figueretas beach. If you follow the coastline round, many people sunbathe here, to the north of the cathedral beneath the city walls, and it can be very cruisy. Again, however, no facilities, and not particularly comfortable or inviting (unless you're staying close by, in which case you can take all the comforts of home with you).

Marti
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