Ses Platgetes, an oasis among the rocks of Formentera

To the west of es Caló de Sant Agustí, the small fishing port located at the end of the coast of es Carnatge, already used in the Middle Ages by the Augustinian friars who settled on La Mola, awaits one of the most intoxicating stretches of coastline on Formentera. If on beaches such as ses Illetes, Cala Saona or the half moon dotted with tracks that make up this splendid corner of dry docks, turquoise water glistens, in ses Plateges it transforms into a fusion of emeralds and blues that produces the same amazement.

Except when the Tramontana winds rage and the entire coastline of es Carnatge is battered by the gale, ses Platgetes is an unexpected paradise for the traveller who discovers it for the first time. The four kilometres of sharp, rocky coastline that begin in Cala en Baster, near Sant Ferran, and run eastwards towards the La Mola massif, suddenly harbours to this stretch of fine, white sand, some six hundred metres long, which forms three small beaches separated by rocky outcrops. Hence their generic name, ses Platgetes (the little beaches), although each one has its own name: sa Platgeta de Prop, sa Platgeta d’Enmig and sa Platgeta de més Enllà, the latter being the furthest from the fishing port.

This corner, one of the quietest on Formentera, offers the spectacle of the water, but it is also hypnotised by the presence of the cape of La Mola, which juts out into the sea with its vertical cliffs of stone and green. A shore, in short, where you can lie on the warm sand and enjoy the generous spectacle of nature. Once in the water, the bather has to negotiate the rocks that alternate with the sand at the bottom, a task that is easy due to the immeasurable transparency.