Mallorca has more than five hundred kilometers of coastline and Most of it is only truly enjoyed from the sea. From land, many of the best coves are inaccessible or require long walks with the sun hitting hard. From the ship, they appear alone, one after the other, as if the island were showing them to you at their own pace. But Organizing a boat route through Mallorca is not the same as planning a car tour: Times change, the wind has its own agenda and there are sections where the experience of the rudder makes the difference between a memorable day and one that is unnecessarily complicated.
This article is intended for Who already knows that he wants to navigate around Mallorca and now needs to understand which route fits his level and his desire. You won't find here a list of pretty coves that anyone could have written by looking at Google Maps. You will find the routes as we see who we really do.
Before talking about specific itineraries, it is convenient to be clear about a couple of things. Mallorca is not a small island when it comes to navigation. From Palma to Cabrera National Park there are just over 25 nautical miles. From Portocolom to Formentor, surrounding the Cape, there are more than 60. That means that most day routes are concentrated on a strip of coast and do not intend to go around the island, which is a multi-day expedition with scales and planning of funding.
The usual recreational pace is around 6 or 7 knots in a length of 8 to 12 meters. At that rate, a nautical mile is covered in about ten minutes. What seems a short distance on the map can be more than an hour if there is some wave or if the wind is against it.
The other fundamental difference is between the South Coast, the Levantine Coast and the North Coast. The south tends to be calmer in the morning and get up in the afternoon with the west wind or the Garbí, especially in July and August. The Llevant coast has its own wind patterns, but boat traffic in summer can make anchors more dense. The north coast, from Formentor to Sa Calobra, is the most spectacular and also the one that least forgives planning errors.
At Red Star Tours we sail from Portocolom to Cala Màrmols, passing through Cala Figuera, anchoring with plenty of space and a skipper who knows when to round the cape and when not to. Trips of 4 or 8 hours in small groups, so the experience feels nothing like a ferry.
We'll help you choose the trip that matches your level and what you're looking for.
This is the most complete route on the south coast and also one of the most popular among those looking to combine quiet coves with a destination with its own entity at the end. From the port of Palma or from the Marina de SArenal, the first section leads to the coves of the coast of Llucmajor: Cala Pi, with its medieval watchtower peeking over the cliff, and later on it is Carbó and Cala in Tugores, clear sand bottoms that allow to anchor without complications with a good laundry room.
Navigation time from SArenal to Cala Pi is about an hour and a quarter at cruise speed. From there to Es Trenc, already in the municipality of Campos, another forty-five minutes approximately. Es Trenc is not anchored on the main beach in high season because the boat density is high and the Posidonian bottom does not always give good grip, but there are more west pickup options that work well first thing in the morning.
The evening section between Es Trenc and the canal that separates the Big Island of Cabrera is where it is convenient to have more attention. The west usually rises between one and three, and if you go with a boat of less than 8 meters you notice it. It is not a dangerous sea under normal conditions, but it is uncomfortable. Leaving Palma early and getting to Cabrera before noon is the sensible thing.
Cabrera requires prior buoy reservation through the National Park Management Agency, and the daily capacity is limited. No confirmed reservation, you do not enter. We say it because it is one of the most frequent mistakes we see: getting there and not being able to anchor. The buoys are reserved well in advance in July and August.
For this route, whoever has a license and experience in coastal navigation can take it without problems if it leaves in time and controls the weather parts. For those who debut or prefer to go without the responsibility of the command, the sensible thing is to hire a pattern that comes from Palma or S.sandbank
The Levantine coast of Mallorca concentrates some of the best coves on the island and also some of the most disputed anchorages in the high season. Portocolom is a natural exit point for this route: the largest natural port in Mallorca, protected, with services and easy to manage for those who do not have many hours of navigation on top.
From Portocolom to the south, the first highlight is Cala Marçal and, shortly after, Cala Brafi. But the most interesting section begins from Cala Figuera de Santanyí, that port of whitewashed fishermen that seems to have been stopped in the fifties. From the outside, from the sea, it has a spectacular entrance between two cliffs.
The section between Cala Figuera and Cala Mondragó, already within the Natural Park, is where boat traffic is concentrated more in July and August. Between ten in the morning and three in the afternoon, Cala Mondragó and his neighbor sAmarador can have thirty or forty boats anchored. If you want to anchor with space and tranquility, it is advisable to arrive before eleven o'clock or schedule the visit by the end of the day, when part of the traffic has already left for the port.
The bottoms in this area are generally good, mix of sand and rock with posidonia at the edges, and the depth allows uncomplicated anchoring between 4 and 8 meters. The water is clean and the underwater visibility is one of the best on the island.
There is something that should be known about this section: between Cala Figuera and Mondragó, the coast has no intermediate shelters. If the wind changes or the engine causes problems, there is nowhere to get in easily. For those who navigate with experience, it is a fact to take into account, not a problem. For those who go out for the first time with a rented boat without skipper, it is the most honest argument in favor of being accompanied by someone who knows that coast.
If you are interested in exploring the surroundings of Santanyí in more depth, the area also has attractions on land that are worth combining with the day of the sea. Those who stay in the area can find interesting options in the Hotels in Colonia de Sant Jordi, a few minutes from the coast.
From Portocolom to Cala Màrmols, passing through Cala Figuera, is exactly the coast we sail every week. You can experience it by joining a trip with a skipper, or take the helm yourself by renting a boat, with or without a license.
Choose the option that matches your experience.
If the two previous routes are accessible to different levels of experience, this is the one that demands the most. The Port of Pollença is the usual starting point, and from there the Cap de Formentor is about twenty minutes of navigation bordering the bay. So far, all quiet.
The problem, or the grace as you look at it, comes when you turn the cape. Formentor is the point where the Tramontana enters without warning. It is a north wind that can go from 10 knots to 30 in less than half an hour, and when it does, the sea next to Cabo wind winds up difficult for small lengths and for those who do not have reflexes of maneuver. We have seen spring afternoon seemingly perfect to become something completely different when leaving the protected bay. It's not that Formentor is dangerous by default: it doesn't admit improvisation.
If the conditions accompany, the journey from Formentor to Sa Calobra bordering the Serra de Tramuntana is one of the most impressive landscapes of the Mediterranean. Cliffs of two hundred meters falling vertical to the sea, without a beach, without land access, with nothing but rock and water. Sa Calobra has anchorage and the famous Torrent de Pareis caves, which deserve the visit if the sea allows you to enter the mouth. The entrance has little draft in the mouth and with swell it is complicated.
For those who are curious about other natural attractions in the north of the island, the Caves of Mallorca Accessible by land are also part of the landscape of this area.
June and September are the most balanced months to sail in Mallorca. The sea is stabilized, the coves have reasonable capacity and the water already has enough temperature to bathe without a sacrifice. July and August have the water at its best, but the density of boats in the most well-known coves is high and the best anchorages are filled before ten in the morning.
Tramontana, the north wind that defines navigation in the upper part of the island, is more frequent in spring and early autumn. In the middle of summer it tends to calm down, but when it appears in July it is more intense precisely because the difference in temperature between the hot sea and the dry air of the north propels it. On the south coast, the dominant wind in summer is the Garbí or Poniente, which enters in the afternoons and can raise a wave of a short period quite annoying in small boats.
October is, in the opinion of many employers with whom we have spoken and from our own experience, the most grateful month to fund. The water continues above 22 degrees, the wind is more variable but also more predictable in its weekly patterns, and the coves that were impassable in August due to the number of ships appear almost empty. The drawback is that the days are shorter and you have to calculate the navigation times well so you don't run out of light.
Yes. In Spain it is possible to rent boats up to 8 meters in length and sail in a cabotage area without a nautical degree. You have to stay within 2 miles of the coast and without moving more than 2 miles from the base port in some cases depending on the category of the boat. For more ambitious routes or in the open sea, you need a license or go with a pattern.
The price varies greatly depending on the type of boat, the season and if the skipper is included. Outputs with a pattern in 4 or 8-hour format, in a small group or in a closed format, are usually more accessible and profitable for those who do not need to manage the boat themselves throughout the day.
Yes, and well in advance. Cabrera National Park has a limited number of buoys for pleasure boats and it is mandatory to book before leaving. The management is done through the Park Management Agency. Without confirmed reservation, access is prohibited.
For those who prioritize tranquility and space to anchor, June (second fortnight) and September are the recommended months. For those who prefer the warmer water and take over more boats around, July and August have the best temperature conditions.
The section to the cape from Pollença is not complicated under normal conditions. The problem is that the conditions on the cape can change quickly and without clear notice. For someone with a recent license or a few hours of navigation, the recommendation is to go with a skipper or limit the route inside the Bay of Pollença, which already offers very pleasant and safe navigation.
Navigating Mallorca is one of those experiences that changes the way you understand the island. What from land seems like a more or less accessible coast becomes something completely different from the sea: a succession of anchors, of entrances between cliffs, of coves that only exist if you arrive by boat. Choosing the route, the time of the year and the navigation mode that fits with your experience is what separates a round day from one that gets complicated.
