Diving in Ibiza

Ibiza can be crossed by car in about half an hour, and the diving changes from one coast to the next, so the base you pick decides the dives you get. The south, off Ibiza Town and Playa d'en Bossa, is wreck country. The Don Pedro, a 141.55 m cargo ship, sank in July 2007 after striking the es Daus shoals at the harbour entrance and now lies on her side between roughly 26 and 47 m by dive-centre figures, with the press reporting 45 m of water at the site. Dado Pequeño, the es Dau Petit rock she hit, is a multi-level reef that centres often schedule as the second dive of a Don Pedro day, and La Plataforma, a sunken fish farm between Ibiza and Formentera, has grown into an artificial reef.

The west and southwest are the deep, serious coast. Ses Bledes, about six nautical miles from San Antonio, carries gorgonian walls that local divers call well preserved: the fans start around 23 m and thicken between 35 and 60 m, which makes it a dive for advanced divers and a proper boat trip. Off Es Vedrà, the pinnacle of La Bota and the passages of Los Cañones add current and open water for the same kind of diver, and Ses Margalides offers rock arches and galleries.

The north and east are gentler. On the north coast, Cuevas de la Luz is a cave dive whose point is the exit, lit blue against the daylight. In the east, La Catedral at Cala Llonga is a wide, shallow cave with an air chamber and stalactites, reachable from the beach with a surface swim of about 200 m, and the reefs off Santa Eulalia keep depths and logistics easy.

This is Mediterranean diving and local divers say so up front. Dusky groupers, barracuda schools, moray eels and octopus are the regulars, with fish numbers below what the Canary Islands offer; the draw is variety on one small island, plus Posidonia meadows between Ibiza and Formentera that carry UNESCO World Heritage status.

Protection is recent and shapes the rules. The natural reserves of Es Vedrà, Es Vedranell and the western islets date from Decreto 24/2002 of 15 February 2002. Decreto 25/2023 of 2 May 2023 then created two marine reserves, one around the ses Bledes islets and one around Es Vedrà and Es Vedranell,1 covering 448 ha and 535 ha,2 and the ses Bledes reserve is where the gorgonian walls sit.

Ibiza's marine reserves with a diving regime are Freus d'Eivissa i Formentera, the north-east coast (officially costa noreste de Ibiza-Tagomago), ses Bledes and des Vedrà-Vedranell. Recreational diving inside them needs a personal, non-transferable authorisation from the Balearic government, issued online against a valid certification, accident and liability insurance and a responsible-diving commitment: 5.24 EUR for a day, 10.47 EUR for a fortnight, 52.82 EUR for a year (2026), with the annual one covering the island's other reserves.3 Centres that run group dives in the reserves need their own collective authorisation, so ask yours how your permit is handled before the day. Night dives by unguided individual divers are banned in both 2023 reserves,2 and the decree was amended in October 2024, so check the current text with the centre.

Most diving is by boat, with departures around 09:00 to 09:30 and a return near 13:30 after two dives. Choose a hub to match the dives you want: Marina Botafoch and Ibiza Town for the wreck and central sites, San Antonio for Ses Bledes, Santa Eulalia for the east, Portinatx for the northern caves and Cala Tarida for Es Vedrà. Choose by level too: the east-coast reefs and La Catedral suit newer divers, while Ses Bledes, La Bota and the Don Pedro belong to advanced divers.

May and June, then September and October, bring warm water and quieter boats; July and August fill up, so book ahead. Season dates vary by centre, so confirm them before you plan a trip outside summer. Fly into Ibiza (IBZ), which has direct flights from many European cities, or take a ferry from the mainland; Formentera is a 30-minute ferry from La Savina. A rental car helps if you want to mix coasts.