There's one picture that sums it all up. In August, that cove on the south coast you've been looking forward to for months has towels laid edge to edge by ten in the morning, a car park that's full before you get there and a constant stream of people along the shore. By the second week of October, the same cove has three people in it, water so clear you can see the seabed from the rocks, and the only soundtrack is the wind. The sea hasn't changed. Everything else has.
But October in Mallorca isn't one uniform block of good weather and calm. If you see it as two very different halves, you'll plan far better than someone who turns up on the 28th expecting an August beach day. That's where this guide starts: with what the generic guides leave out. If you want to compare it with what the island is like in high summer or see how things change in Mallorca in spring, both articles are a click away. Here, we're sticking with October.
The first half of the month is still, especially if you're coming from northern Europe, a proper sea summer. The southern coves that you can't enjoy in August because there isn't room for one more towel are suddenly yours. The water is still warm. The days are still long. And for the first time since June, the island has room to breathe.
The second half is something else. Not worse, just different. The light drops and softens, the inland villages get their rhythm back, local fairs fill the squares, and the smell of roasted paprika and freshly made sausage mixes with coffee on the terraces. It's no longer a beach summer. It's autumn on land, and it has a quality you won't find in August.
Understand that difference and you arrive with a plan. Miss it and you can be caught out either way: disappointed because you expected guaranteed sunshine at the end of the month, or missing a superb first fortnight at sea because you assumed October was already fully autumn.
Data from AEMET, Spain's national weather agency, for the Palma de Mallorca Airport station (1981-2010 reference period) show a month with far more sunshine than rain, and temperatures that work both for the beach and for being active outdoors, without August's heat getting in the way.
| Measure | Average (AEMET, 1981-2010) |
|---|---|
| Average high | 23.9 °C (75 °F) |
| Average low | 13.1 °C (56 °F) |
| Total rainfall | 62 mm |
| Rainy days (≥1 mm) | About 6 |
| Sunshine | 203 hours |
What the number of rainy days doesn't tell you is how the rain arrives. October is one of the wettest months of the year in Mallorca, but it doesn't rain non-stop or in strings of grey days. It usually comes in short bursts, sometimes heavy, including strong storms that blow through in a few hours and leave clear skies behind. A week with one stormy day is still a week with six sunny ones, and that changes how you plan.
What to pack: a T-shirt is enough during the day. As the month goes on, the evenings get cooler, so bring a jumper or a light jacket. A packable rain jacket or windbreaker takes up almost no space and can rescue a whole afternoon.
One detail that matters for planning: on the last Sunday of October the clocks go back an hour in Spain, just as they do in the UK. At the start of the month the sun sets at around 19:20; by the end, on winter time, it's before 18:00. If you're planning where to watch the sunset, give yourself more time than you think you need.
Warm enough. And on average, slightly warmer than in June.
The Mediterranean holds on to heat: it builds it up over the summer and releases it slowly, which works in the autumn visitor's favour. In the first half of October the sea is around 22-23 °C (72-73 °F), and the monthly average usually comes in a little above June's. It cools gradually as the month goes on, and by the end of October it's closer to 21-22 °C (70-72 °F). These are approximate ranges, not guarantees, but they give you a clear idea.
The difference between the start and the end of the month matters. If swimming is a priority, go for the first fortnight. You can still swim at the end of the month, but the water is a little cooler and the days are shorter, so there's less beach time.
The coves of southern Mallorca, between Cala Figuera, Cala Santanyí, Caló des Moro and the area around Colònia de Sant Jordi, are in early October what they promised to be in August and couldn't. No crowds, no impossible parking, no high-season background noise.
Most of Redstar Tours' boat trips and rentals run until 31 October. Kayaking from Cala Figuera and paddleboarding are two particularly good options at this time of year: the water is calm on most mornings, there are few swimmers around, and you can reach spots that are blocked by boats in high season. If you'd rather not paddle, you can rent a boat without a licence in Cala Figuera or in Porto Petro and reach the same coves at your own pace, without a timetable.
If you're travelling with children or just want a first taste of the coast, a two-hour trip to Caló des Moro and s'Almunia works well out of season: short, easy and with the water still warm. For more distance and more hidden corners, the trip to Cala Màrmols reaches stretches of coast you can't get to by land.
Groups who want a full day at sea have another option: a day aboard a llaüt from Colònia de Sant Jordi, with low-season rates from 16 September to 31 October. Colònia de Sant Jordi is also the departure point for Cabrera National Park, which in October you can visit with fewer boats around and the water still warm.
We won't repeat what's covered better elsewhere: for the detail on winds, distances and anchoring, our guide to boat routes along the south coast has it all.
Here's the advice from people who work on the water: in October, book anything weather-dependent for the first days of your stay and keep your land plans as a backup. If a storm rolls in one day, you move your boat trip to the next. If the weather stays settled all week, you get the whole trip. It's a small change in order that makes all the difference.
Kayak and paddleboard hire in Cala Figuera, licence-free boats in Cala Figuera and Porto Petro, and two- and three-hour trips along the south coast.
Sea plans work best at the start of your trip.
An average of six rainy days in October doesn't mean you'll spend them all in the hotel staring out of the window. As we said above, autumn rain in Mallorca comes in episodes: a stormy morning that has cleared by lunchtime, an overcast sky that never quite rains, or a heavy two-hour downpour. They're nothing like the endless grey days of a northern European winter.
The honest answer is that you might get a rainy day, maybe two. What matters is how you handle it. If your sea plans were at the start of the trip, they're already done. The rainy day becomes your village day: a market, a fair, a square with good local food and no crowds. It's not the plan you had, but it's not a lost day either.
For the llaüt, the policy is published and clear: if the weather isn't safe, the skipper cancels and you're offered another date or a full refund. For other activities, the conditions for each one are confirmed when you book. That's exactly why it pays to put the sea first: if a trip has to move, you still have days left to move it to.
When the heat and the crowds leave, the island belongs to the people who live there again. In southern Mallorca you can see it very clearly from mid-October onwards: the fairs.
These aren't events laid on for tourists. They're village fairs, most of them with a long tradition, spread across the whole month and concentrated in the second half. The Festa des Botifarró in Sant Joan, dedicated to Mallorcan sausage, is usually held at the start of October. Art in Sal in Ses Salines is an evening of open-air art and music, also early in the month. The Fires de Llucmajor run over several October weekends. The Fira d'Octubre in Campos and the Fira des Pebre Bord in Felanitx, devoted to paprika, come towards the end of the month. And the fair in Santanyí usually rounds things off, also at the end of October.
Dates change every year, so check before you travel, but the pattern holds: the second half of October is fair season in southern Mallorca. If your trip falls on those days, you have a land plan that doesn't appear in any generic guide.
For a fixed plan each week, Santanyí market is worth a visit in its own right: local produce, crafts and a genuine village atmosphere that disappears under the crowds in August. In October it belongs to the village again.
To get around this area in the second fortnight, a bike is the best way to do it. Our guide to cycling routes in Mallorca covers the ten best, and if you don't usually ride, there are easy bike routes that need no experience. To ride the coast between Cala Figuera and Cala Santanyí as the afternoon light stretches across the sea, bike hire and e-bike hire are the most practical option from Redstar's bases.
There's a point in October when cycling the south coast of Mallorca has a quality you won't find in any other month. It's not August's heat, which turns every climb into a punishment. It's not January's chill. It's October's temperature, around twenty degrees in the middle of the day, with low golden light stretching the shadows from mid-afternoon and the paths down to the coves almost empty.
The route between Cala Figuera and Cala Santanyí, with detours to Cala Llombards or inland towards Santanyí, is perfectly manageable on an e-bike even if you don't cycle regularly. The clocks going back at the end of the month bring sunset forward, so afternoon rides need planning earlier than you'd think, but it also means the four o'clock light already has a warmth that in summer doesn't arrive until eight.
E-bike and bike hire by the day in Cala Figuera and Cala Santanyí, to explore coves and villages at your own pace, without the heat.
The plan that doesn't depend on the sea.
The local operator's advice fits in one sentence: sea first, land second. Not because land is worse, but because the sea depends on the weather and the land doesn't. Book your water activities for the first days of your stay and leave the villages, fairs and bike rides for the end, and you have a trip with real room to manoeuvre. A stormy day doesn't break anything: you move the boat trip or the kayak to the next day and spend that day at the Campos fair or Santanyí market.
For where to stay, the south has the most options close to the activities: Colònia de Sant Jordi, Cala d'Or, Santanyí, Cala Figuera and Porto Petro are the most practical bases. They're close to Redstar Tours' bases, a few kilometres from the best coves and right in the middle of fair country.
One honest warning if you're planning right up to the limit: all Redstar Tours services run until 31 October. From 1 November there are no sea activities or equipment hire. If your trip spans the end of October and the start of November, be clear about which days fall inside the season. This matters especially for October half-term, which usually falls in the last week of the month: the days before the 31st are in season, anything after isn't.
October is ideal for a very specific kind of traveller: someone who wants the sea without August's crowds, the island with its local life in full swing, and time outdoors without the heat getting in the way. For that traveller, especially in the first fortnight, Mallorca in October is hard to beat.
It isn't ideal if you need a guarantee of seven straight days of sunshine. Nor if you arrive at the end of the month expecting everything to be open as it is in summer. Nor if you're reading this in November thinking it still applies: by November, the season is over.
We tell it like this because we'd rather you arrive with the right expectations: a well-planned October can beat August, and a badly planned one can disappoint.
If you can choose your dates, come in the first half of October and book the sea for the first days of your trip.
Book your sea trips for the first days and keep the bike and the villages as your backup.
Choose where to start.
Generally, yes, with some nuances. According to AEMET data for 1981-2010, the average high is 23.9 °C (75 °F) and there are around 203 hours of sunshine in the month. It does rain, on about 6 days on average, but usually in short episodes rather than strings of grey days. The first fortnight tends to be more settled than the second.
Yes. The sea around Mallorca is around 21-23 °C (70-73 °F) in October depending on the time of month, warmer at the start and cooler at the end. On average it's slightly warmer than in June, because the sea stores summer heat and releases it slowly. If swimming is your priority, the first fortnight is best.
October is one of the wetter months of the year in Mallorca (62 mm on average, according to AEMET), but that doesn't mean constant rain. It usually comes in short episodes, sometimes heavy storms that pass in a few hours. A week can have one day of heavy rain and six sunny ones. Pack a rain jacket and keep a land plan up your sleeve.
Light summer clothes are fine during the day: T-shirts, swimwear and comfortable shoes. As the month goes on, the evenings get cooler, so bring a jumper or a light jacket. A light rain jacket or windbreaker is a must. By the end of the month, after the clocks go back, the evenings feel properly autumnal.
Differences across the island are small, but the south and east coasts tend to be more sheltered and make a good base in October: Santanyí, Cala Figuera, Cala d'Or, Porto Petro and Colònia de Sant Jordi. The south also combines quiet out-of-season coves with the most village fairs in October and the bases for sea and cycling activities that run all month.
Yes, until 31 October. Kayak and paddleboard hire, boat rental, the Nature Tour, the Explorer Tour and the llaüt from Colònia de Sant Jordi all run throughout the month. The Discovery Tour and the Zodiac Medline boats from Porto Petro finish earlier, in September. From 1 November there are no sea activities available.
