Seven Amazing Beaches in Mallorca

There is no shortage of beautiful beaches on Mallorca. With over 250 unique beaches, the island offers everything from silky, white sandy beaches along popular tourist enclaves to rugged, natural rock beaches hidden in coves. There is something for everyone.

When our family visited Mallorca this summer, we wanted to see the best ones, but with only a week to do it, we decided to just sample a few that were either conveniently close to where we were staying or a scenic drive away. As it turned out, we discovered our favorite beach almost by accident when our teenager spotted it out the window and said, “Let’s go there.”

Beaches in touristy areas

1.    Platja de Muro

This white sandy beach with an expansive shallow beach in the Alcudia bay is perfect for swimming, wading or just chilling out under rented beach loungers and umbrellas. We decided to go to this beach because it was close to our hotel, and it was not a bad decision. We spent 18 Euros to rent three loungers and an umbrella with a locker for our wallets and phones and stayed here all afternoon and into the early evening.  With a steady gentle wind, this beach is also perfect for water sports like windsurfing and sailing. We hired a catamaran and sailed around the bay, clipping by at a speed thrilling for Kip and a little terrifying for me. I may or may not have screamed “We’re going to die,” when our path seemed to veer too close to a glass-bottom boat charging our way.

Swimming in the ocean made me think of my mother who loves the ocean but finds it difficult to walk across the sand or climb into a swimming pool, so I was happy to learn that the developed beach at Plaja de Muro was designed with disabled guests in mind. It has several long boardwalks and an amphibious chair service during the summer months, making it a great place for people with wheelchairs to enjoy Mallorca.

2.    Alcudia Beach

Like Muro, this beach on the Alcudia bay has long been a popular destination, and it is easy to throw down a towel and settle in for the day or just a few hours. It also boasts soft, white sandy beaches, rental umbrellas, and every imaginable water sport rental from SUPs and windsurfing to paddle boats with oversized slides for the young-at-heart. With its long shallow beach, it is a natural attraction for families with small children, and one of the delights of this trip was hearing happy children playing football or paddle ball, shouting to each other in French, German, Spanish, Swedish and every other European language represented on the island.

This beach is also the closest to Port of Alcudia, and the best restaurants and take-out-tapas are just a few steps away. Our favorite restaurants in Alcudia include Ramons Bar, a very authentic Spanish tapas bar, and Las Sirens, a moderately priced seafood restaurant on the promenade that offered the best paella have had to this date. We went there for our anniversary date and loved it so much we returned later with our son.

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3.    Playa de Port de Pollenca

The beach in Port de Pollenca is another sandy beach framed by distant mountains and the town’s promenade. Its gentle waters are perfect for wading and swimming. During the day it is packed with tourists, but when we arrived in the early evening the beach was nearly empty. Germans and Scandinavians, already dressed for evening dinner, strolled along the promenade, on their way to the oceanfront restaurants, while Kip and River tossed a ball in the warm, shallow waters.

Natural beaches

4.    Cala Torta

After a quick walk around the charming town of Arta, wandering street markets in search of a few practical souvenirs, a leather belt for our son, a bracelet for our cat sitter, olives for the road; we headed out of town into the spacious windswept hills. The wide-open vistas, so different from the sharp mountains and tightly-wound roads of the Tramuntana on the other side of the island, led to an increasingly rugged road that seemed barely paved. Just when it seemed our rental car could not make it around another elephant-sized pothole, we parked under a shady tree and joined the steady stream of beachgoers making their way down the path and to the crowded beach.

Like every other beach experience on Mallorca, this was no disappointment. The lack of rental umbrellas and beach loungers did not deter the hundreds of tourists setting up camp on the small beach, but the beach was clean, the sand soft and the water warm — a paradise worth sharing. And for those who wanted more privacy, it was an easy hike along coastal trails to even more remote coves.

5.    Platja des Coll Baix

This postcard-perfect rock beach is only accessible by boat or by hiking down a steep trail into a canyon. The last part of the hike involves scrambling over coastal rocks to get to the beach, which is no deterrent to ambitious tourists and mountain goats, but certainly not something to attempt without proper shoes. Halfway down the canyon trail, I saw a group of sunbathers descending with flip flops and an oversized pineapple floatie. I don’t think they ever made it to the beach.

The waves at this beach are much stronger than any of beaches in the popular bays, and I got knocked down a few times getting out of the water, but its rugged beauty is worth the visit.  It’s important to have proper shoes to walk across the smooth rocky beach that tortures tender feet, and if you do bring food you will have to guard it from the wild goats, but in all, one of the most beautiful rugged beaches I have ever visited. 

6.    Cala Figuera

One evening, when driving out to the end of Cap de Formentor to watch the setting sun splash color across the end of the island, we spotted Cala Figuera at the bottom of the cove. From the windy road, high above the beach, it looked like a secret cove, nearly hidden from view, accessible only by steep hike or yacht. The next day we headed back, only to discover that the road to Formentor is blocked to private cars until after 7 p.m. Reluctantly, we parked the car at a paid lot and boarded a bus bound for the lighthouse at the end of the peninsula. We got off at the first stop and carefully picked our way through the bristly path to the beach. We were unsure if it was worth all the trouble, but we were not disappointed.

The quiet, rocky beach opened up to pristine, blue water clear enough to see for meters down. We swam for hours and River and Kip made friends with a few locals and jumped off a small cliff into the bay. It was by far the highlight of our trip, and if I could only spend one day at the beach in Mallorca, it would be here.  Unfortunately, we lost the trail coming back up the mountain and had to bushwhack our way up. Eventually, a little covered with scrapes from the bristly foliage, we found our way back to the bus stop. Once again, I was glad that I had worn my best hiking sandals.

7.    Sa Calobra

This natural rocky beach is accessible only by driving the islands famous scenic road and then taking a well-worn path along the water’s edge, through a series of pedestrian tunnels to the canyon. It’s a small beach that can easily become crowded, but it is worth the scenic drive and short hike to get there. Alternatively, if you are an experienced hiker comfortable with ropes and scrambling through deep gorges that never see the light of day, you can attempt the challenging hike through the gorge beginning at Escorca. Excellent guide here.

When we left Mallorca, after over a week of exploring new areas every day, I knew we had only sampled the island. With not only beaches, but also hiking trails, caves and mountain biking to experience, I left hoping that we would be able to return soon.