Es Pontas

A limestone arch about 20 m high, the height of a six-storey building, stands in open water just off the cliffs between Cala Santanyí and Cala Llombards. The name is Catalan for "the big bridge". From the Mirador Es Pontàs the whole span sits in front of you, and at sunrise and sunset the viewpoint fills with people waiting for the light.

Climbers come for another reason. Es Pontàs is a deep-water soloing crag: routes are climbed without ropes above the sea, and a fall ends in the water. The first routes date from around 2003. In 2006 Chris Sharma made the first ascent of the route named after the arch, graded 9a+. It was the first deep-water solo at that grade, and at the time one of only a handful of routes anywhere that hard. The ascent is in the 2007 film King Lines.

• You cannot walk onto the arch: it is reached only by swimming or by boat. From land you see it from the clifftop viewpoint.
• There is no drinking water near the viewpoint. Bring your own, especially in summer.
• There are no toilets at the viewpoint; the nearest free ones are about 570 m away in a straight line.
• If you plan to swim out, pack goggles and water shoes for the rocky limestone shore.
• Sunrise and sunset are when the viewpoint is busiest.

You cannot drive to the viewpoint itself. Two car parks lie about 315 m and 413 m away in a straight line, and the rest is on foot to the Mirador Es Pontàs on the cliffs above the arch.

By bus, the nearest stop is Cala Santanyí, about 620 m away in a straight line; Son Moja is further, about 1.3 km.

The arch itself has no land approach. Reaching it means swimming out from the shore or coming by boat.

Best: sunrise or sunset. Avoid: the middle of a summer day, and any day with a rough sea if you plan to swim out. Low sun is what the viewpoint is known for, while midday heat sits on the open cliff top and waves make the swim to the arch unsafe.