The world has so much on offer and I believe if you are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel there is so much to see. I rarely return to any particular destination, Puerto San Miguel now being no exception to this rule. Up until February 2004, I worked for a major tour operator and had the good fortune to get last minute short-haul holidays at silly prices. Being a little too greedy for my own good two years ago I decided to run the risk of leaving our booking until 48 hours before departure. The gamble didn’t quite pay off; all that was left on offer was Ibiza or a long-haul destination that unfortunately our budget couldn’t quite stretch to.

Before we departed from Manchester, excited but apprehensive, I asked resort staff if we could be placed as far away as possible from San Antonio or Ibiza town centre, and that they most certainly obliged. We duly arrived at the Balanzat Apartments, Puerto de San Miguel at 11pm on a Friday evening in September, loud booming music – none, people throwing up all over – none, sex, drugs and wild parties on the beach – none – you should have seen the long faces on the young couple who travelled on the same coach from the airport!

It was adequately furnished, clean and reasonably spacious, the pool was outside the entrance of our apartment, close enough that we could lie on our sun beds right outside the door - our apartment fridge was closer than the bar – saving a fortune on drinks! Trees - a welcome retreat from the hot mid-day sun - shaded the balcony at the front of the apartment but if you’re allergic to mosquito bites, as I am – not recommended of an evening. The view was breath taking (you had a full view of the beautiful cove-like beach to the left) which almost made up for the fact that a stones-throw away our neighbour was the Balanzat Bar!

Puerto de San Miguel, situated on the North East of the Island, cannot be described as a resort - it is more of a village. The atmosphere is quiet, casual and the nightlife low-key. There are a handful of mini supermarkets and souvenir shops, selling adequate provisions for the self-caterer and although lacking in a chemist (the nearest being in San Miguel itself – approximately 5 km away), there is a cash-point, accepting most major credit/debit cards, a number of small bars, and 4 or 5 restaurants.

Unfortunately a couple of the restaurants were not open (I assume they closed at the end of August), so our choice to eat out of an evening was somewhat restricted locally. The Balanzat Restaurant, 20 yards from our apartment, was excellent – the food choice was ample, fish being their speciality, but an equal amount of meat and vegetarian dishes were on offer. A three-course meal for three, accompanied by wine, soft drinks, and coffee with brandy came to less than £40. However, I was told that if you went later on in the evening (we mostly dined before 8pm), the service and food standard were not as high. The other available restaurants offered mainly fast-food type dishes such as pizza, lasagne, of course paella, and kebabs.

There was an excellent bus service – which was very cheap (a ride to Ibiza town was less than a £1). The buses were frequent and reliable, and unlike our experience of buses in other areas of Spain, we felt the drivers were safe. A word of warning though – keep a close watch on your belongings whilst travelling on buses – I had my purse stolen on the return from a day trip. Fortunately I had removed all my cards and only ever carry a day’s money at most at any time, but none-the-less it was upsetting to lose 120 euros (enough for 3-days car hire).

Ibiza itself, which was just over half an hour’s journey from our resort, a sleepy town by day from just after lunchtime until early evening. It is packed with boutiques, and discount designer shops, many aimed at today’s generation. The town is at its peak around seven in the evening when it becomes wonderfully vibrant and atmospheric

Formentara is a stark contrast to Ibiza and its beaches. There is a distinct lack of cars – it felt like arriving in a time-warp, we saw no more than 8 vehicles during our full day there, but loads of bikes were to be seen. It has an idyllic slow-pace environment. The beach by the town borders a gorgeous lagoon with golden sand; the town has a number of swish looking shops and restaurants. Numerous amazing beaches can be found around Formentera and even the most remote had beach bars serving food., We hired bikes for the day and found ourselves a fantastic little cove where we spent a hours without seeing another soul, apart from a personalised meal served in a beach hut just 300 yards away. The island isn’t large enough to be a mass tourist area so the beaches are never crowded.

In spite of some typical package-tour hiccups, it really was one wonderful experience – and I would definitely recommend Puerto San Miguel as an excellent base for discovering this Island or as a wonderfully relaxing short break, out of peak season. This holiday if nothing else opened a slightly narrowing mind ;o)