Is San Antonio Bay good for families? A guide to Ibiza with kids

San Antonio Bay, as the name might suggest is located across the bay from the main town of San Antonio in Ibiza. San Antonio is widely famous as the home of some Ibiza institutions such as Eden Nightclub, Cafe Mambo and the notorious West End, leading to a reputation that the area might not be good for families. However this couldn’t be further from the truth. With a multitude of flight and accommodation offers available to suit all budgets, a short flight time from the UK and stunning weather throughout the season, Ibiza is an excellent choice for you and your family. While San Antonio town might be more geared up towards the party crowd, San Antonio Bay with it’s little beaches, children’s activities and family friendly hotels, is actually very good for families and is a great destination for a family friendly holiday in Ibiza.

Beaches perfect for paddling

Our favourite beach in San Antonio Bay for families is Playa Pinet, a small cove within the bay with clear, shallow water perfect for paddling and a decent stretch of sand ideal for setting up a shaded spot for the day. Here you’ll find the Reggae Reggae Beach Club, a small beach hut that serves massive cocktail jugs for the parents. There is also a small beach great for kids in front of the Playa Bella Apartments which I recommend below. Here you’ll find pedalos and paddleboards for hire, a great activity to keep older kids amused. If you want to explore more beaches in the surrounding area Port Des Torrent is further along the bay and Cala Bassa, one of the stops on the Ibiza Beach Hopping Cruise, only a short taxi journey away. Across the bay in San Antonio you can also visit Cala Gracio, a pram and wheelchair accessible beach around a twenty minute walk beyond the sunset strip.

Family Friendly Accommodation

Of course you’ll need somewhere to stay and San Antonio Bay has plenty of family friendly accommodation options to suit all budgets. One of the most affordable accommodation options in San Antonio Bay good for families is the Playa Bella Apartments. Play Bella Apartments has everything you’ll need for a family friendly holiday in San Antonio Bay with well equipped apartments and restaurant on site. Most importantly it has it’s own mini waterpark to keep the kids happy and entertainment at night.

One of our favourite hotels in San Antonio Bay is El Pins Resort and Spa which offers an excellent balance, catering to both kids and adults. They have their own entertainment team, kids play area and splash pool as well as two swimming pools, the smaller one on the sea side offering beautiful views over the bay. For adults there is the spa facilities for relaxing. The whole hotel complex is recently renovated and all of the public areas are spacious and sleek.

There are lots more options too, while we haven’t stayed at these properties personally, Azuline Hotel Bergantin and Marvell Club Hotel & Apartments have been recommended by friends and family as family friendly hotels in San Antonio Bay. The appeal of package deals with suppliers such as Jet2 and Tui can be really appealing however, if you’re looking to save some cash then booking Ibiza flights and accommodation separately can often work out cheaper. It’s also worth noting that San Antonio Bay is only a 30 minute taxi transfer from Ibiza airport (currently costing around $40). For an even cheaper option, there is a regular bus route running right along San Antonio Bay that is connected to the airport bus.

Fun for all the family

San Antonio Bay is good for families as it has a range of activities on offer to keep everyone amused. There are water sports such as banana boats and ringo rides scattered across the bay and you can even hire paddleboards to go exploring at your own pace. We often enjoy the crazy golf on the corner at the Azuline Hotel Bergantin. As well as golf, they serve great value food in the grounds and there are inflatable bouncy castles for the younger kids to enjoy. For a fun family day out you can head to BamBuku, the younger sibling of Ocean Beach in San Antonio. BamBuku is a day club for the family with beds for hire, a lagoon pool, hot tubs, restaurant and a surfer wave machine. They also lay on kids entertainment all day including visits from Spiderman and Disney Princesses. The atmosphere is fun and friendly and a great day out for the family. Our absolute favourite family activity on our holidays in San Antonio Bay is the Float Your Boat Beach Hopping Cruise complete with paddle boarding, snorkelling, beach stops, food and unlimited beer and sangria all included. This is one of the best ways to visit Ibiza’s best beaches with stops including Cala Bassa, Cala Comte and swim and snorkel stop at Cala Tarida. You can also enjoy spectacular views of Es Vedra as you venture round Ibiza’s west coast. There is a family friendly party vibe on board with everyone mixing and chatting, the music is great too which our little boy loved and even got a shout out from the captain. Save some euros by booking your trip in advance here via Get Your Guide. As you can see, this trip has over 2500 reviews with an overall rating of 4.5/5, remember towels and sun-cream!

The Ibiza Baby Clothes Collection

Here’s our little one sporting the Ibiza Baby T-shirt in Caribbean blue (click the image to visit the collection). This collection of kid’s clothing designs are inspired by the island and designed for families visiting Ibiza who want something unique for their kids to wear while impressing friends and family back home. Made from 100% ring-spun organic cotton, this collection is perfect for keeping your little ones stylish and comfortable on holiday. Check out the range here!

Top tips for families in San Antonio Bay

You can get the water taxi across to the main town of San Antonio from various points throughout he Bay. This is a great option to save you walking or arranging taxis which in recent years have been very unreliable. Our nearest pick up point was by the Amare Beach Hotel, a stunning adults only hotel, but keep this one saved for future Ibiza trips without the kids!

There are loads of food options in San Antonio Bay with our favourite being the Cool Cafe. A ‘cool’ wee cafe frequented by tourists, locals and workers alike serving all sorts of breakfast, brunch and light snack items. Johnny’s is the go to for burgers and the Millennium restaurant is good all rounder. Just across from the Playa Bella Apartments, in the mornings Plastik club becomes ‘House of Bagels’, try the chicken, cheese and tomato bagel for an amazing start to the day! Avoid the Minimal Restaurant, especially in a bigger group. An all round odd experience where the owner/manager was openly bullying a member of her staff in front of us. We later witnessed her involved in a physical altercation with a table of customers after she stole one of their phones because the table asked to split the bill, apparently a big no no in Minimal Restaurant! Doesn’t seem to be an isolated situation either according to Trip Advisor.

If you want to avoid the crowded sunset strip across in San Antonio, the bay itself has an excellent family friendly spot for catching Ibiza’s famous sunsets. Kumaras offers a relaxed atmosphere with friendly table service and plenty space for the family. They also have a selection of casual street food if you’d prefer a more relaxed eating option. Get down early to grab yourselves a table and enjoy a few cocktails as the sun goes down with live bands and DJs.

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Overall, San Antonio Bay in Ibiza is a great destination for families. There are plenty beaches, restaurants and a variety of accommodation options, many with family friendly amenities such as pools, kid’s clubs, and entertainment. San Antonio Bay is the perfect base for exploring the rest of the island, just a short water taxi to San Antonio and the perfect base for easy access to water sports and boat trips around the island. With plenty bars and a local nightclub too, San Antonio Bay has something for the adults too making it an all round excellent destination for the family.