The modern resort of Cala Millor (which translates into English as "the better
bay") is on the islands rugged east coast, and is separated from its more quiet
and traditional neighbour
Cala Bona
("the good bay") by a small rocky headland.
The resort is without doubt the largest tourist development along the east
coast, and is jointly administered as part of the municipal districts of
Son Servera
and
Sant Llorenc des Cardassar.
Coach transfer into the resort from the
Son Sant Joan International airport
in the south of the island will normally take around 2 hours to drive the 70km,
but as with all airport transfers this may vary on the time of day or night of
the journey.
For the independent travellers who prefer to hire a car at the airport and make
their way into the resort, driving to Cala Millor from Palma is fairly
straightforward, once you've adjusted to driving on the "wrong side of the
road", although a slight complication certainly worth mentioning is that in
recent years the local Government on the island has re-numbered most of the
roads on Mallorca, so please make sure that you have an up to date map before
setting out!
For those visitors wishing to drive, the Ma-15 Carretera de Palma a Manacor will
take you all the way to Sant Llorenc des Cardassar, and from there the Ma-4030
takes you into Son Servera, after that it's quite well signposted for the final
few miles over to the east coast and Cala Millor.
On a good day an experienced driver should do it in around 1.1/4 hours, but as
in the UK if you get stuck behind a lorry or tractor, this will increase the
journey time substantially.
As with the other resorts on the island, 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.
If for whatever reason you do not have the luxury of a coach transfer and prefer
not to drive, there are always plenty of taxis available from the ranks outside
of the arrivals hall, although on occasions you should be prepared to queue.
In theory at least, they should all operate on a fixed price basis, typically
charging around €75 to €80 for the journey to Cala Millor, 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 first person to see the potential of Cala Millor as a tourist destination
was Jaume Vicens Andreu, who in 1933 built the Hotel Eureka, which is now
officially recognised as being the first hotel in the town.
In the 60 years that followed the opening of the Hotel Eureka, controlled
development saw Cala Millor grow to accommodate over 16,000 tourist beds in
approximately 61 hotels and 65 self catering apartments.
Most of Majorca's east coast is dotted with tiny creeks and coves, however, the
beach at Cala Millor stretches for more than 6km along a wide sheltered bay
which is protected by two large unspoilt headlands, which we'll cover in more
detail on the
Attractions
page.
The beach here is considered by many to be one of the best on the island, with
clear water and gently sloping sands. Parasols and sun beds can be hired at
various points along its length, along with the usual selection water sports
activities, including a windsurfing school.
The resort has a good selection of shops, but in all fairness to the town, they
do tend to lack any great variety in the range of products they each stock.
If you do venture beyond your sun bed, local markets are held every Friday in
nearby Son Servera, further a field to the north in Arta on a Tuesday, and 20km
inland at Manacor every Monday.
For those of you who have been to the island before you would recognise that
Manacor is also the home of the Mallorcan Pearl industry.
The nearby resort of Cala Bona, which effectively is now almost becoming part of
the Cala Millor development, can be easily reached by a walk along the new
promenade to the north, and for the more adventurous the resorts of
Sa Coma
and S'Illot are a further 3km beyond the Punta de n'Amer headland to the south.
Public transport along all of the east coast is limited so it may be worthwhile
considering car hire, especially if you want to visit the nearby Caves of Drach
and so avoiding the Tour Operators day trip charges.
For those visitors who consider public transport an adventure and not a
challenge, the local bus operator Aumasa does actually run a service over to
Alcudia on the north west coast of the island, and even over to Soller, which is
deep in the Sierra de Tramuntana mountain range.
Of the 4 resorts along this short stretch of coast, Cala Millor is without doubt
the more lively and has a wide selection of bars and discos providing evening
entertainment to supplement that provided by the hotels.
Although Cala Millor has a quite a wide appeal, it is still perhaps more suited
towards the traditional family holiday than those 18 to 30's who are possibly
looking for all night clubs and karaoke bars.
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