Cala Morell

The rock platforms do most of the work here — flat slabs along both sides of the inlet, with clear water right off them. Fish are the draw: snorkellers get a wide variety of them, and from the cliffs above the bottom shows through the water. At one end, in the rocks, an underwater cave carries a freshwater spring, reached by diving.

Look at the two sides of the inlet and you are looking at two different geological eras, obvious enough without any training — among the Balearic islands that happens only on Menorca. Above the beach, prehistoric burial caves are cut into the ravine wall, free to visit. Higher again stands the urbanisation: white Ibizan-style houses in pine wood, laid out from the 1960s to a single style, with street lamps shaped after one of the caves.

• No toilets at the bay, and none nearby. No drinking water either — bring what you need for the day.
• Bring beach shoes. The bottom is rocky in places and hard to stand on.
• Space on the sand: before 10:30 there is room; after that the rock platforms are where people settle.
• Two beach bars and restaurants overlook the bay.
• Awkward with young children: barely a beach as such, and no parking beside the water.

The approach runs through the urbanisation itself — white houses in pine wood on the clifftop — and the last stretch is on foot. The parking closest to the bay is private, so the public one to aim for is Plaça de Joan Manent, about 292 m away. A bus stop named Cala Morell sits about 305 m off. The necropolis is about 385 m away, with information boards at the caves, and a path runs round the bay above the water, which is where the sunset view is.

Best: early morning, and again late in the evening.

Avoid: the middle of the day, and days when the Tramontana is blowing.

The bay holds shade in the mornings and in the late evening, and the sand is taken by 10:30 — come before that or plan on settling on the rock platforms. The path round the bay looks out over the sunset, which is the reason to stay late. This is north-facing coast, wide open to the Tramontana, so the wind decides what the water does.