santanyí’s beaches

So, sometimes I’ve casually told people that within 10 miles of my house there are at least 10 beaches.  *cool shrug, as if it’s totally no big deal that my 3^rd grade classroom has an ocean view.*

Well, I now stand corrected: there are actually 41 beaches within a 10-mile radius.  
FORTY-ONE!  
And those are only the SANDY beaches.  There are probably a hundred rocky beaches and coves that I’m not going to bother listing here.  Also, there are definitely two more sand beaches (see picture below of the mini beach) that I found on Google Earth but that apparently have no names; the list below only includes the 41 beaches officially recognized by the Mallorcan government. 

I’ve been to only 10 of these beaches, but I could get to almost all of these with an hour’s bike ride.  I have no excuse for my laziness!  I have made it my mission to visit every single one of these beaches before leaving the island.

In case you need a refresher on where I live:

 <-- I live on the big island, that one right there, surrounded by all the water.

This one:

<-- Near the bottom-right-hand corner, there’s a town called “Santanyí,” which I currently call home.

Within 10 miles (16 K) of Santanyí, there are 41 registered sand beaches.  

(Click to enlarge the map)

1.    S'Arenal de sa Ràpita

2.    Ses Covetes

3.    Es Freu de ses Covetes *

4.    S'Arenal d'en Tem

5.    Platja d’es Trenc

6.    Platja d’es Pregons Grans

7.    Platja d’es Pregons Petits

8.    Es Molí de s'Estany

9.    Sa Raconada de s’Estany (also known as Ses Estanys or Es Coto)

10. Bassa des Cabot

11. Cala Galiota

12. Platja d'es Port

13. Platja d'es Dolç

14. Can Curt

15. Es Dofí

16. Platja d'es Carbó

17. Cala en Tugores

18. Es Caragol

19. Es Caló des Màrmols

20. Cala s'Almunia *

21. Es Caló des Moro *

22. Cala Llombards *

23. Cala Santanyí *

24. S'Amarador *

25. Cala de sa Font de n'Alis *

26. Es Caló d'es Burgit

27. Es Caló de sa Barca Trencada

28. Es Caló de sa Torre

29. Es Caló des Homos Morts

30. Es Caló de ses Egos

31. Es Caló des Pou *

32. Cala d'Or (used to be known as Cala d'Hort)

33. Cala Gran *

34. Cala Esmeralda *

35. Cala Ferrera

36. Cala Serena

37. Cala Mitjana

38. Cala sa Nau

39. Cala Brafi

40. Cala d'en Marçal

41. Platja de s'Arenal

* denotes beaches I've been to as of 4/7/2011.

Mallorquín Vocab:
Platja: beach
Cala: cove
Caló: small cove (covelet?)
Arenal: sandy area, or long strip of sand (generally known as a "beach", in my opinion)


The most atmospheric names: Es Caló de ses Homos Morts (#29), which means "the small cove of dead men," Platja d'es Dolç (#5), "the sweet beach," or "the beach of the sweet thing," and Platja d'es Trenc (#13), which has a gazillion meanings: "the beach of the cut, the break, the opening, the splitting open of one's head, the wrinkle, the trench, the ravine, or the daybreak."  The prettiest two beaches are part of the Natural Park Cala Mondragó, which are the beaches of S’Amarador (#24) and sa Font de n’Alis (usually just called Mondragó, #25). The closest beaches are Cala Santanyí (#23) and Cala Llombards (#22), and sometimes after a long day at school, I ride my bike the 15 minutes down to either beach just to sit in the sun, read, pray and relax.

mini nameless beach

Yes, I love my life.