If you are planning on spending your holidays on Ibiza, you should be aware that there are only two ways to get to the island, by plane or by boat. This post seeks summarising the different routes and companies offering ferry and boat options to get to Ibiza from mainland Spain.
How to get to Ibiza by ferry
Ferries going to Ibiza are really comfortable and quite fast. Prices tend to be more affordable than plane tickets, and another advantage is that visitors may bring their own cars to move around the island (if not, a vehicle will need to be hired), which makes it a highly recommendable option that also allows them to overcome luggage limitations.
There are basically two large companies covering the route between the mainland and Ibiza, namely Baleària and Transmediterránea. Boats leave from Dénia, Barcelona, Valencia and Gandía, and they operate within the Balearic Islands themselves, departing from Mallorca and Formentera and arriving at the island’s two pain ports, Ibiza and San Antonio. Given the island’s dimensions, arriving in one port or the other is more or less the same, as distances on Ibiza are short and you will have no troubles getting to the area you plan to stay in.
Ferry prices will vary depending on the routes, dates and timetables, as well as the companies themselves, but tickets may be purchased for around 20 euro (there are discounts available for residents).
From the beginning of the summer of 2018, two companies have been offering fast ferries from Ibiza to the mainland, Transmediterránea from Gandía and Balearia from Dénia, covering the distance in just 2 hours at extremely reasonable prices. Normally, the crossing time from Valencia is about 5 hours, from Mallorca it is between 2 and 4 hours depending on the type of ferry, and from Barcelona it is just over 8 hours, due to which it is a good idea to do the trip overnight.
It’s also worth mentioning that Formentera does not have an airport, so the only way to reach it is by boat from Ibiza. There are numerous companies covering this route, so you may choose between the timetables and prices that suit you best, these are Baleária, Trasmapi, Aquabus, Mediterránea Pitiusa and more. There are also numerous nautical companies offering one-day trips to Formentera by catamaran or sailboat, party boats and a whole host of other options. So now that you know about all the different options available to travel to Ibiza by boat, it’s just a question of choosing the one that suits you best.