The Best Beaches and Coves in Mallorca, and Which Ones Need a Boat

The coves that make Mallorca's photographs are the ones hardest to reach, and one of the best has no road at all. Here is which is which, what is at each, and what actually gets you there.

Why Mallorca's best coves are the hardest to reach

The south-east coast of this island is cut into a series of narrow inlets called calas, and the geology that makes them beautiful is the same geology that makes them awkward. They sit at the foot of low cliffs, most have no room for a road, and the few that do are reached down a flight of steps cut into the rock. That is why the photographs look empty and the reality, in August, does not.

Understanding that one fact changes how you plan a beach day here. The question is not which cove is prettiest. It is which coves you can actually get to, and at what cost in queueing.

Caló des Moro, and the queue for the steps

The one you have seen. A slot of turquoise between pine-topped cliffs near Santanyí, and probably the most photographed cove in the Balearics. You can drive to within walking distance, and then you take a narrow set of steps down to a strip of sand that is small even when empty.

In July and August that combination produces exactly what you would expect: a queue on the steps and no room at the bottom. There are no facilities on the sand. If you want it at its best, come outside the peak weeks or come early — or come by boat, which skips the steps entirely.

Cala s'Almunia and Es Pontàs

Immediately next door, and quieter for the simple reason that it is rockier. S'Almunia is a slot in the rock with old boathouses cut into the sides rather than a sandy beach, which puts off enough people to make a difference. Parking is scarce.

Just offshore stands Es Pontàs, a natural sea arch that you cannot land on and cannot really see properly from the land. It is passed on the Cala Figuera boat trip, and it is the shape the logo at the top of this page is drawn from.

Which cove has no road at all?

Cala Màrmols, south of Santanyí. There is no road to it, no car park and no path that anyone would call short. It is the reason a boat trip exists on this coast at all: the Cala Figuera rigid inflatable anchors there for forty-five minutes, and that forty-five minutes is not available to anyone who drove.

Portals Vells and the south-west

South-west of Palma, and a completely different proposition: reachable by road, sheltered, and the anchorage of choice for boats out of the city. The five-hour catamaran cruise anchors at Portals Vells or Cala Vella depending on the wind, and the private fast-boat charter finishes its run there.

This is the practical answer for anyone based in Palma or the south-west resorts who wants clear water without a fifty-minute drive.

What about the north and the west coast?

Different again, and worth understanding before you commit to the south-east. The west coast is where the Serra de Tramuntana comes down to the sea, so instead of sandy inlets you get cliffs dropping straight into deep water. The one real beach along it is at Sa Calobra, at the mouth of the Torrent de Pareis gorge, and it is reached either by a road of stacked hairpins or by boat.

The north around Alcúdia trades cliffs for long shallow bays, which makes it the family answer rather than the photograph answer. It is also where the kayaking and sea-cave day runs from, with pickup along the Port de Pollença to Can Picafort strip. If your idea of a beach involves children and shallow water rather than steps and a rope, the north is where you should be looking.

Which are best for snorkelling?

The rocky ones, which is the opposite of what most people book. Sand produces clarity and very little to look at; rock produces structure and fish. S'Almunia, Cala Màrmols and the coves around Portals Vells all reward a mask.

Snorkelling gear is included on eleven of the listings here rather than sold separately, so in practice this is not a cost question but a where-you-swim question. The boat tours page marks which boats carry it.

When is the water warm enough?

For most visitors, roughly May through October. The sea lags the air by about two months, which is why September water is warmer than June water even though the September air is cooler. AEMET's normals put July at 5 mm of rain and August at an average high of 31.3 °C; October is the wettest month at 62 mm and still has swimmable water. The weather page works through the whole year.

What should you bring to a Mallorcan cove?

• Water and food. Most of these have no facilities at all.
• Shoes you can walk down steps in. Caló des Moro is not a barefoot arrival.
• Shade. There is very little natural shade at the bottom of a cala, and none at all on a boat deck.
• Cash. Where there is a beach bar it is often the only option, and card acceptance is patchy.

How do you actually get to a cove without a car?

Honestly, for most of the south-east ones you do not. There is no useful bus to Caló des Moro, the parking is limited when you drive, and taxis back from a cove at six in the evening are not a service you should assume exists. This is the single biggest practical gap between the photographs and a holiday.

Two things work instead. The first is a boat: a trip out of Cala Figuera runs the whole south-east stretch and puts you in the water at coves you could not otherwise reach, without you driving anywhere except to the harbour. The second is a guided coves day by road, which collects you, carries the paddleboards and the umbrellas, and takes the parking problem away entirely. Both are on the boat tours page with their prices.

Is Portals Vells better than the famous ones?

For a swim, frequently yes. It is sheltered, it is reachable, and it is the anchorage most Palma boats head for, which tells you something about the sea state there. What it does not have is the drama of a narrow inlet between cliffs, which is what people are actually photographing when they photograph Mallorca.

So the honest framing is that these are different products. Caló des Moro is a picture you queue for. Portals Vells is an afternoon you enjoy. If you have one day and a boat leaving Palma, you are going to Portals Vells and you should be pleased about it.

What about the sea caves?

Worth knowing that this coast does more than beaches. The Cova de Coloms on the east coast is reached on foot along the shore and then by swimming into it, with a guide and safety equipment, and it carries a minimum age of twelve. It is a different kind of day from a cove — harder, colder and considerably more memorable — and in dangerous seas the guide swaps to one of two alternative caves rather than cancelling.

Further north, the kayaking day out of Alcúdia puts you into a cave by paddle rather than by swim, and takes children from five. The things to do page sets both against the rest of what the island offers on the water.

Every cove, side by side

Which cove suits which kind of day?

• You want the photograph: Caló des Moro, early, outside August.
• You want it empty: Cala Màrmols, by boat, which is the only way.
• You want to snorkel: the rocky coves, and take the gear that comes with the boat.
• You are with small children: the north coast, not the south-east.
• You have no car: anything reached from a Palma marina.

The highlights page puts these coves alongside the island's other named places, and the map gives the drive times from wherever you are staying.

The coves with no road are only reachable from the water, which is what the boat tours Mallorca Spain are for.

Every trip named in this guide is compared on price, hours and what the fare covers at Mallorca Spain Tours.

Frequently asked questions

Trips that reach the coves above

Boat Trip from Cala Figuera to Calo de Moro, S'almonia, Cala Màrmols. Mallorca.

The trip that reaches Cala Màrmols, Caló des Moro and Es Pontàs in one run.

From $66 per person

Check Availability

Best Mallorca Coves: Paddle Surf, Snorkeling and Guide

A guided day along the coves by road, with paddleboarding, snorkelling and beach umbrellas.

From $103 per person

Check Availability

Palma de Mallorca Private Boat Trip with Water Toys and 25 Coves

The whole boat for up to twelve, finishing with a swim at Portals Vells.

From $532 per group, up to 12

Check Availability

The prettiest water on this island is the water with no car park next to it. Plan around that and the rest follows.