Forget everything you ever thought you knew about sunsets on the White Isle.
Ibiza is famous for its legendary displays when the sun disappears into the sea after a hard day’s work and there are several hot spots that offer beautiful views upon the spectacle.
San Antonio, of course, has its Sunset Strip, where party animals gather at Café del Mar and Café Mambo to applaud the sunset before they hit town for cheap shots and crammed bars. The views are unspoilt when the sun dips into the water like a fiery red ball, and the people watching can be quite good too, so it’s always worth at least one outing if you are prepared to put up with the crowds. Nip into the laid-back Kumharas on the other side of the bay for a cocktail or food afterwards to restore peace of mind, and all is well with the world.
Benirrás beach is another Ibiza favourite for ending the day, although it embraces an entirely different vibe. Every Sunday, drummers descend onto the shore to see off the sinking sun with Balearic beats during this iconic hippy ritual.
With Salinas beach facing away from the sunset and the salt pans partially shrouded by hills, the area is not really one of the first that comes to mind for sundowners. Unless you’re high up, that is!
Now, I wouldn’t go as far as describing the location of my little apartment as ‘on top of a mountain’ – although it sure feels like it when you’re creeping up the steep, winding roads in the world’s slowest hire car – but as you might have seen from previous posts, it has enough altitude to overlook the salt flats and even offer a little glimpse of Es Vedra on the periphery.
I had a sneaky suspicion that the terrace could be quite a nice lookout to watch the sunset from, charcuterie board and a cold glass of white firmly in hand. I knew nothing.
With quite a few clouds chasing across the sky, expectations weren’t particularly high as we got ready to head out for dinner at my favourite restaurant on the island, Bambuddha Ibiza.
I hadn’t even started to do my hair when the sun dropped below the thick white layer of clouds and set alight the water in the salt pans and the sea beyond.
Immediately, the whole terrace was bathed in beautiful golden light. Welcome to magic hour!
Thankfully I was already dressed and had finished my make-up because from then on, a camera frenzy took over our leisurely sunset drinks.
Joined by our loyal four-legged friend, we couldn’t stop taking picture after picture of the incredible colours that were setting the sky alight. And then we discovered the shadows.
Oh, what fun we had playing with the different shapes we could cast across the white wall. Even D-O-G got involved!
The dress I wore for dinner that night is from Zara and I initially dismissed it when I saw it on the website for being ‘too Ibiza’. I feel bad for saying it now, but I thought the cut and colour were too much of a bohemian cliché to wear on an island renowned for its hippy vibes.
That was until I saw it hanging in the shop and it looked all beautiful and effortless, in a lovely rich burnt shade of red. So perfect for a sunset setting, right? All details of this outfit, as ever, are at the end of this post.
I’m going to let the rest of the pictures do the talking, as it’s hard to find words that do the colour and atmosphere of this evening justice. I took them on my Sony NEX-5R camera’s sunset setting, but other than that they have not been photoshopped or filtered through Instagram to enhance the effect.
It’s the sheer, unadulterated natural beauty this magical Balearic island offers night after night, whether you applaud it or not.
I’m wearing:
Zara dress
Pistol Panties swimsuit (just seen)
Rose ring bought at Purnima in Ibiza Town
Stone ring bought at St Kilda Twilight Market in Melbourne
Zara shoes
