Benirràs

Benirràs is a deep, narrow bay on Ibiza’s north coast, in the municipality of Sant Joan. A striking rock formation stands in the sea at its mouth. The bay is best known for the drumming gatherings at sunset, particularly on Sundays, which have taken place here for decades.

History

For centuries the bay sat outside everything: too steep to farm, too small for a harbour, reachable by a path through the hills. What it did have were fishermen’s slipways and boathouses cut into the rock — the building type you see all along the Ibizan coast. When foreigners began settling in the north from the 1960s, Benirràs became a gathering point for that community, and out of it grew the habit of drumming together at sunset. The custom has held, and now also draws people with no connection to it, which has changed the atmosphere without ending the practice.

What to do here

• Come on a Sunday afternoon for the drums, or on a weekday morning if you want the bay empty.
• Swim out towards the rock formation at the mouth — the water there is deep and clear.
• Take the path up the western edge for a view over the whole bay.
• Look at the boathouses cut into the rock, the oldest structures here.
• Stay past sunset; the bay faces north-west, so the light lingers.
• Park up on the hill and walk the last stretch down.

Facts

• Benirràs is known for drumming gatherings at sunset, particularly on Sundays.
• The bay is on the north coast, in the municipality of Sant Joan de Labritja.
• The rock formation at the mouth of the bay is the landmark of the place.
• The boathouses cut into the rock are the traditional building type of the Ibizan coast.

Good for

People who want sunset without a club backdrop, and swimmers who do not mind deep water.

Reaching this by boat

This bay is a stop on our “North and east: the quieter side” sailing route. What a skipper does here, and why: