enjoys a blissful break on the party island of the Med – without the music or the mess
THERE’S an island in the Mediterranean where you can enjoy endless small coves, where aquamarine water laps onto sand so white it would put many a Caribbean beach to shame.
An island that has tiny villages unspoiled by time and high-rise development, not to mention small harbours where boats bob peacefully at anchor with no raucous music and overpowering nightlife.
The name of this little gem, which has so much appeal for holidaymakers the wrong side of 50?
Well, the answer might surprise you. It’s Majorca.
Because the holiday island currently enjoying notoriety as the location for TV’s Love Island, not to mention a past peopled by lager louts, has a much quieter side – if you’re prepared to look for it.
And while this is true for most of Majorca, it’s particularly true for the south-east corner.
There are so many tiny little beaches that even families on 14-night holidays can safely adopt the slogan “a cove a day keeps the kids’ boredom at bay”.
And with Jet2 now flying there from nine UK airports, it’s easy to get a budget-price flight.
But first things first. If you really want a holiday unspoiled by crowds the ideal answer is to rent a private villa.
There’s a surprisingly large number available, and we found the perfect one in Villa Naveta.
Situated in its own grounds and adjacent to woodland the threebedroom, two-bathroom Naveta – available from villa specialists Vintage Travel – offered peace and tranquillity and yet is only a few minutes’ drive from the low-key village of S’Horta.
It is also only 400 metres from one of the aforementioned spectacular coves – in this case, Cala Sa Nau.
Because it’s at the end of a narrow winding road, Cala Sa Nau gets overlooked by a lot of tourists and so stays relatively quiet, except on Sundays. Even so, it’s best to go early morning or late afternoon to avoid large numbers.
It’s a cove which attracts boat owners, too, and there are normally two or three upmarket yachts anchored at the entrance, often for those on board to come ashore for a meal at the rustic beach bar restaurant.
It’s a scene that’s reflected up and down the south-east coast and you really are spoiled for choice, although not all have such a natural setting.
Cala Serena, only a few kilometres away, and Cala Llombards – just south of one of the area’s main towns, Santanyi – are spectacular coves that are well worth a visit yet adjacent to residential areas.
One that does have that natural location, not to mention some of the clearest ocean to swim in, is Cala Mandrago, which borders the Mandrago Natural Park east of Santanyi. We decided to visit the 766-hectare park where, for €5, you can park your car and walk alongside the estuary to see a wide variety of birdlife.
What we didn’t expect was that at the end of main path is the superb pine-fringed cove of Cala Mandrago with its stunning cliffs and the bluest, clearest sea you can imagine.
There’s good parking at the cove itself, a restaurant and a number of neighbouring coves within easy walking distance.
If large stretches of beach are your thing though the two-kilometre Platja des Trenc on the south-west coast has to be king.
Often referred to as Majorca’s answer to the Caribbean, it’s fairly isolated and has a wild, natural feel to it because of the sand dunes which border it.
A fairly rugged road runs up to the beach and as you get close there are two car parks. Turn into the one on the right and you’ll pay €20 for the day, or €5 euros after 4pm.
In both cases it’s redeemable against food and drink at the beach restaurant. Keep straight on and it‘s €7 for parking only.
But it‘s not just beaches that abound on this section of coastline. There’s a host of unspoiled ports where you can enjoy a reasonably priced lunch while watching the boats come and go.
One of my favourites was Porto Petra. Parking can be difficult but it’s well worth the trouble for the picturesque views and the handful of restaurants which offer a sensibly priced menu del dia (menu of the day).
Try Es Bergant, a small waterfront restaurant where the substantial menu del dia at lunchtime will cost you just €11.50 for four courses and wine.
Also worth a visit is Portocolom. It’s larger than Porto Petra and offers an enjoyable stroll along the unspoiled harbour front with its pleasant local shops and a handful of restaurants.
Three-storey buildings are about as high as it gets in Portocolom, and there is nothing nicer than chilling out on the waterfront watching the maritime comings and goings. In order to explore the coastline you need a car, though and, while there are a lot of car hire companies around with a low headline price, watch out! This can more than double by the time you have included full insurance cover.
It’s best to stick to one of the bigger names, and in Majorca one of the biggest and most efficient is Sixt. It has five offices at Palma Airport and, when the first was busy, we were politely escorted to a second so our holiday was not delayed.
Within 10 minutes we were all
done and dusted and had a brand new Volkswagen Golf with just five kilometres on the clock for our holiday. Returning the car was even quicker because we had full insurance. A cursory glance at the Golf by a Sixt member of staff as we parked at their base near the airport departure hall and we were on our way. But that’s jumping ahead.
A few days prior to handing our car back we decided, having avoided crowds all week, to head for one of the busiest spots on the island on a Wednesday – Santanyi market.
This bustling event attracts locals and tourists alike to buy everything from fruit to made-to-measure leather shoes to local pottery and fashions.
Houses and shops in the town are built from the famous Santanyi Mares Stone, the same stone used to build the spectacular Palma Cathedral.
Up until the 16th century the residents of Santanyi had trouble with Moorish pirates who regularly took hostages to ransom them.
The story goes that the unlucky ones were sent to Algiers to be sold as slaves and many Santanyi women ended up in harems.
Exhausted by a day at the market, we returned to the peace and tranquillity of Naveta to enjoy a dip in the pool with its Roman steps and a shallow end ideal for children before some friendly competition on the outdoor table tennis table.
Being a hot night, we opted for dinner outside on the open-sided covered terrace with its built-in barbecue.
That’s the nice thing about Naveta. It’s a classically furnished Spanish property with all the features you need to have to be sure of a comfortable holiday in Spain – probably because its owner is Spanish – as well as all the features modern travellers demand, such as wi-fi and giant flatscreen satellite television.
Staying here ensures you can, for a week at least, blend into the real Majorcan way of life in an area that is still not overpowered by mass tourism.