Balearic Islands Yacht Charter Itinerary: 7-Day Guide

About this guide

A 7-day Balearic Islands charter itinerary usually starts in Palma de Mallorca, spends two to three days on Mallorca's south and west coasts, makes the 65-to-70-mile crossing to Ibiza, and finishes around Ibiza and Formentera. It is a week that mixes the Mediterranean's best superyacht infrastructure with some of its clearest water.

The planning challenges are specific: one long, exposed passage in an otherwise short-hop week, the strictest seagrass anchoring rules in the Mediterranean, and a national park that admits a limited number of yachts by permit. This guide sets out how crews plan around them, and where Guest Trip removes the spreadsheet stage.

When to go and what to expect

The Balearic season runs from May to October. June and September are the sweet spot for water temperature and anchorage space; July and August are Ibiza's peak, when Formentera's buoy fields and beach restaurants need booking well ahead. Sea breezes build most afternoons and stronger systems do come through during the season, so the crossing wants a morning departure and a forecast checked the night before.

Anchoring is the defining regulation. Under the Balearic Government's Decree 25/2018, anchoring on Posidonia oceanica meadows is prohibited across the islands, with regional fines from €100 to €450,000 and higher under national law. Surveillance is intensive: in 2025 patrol boats carried out more than 180,000 inspections, and Ibiza accounted for the largest share of vessels moved on. Crews check the official Posidonia map before every anchor drop, and buoy fields such as those at Formentera, Cala d'Hort and Porroig are increasingly the only option in the best bays.

Seven steps to planning the week

1. Start with the crossing and work outwards

Palma to Ibiza is 65 to 70 nautical miles: about four and a half hours at 15 knots, closer to seven at 10 knots. It is the one leg of the week that decides everything else. Place it on day three or four, in the morning, with the guests briefed on a lunch under way, and keep the day either side light.

the sea-routing engine draws the crossing on open water and each coastal leg around the headlands, so the overview chart guests see reflects the real passage.

2. Fix the bookings that sell out

In order of urgency: the Cabrera National Park permit (issued for a limited number of yachts, with buoy use mandatory overnight and stays limited to a single night in high season), Formentera buoys, Port Adriano or Club de Mar berths for embarkation, and the beach restaurants on Formentera and Ibiza's west coast. Everything else flexes.

3. Give Mallorca two days, not one

Palma is a superyacht hub, but the itinerary quality is on the coast either side: the west coast under the Tramuntana mountains (Port de Sóller, Sa Calobra, Cala Deià) for drama, the south-east coast (Cala Pi, Es Trenc, Portocolom) for sand and swimming. Choose one side; trying to see both before the crossing turns Mallorca into a transit.

4. Anchor only on sand, and prove it

The official Posidonia map is the reference the patrols use, so it should be the reference the bridge uses. Check it before choosing the spot, drop on the sand patch rather than the edge of the meadow, and note the position in the log. Where a regulated buoy field exists, use it; the fields are being extended precisely so that the best bays remain open to yachts.

save the sand patches you have verified as custom locations with their own pins, and reuse them across every Balearic itinerary.

5. Let Formentera be the reward

Formentera is the reason many guests book the Balearics: the water off Illetes and Espalmador is the closest the Mediterranean gets to the Caribbean. Give it a full day and a night, plan the beach lunch as the fixed point, and keep the toys for the sheltered side. Ibiza itself is better used for the evening: dinner in Dalt Vila, a sunset on the west coast, the nightlife if the party wants it.

6. Layer the onboard programme onto the route

The chef plans provisioning around the crossing (provision fully in Palma; Ibiza is possible but pricier), the interior plans the early breakfast on crossing day, and the spa fills the quiet anchorages on the south coast of Mallorca or Formentera. Ashore evenings are usually Palma, Ibiza town and one beach restaurant.

spa, room service and activity modules can be switched on per yacht with opening hours, so guests request what the crew can deliver.

7. Publish it as a page, not a PDF

A Balearic week has one leg that weather can move and several buoys that can be lost to a late arrival. Present the itinerary as a live guest site so that when the crossing shifts a day, the plan on the guests' phones shifts with it.

A sample one-week structure

Day 1. Embark Palma; short hop to Cala Portals or Illetes; welcome dinner aboard. Under 1 hour. Day 2. South coast of Mallorca: Cala Pi or Es Trenc; Cabrera by permit if secured; night on a buoy. About 2 hours. Day 3. Morning crossing to Ibiza with lunch under way; evening at Santa Eulària or Ibiza town. 4.5 to 7 hours. Day 4. Formentera: Illetes and Espalmador, beach restaurant lunch, night on a buoy. Under 1 hour. Day 5. Ibiza west coast: Cala d'Hort and Es Vedrà, sunset from the anchorage. About 2 hours. Day 6. Reserve day: guests' choice between Formentera again, Cala Bassa or a day in town; spa treatments. Flexible. Day 7. Disembark Ibiza (or return crossing to Palma if a round trip). Under 1 hour, or 4.5 to 7 hours

A round trip from Palma is possible but spends two of seven days crossing. Where flights allow, a one-way week finishing in Ibiza gives guests more water time.

Mistakes worth avoiding

• Anchoring on seagrass because the chart showed a bay, not a bottom.
• Planning the Palma-Ibiza crossing for the afternoon sea breeze.
• Leaving Cabrera to chance; the permit is limited and the buoys are mandatory.
• Treating Mallorca as a departure point rather than two days of coast.
• Sending guests a PDF that shows Formentera on the day the buoy was lost.

Frequently asked questions