Formentera. No airport, one port, and a permit for your car.
The smallest of the inhabited Balearics is reached only by sea, through a single harbour at La Savina, and in summer it limits how many vehicles may be on the island at all. Plan those two things and the rest is easy.
The essentials
Formentera at a glance
- AirportNoneFormentera has no airfield. Every arrival is by boat, and almost every boat comes from Ibiza.
- GatewayIbiza (IBZ)The jet arrival point, with full private handling. The port in Ibiza Town is a short drive from the airport.
- The crossingAbout 30 minutesFast ferries from Ibiza Town to La Savina, Formentera's only port, run all year, with seasonal services from Playa d'en Bossa and Figueretas added from May to September.
- Vehicle permit1 June to 30 SeptemberA vehicle of any kind, yours or hired, needs a permit from the island council's formentera.eco scheme to circulate during those months, applied for with the number plate.
Scheme dates and quotas are set each year by the Consell Insular de Formentera and were checked in September 2026. Confirm the current year's rules before travelling.
Arriving
Everything goes through Ibiza
There is no way to fly to Formentera. The island is low, flat, small and protected, and the sensible consequence is that the trip is planned as an Ibiza arrival with a sea leg on the end. A private aircraft lands at Ibiza, a car takes you the short distance to the port, and a fast ferry takes about half an hour across to La Savina. Done properly the whole thing is pleasant. Done badly it is an hour of standing in the heat with luggage.
The variables worth settling in advance are which ferry, how the luggage moves, and what happens at the other end. La Savina is a small harbour, the taxi rank is finite in August, and a car meeting you there has to be a car that is already legally on the island. That is why the permit is not an administrative footnote but the first thing we ask about.
See Ibiza, Ibiza airport, London to Ibiza and private jet charter.
The rule that catches people
The summer vehicle quota
Formentera limits the number of vehicles allowed to circulate on the island in summer. The scheme, formentera.eco, runs from 1 June to 30 September and applies to every vehicle, whether you have brought it on the ferry or hired it once you are there. You apply through the council's own platform with the vehicle registration, and the platform also shows how full the quota is on the dates you want.
For 2026 the daily allowance for visitors was set at 1,732 cars and 122 motorcycles, with a further reserved quota for residents of Ibiza. Those figures are set annually and change, so the number matters less than the habit: check the availability before you fix the dates, not afterwards. In the first fortnight of August the quota is the binding constraint on the whole island.
In practice most guests do not want a car anyway. The island is about 19 km end to end, the distances are short, and a driver on call for the few journeys that matter is a better arrangement than a vehicle sitting in the sun outside a beach club. We will tell you honestly which of the two your week actually needs.
Getting there
The realistic options
| Option | Typical time | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fast ferry, Ibiza Town to La Savina | About 30 minutes | The standard route, frequent and reliable, all year round. Crossings from Playa d'en Bossa and Figueretas are added for the summer. |
| Private boat transfer from Ibiza | 30 to 45 minutes | Gives you the departure time back, handles luggage properly, and can meet a late inbound flight. The usual choice for a family arriving with bags. |
| Helicopter from Ibiza | 12 to 15 minutes | Formentera has no public heliport. Landing depends on authorised private sites and permissions, so this is checked case by case and never assumed. |
| Arriving on your own charter yacht | Not applicable | Removes the connection entirely. Anchoring is the thing to plan instead, see below. |
| Ibiza airport to Ibiza Town port | 15 to 25 minutes | Longer in the August evening traffic around the port. |
Realistic ranges for planning. Outside London and Manchester our cars and boats are arranged through operators we know.
On the water
Where you may anchor, and where you may not
The water between Ibiza and Formentera is a protected natural park, and the seagrass meadows on the seabed, Posidonia, are among the largest in the Mediterranean. Anchoring on them is prohibited. The Balearic authorities publish charts showing where the seagrass is, run designated buoy fields at places such as S'Espalmador and Ses Salines that are taken by reservation, and patrol the area through the season with a substantial inspection effort and real penalties.
None of this is a problem for a properly run yacht, and every competent captain in the Balearics already works to it. It is a problem for a day charter booked casually by someone who does not. If you are arranging a boat for the day rather than a full charter, ask who is running it and whether they have a buoy booked, and if you would rather not have that conversation, we will have it for you.
See yacht charter, day charter, motor yachts and Marina Ibiza.
Local realities
What regular visitors plan around
- Check the vehicle quota before you fix the dates, and be honest about whether you need a vehicle at all
- La Savina is the only port. Everything and everyone arrives there, which in August is a consideration in its own right
- The island is quiet by design. There is no nightlife economy of the Ibiza kind, and that is what most guests come for
- Beach restaurants at Ses Illetes and along Migjorn book out in season. Reservations are part of the plan, not an extra
- June and September are the two best months. The first half of August is the busiest fortnight of the year
- If you are combining Formentera with Ibiza, decide which island you sleep on. Doing both every day means two ferry crossings a day
The London end
The part we run ourselves
Our own cars and our own chauffeurs are in London and Manchester, so the departure is the leg we control directly: a car from the house to Luton, Farnborough, Biggin Hill or London City, and a chauffeur who knows the private terminal gate. See private jet transfers and airport transfers.
In the Balearics, cars, drivers and boats are arranged through operators we know. What you notice is that when the inbound slips by an hour, the boat at Ibiza and the car at La Savina both know before you have landed.
Around the region
Related pages
Getting there
On the water
Start planning
Tell us the dates and where you are staying
Dates, how many of you, which side of the island you are on, and whether there is a boat involved. We will come back with the aircraft, the crossing, an honest view of the vehicle permit for those dates, and what we think you actually need on the island. Nothing is booked or charged online.
Prefer to talk? +44 2030 048300 or WhatsApp, at any hour.
Questions people ask
About Formentera
Can we fly directly to Formentera?
No. The island has no airport and no public heliport. Private aircraft land at Ibiza and the last leg is by ferry, by private boat or, where a landing site and permission exist, by helicopter.
How long is the crossing?
About 30 minutes on the fast ferry from Ibiza Town to La Savina. A private boat takes roughly the same but leaves when you do, which matters if you are arriving on a flight that might move.
Do we really need a permit for a car?
Between 1 June and 30 September, yes, for any vehicle circulating on the island, hired or brought over. It is applied for with the registration through the island council's formentera.eco platform, and the daily number is capped. We check availability before dates are fixed.
Can our yacht anchor anywhere?
No. The waters are a protected natural park and anchoring over the Posidonia seagrass is prohibited and enforced. There are designated buoy fields taken by reservation. Any competent captain plans to this as a matter of routine.
When should we go?
June and September. August is beautiful and completely full, and the first fortnight is the hardest time of the year to arrange anything at short notice.
Are these your own cars and boats?
No. Our own fleet and chauffeurs are in London and Manchester. In the Balearics, cars, drivers and boats are arranged through operators we know, with one contact at Odyssey holding the itinerary from your front door to the island.
One contact, wherever you are