Hotels in Platja de Migjorn

Platja de Migjorn

Platja de Migjorn is the southernmost beach in the Balearic Islands and by far the longest on Formentera, running along most of the island's south coast between Es Mal Pas and the Calo des Mort. Rather than a single strand, it is a chain of linked sectors, each with its own name -- Sa Platgeta, Es Ca Mari, Es Codol Foradat, Es Valencians, Ses Pedrises, S'Arenal and Es Copinar -- alternating sand with low rocky outcrops. Behind the sand lies a dune system held together by pines, junipers and low scrub, sloping so gently that the shallows run far out from the shore. The whole stretch is protected as the Natural Area of Special Interest of Platja de Migjorn and the Costa de Tramuntana, which is why building along it has stayed so sparse. Offshore the seabed carries extensive meadows of posidonia seagrass, the plant that filters the water and gives Formentera the extraordinary clarity it is known for. The wind blows onshore here and the waves stay moderate, so the water is calm without being still. Development is concentrated at the eastern end below La Mola, where the island's larger hotels stand; along the rest there is little more than scattered kiosks and restaurants. Two of them, the Blue Bar and the Pirata Bus, are institutions in their own right, survivors of the hippie era that settled on Formentera in the 1960s and still the places people gather to watch the sun go down. Long parts of the beach are given over to naturism, and the further west you walk the emptier it becomes. It is the reason most visitors come to Formentera at all: a beach big enough that even in August you can walk until you have it to yourself.