Cala Tuent

Puig Major fills the sky behind the beach. At 1,445 metres it is the highest mountain in the Tramuntana range, and its slopes drop steeply through pine forest almost to the water, with a few houses standing among the trees. The beach itself is bare: the restaurant that once stood in the middle of it has been demolished.

The inlet runs long between two headlands, Morro des Forat and Penyal Foradat, and that shape keeps the waves inside the bay moderate. The water is clean and boats are few. Underfoot it is pebbles and stones with small patches of sand, 180 metres from end to end. The Torrent de sa Coma reaches the sea here, fed by two seasonal streams, one of them rising at the summit of Puig Major.

• No lifeguards. The bay is unsupervised, and the currents outside the marked swimming area run colder and can be strong.
• No toilets and no drinking water nearby. Fill up before you come.
• Nothing on the beach. The old restaurant building was demolished, so bring food and drink with you.
• Pebbles and stones underfoot. Water shoes make getting in and out of the sea easier.

You arrive by car or by boat. The nearest car park sits about 240 m away in a straight line, with a second about 560 m out, and from either the last stretch to the pebbles is on foot. A boat connection runs from Port de Sóller into the bay itself. A public transport stop named Cala Tuent is about 340 m away, and a map board stands about 300 m away. There are no toilets and no drinking water nearby, so fill your bottles before you set off.

Best: late spring and early autumn, early or late in the day.

Avoid: July and August at midday, and days of strong north wind.

The island fills up in high summer, the bare pebbles soak up the midday heat, and this northwest-facing coast is open to the northerly wind, which raises the sea.