The smart resort of Cala d'Or is part of the municipal district of Santanyi, on the southern half of the east coast of Majorca. Although as the crow flies the town is only around 65km, or 40 miles east of Palma and the Son Sant Joan International airport, the road over to the east coast is not particularly good, and it's not unusual for the transfer to take approximately 1.1/2 to 2 hours from the time you leave the airport grounds.

Although most visitors to the area are on traditional package holidays, many of the tour operators now consider the transfer from the airport to your chosen accommodation to be an optional extra, which in turn is leading more people to make their own arrangements for the journey by either pre-booked hire car, or alternatively by one of the many taxis from the ranks outside the arrivals hall.

In theory at least, these taxi should all operate on a fixed price basis, typically charging around 65 euro to 70 euro for the journey to Cala d'or, however experience has shown that this "fixed price" may vary slightly depending upon the number of suitcases, the time of day or night of the journey, and of course the number of passengers carried.

Also an important consideration for families with small children, is that these taxis do not as a rule carry child seats, therefore children may have to sit on their parent's knee for the journey. If this is a cause for concern, we strongly recommend that you make arrangements for a pre-booked taxi to be waiting for you, and clearly specify at the time of booking that a child seat is needed for the journey.

The journey for those who have chosen to drive is fairly straightforward for the most part, although not especially scenic. Once you've left the airport grounds you will normally join the main Ma-19 motorway heading east to the town of Campos, where you need to join the Ma-5120 to Felanitx.

From here the Ma-14, Ma-4016 and Ma-4013 roads will take you the final few miles into the centre of the resort.

A more detailed version of this route, complete with links to maps where appropriate, is available from the Route Map link on the left hand frame of this page.

However, If all of this sounds too complicated, it probably is and you should seriously consider making the journey by taxi, and possibly then hiring a car once in the resort.

Cala d'Or today is a modern purpose built resort that has grown from a small traditional Mallorcan fishing village. Over the years the resort has expanded, and now covers an area of over 4km of small sandy coves and creeks. Although in all fairness this growth has for the most part been controlled, and the town still has the feeling of a small village with few, if any, high rise buildings.

The largest of these coves is called Cala Llonga, which has been developed into a large marina that effectively splits the resort in two. So, unless you are prepared for quite a long walk, or a daily ride in the tourist mini train, you may be isolated in whatever half of the town your chosen accommodation lies.

The focal point of the town centre is a pedestrian zone around the area of Cala Gran, which has a varied selection of shops, bars and restaurants, but really lacks many of the other family attractions such as water parks, mini golf etc. that many tourist expect to find in a holiday resort these days.

The beach at Cala Gran is the largest in the town, but at 40m wide and 100m deep can never really be described as being large. Near here is Cala d'Or itself, from which the resort takes its name. This is a pine fringed cove with a small but crowded beach.

Sun loungers, parasols and pedaloes can be hired at both of these beaches. In addition, there is also around 8 or 9 other smaller sandy coves in the area, although these can become extremely crowded in high season.

If the beaches at Cala d'Or become too crowded or if you wish to escape from Cala d'Or for the day, many visitors take the morning bus to Es Trenc. This beautiful beach of clear blue water and golden sand, backed by pine trees and dunes, stretches for almost 5km along the wild south eastern coast of the island.

There's a small bar-restaurant here and you can hire sun umbrellas, but there are few other facilities and the beach rarely gets packed with bodies. Be warned though, Es Trenc is popular with nudists and the bodies that you do see are likely to be bare.

Public transport around all of the east coast is not good, so you may wish to consider car hire if you want to see more of the island. However, if you do have a good sense of adventure, the daily L501 bus runs into Palma several times each day, and information, along with further details, of this service can be found in pdf format on the Transunion Mallorca sl web site.

If you do have access to your own transport, and can get out of the resort, the Sunday morning market at Felanitx is recognised as being one of the best in Majorca, and is well worth a visit. This is a good place to pick up some locally made pottery, but be prepared to haggle for the best bargains. Also certainly worth a mention are the fruit and produce markets which are held at nearby Santanyi every Wednesday and Saturday mornings.

Evening entertainment here is not rowdy, and is generally hotel based, although the resort does have an increasing number of lively bars that tend to be centred around the pedestrian zone. However, all things considered, and in keeping with much of the east coast, Cala d'Or is generally a quiet low key resort that is perhaps more suited to those looking for a relaxing holiday.

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This website was launched on 1 May 2002

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