Ets Alocs

The stones on Ets Alocs are worn round by the sea, and every wave that drains back drags them with a long rattle. Behind the beach lies the north coast of Menorca at its barest, shaped by the tramuntana wind, with the chaste tree that gave the beach its name growing among the hardy scrub. The water is clear over a rocky bottom and belongs to the Menorca Marine Reserve, protected for the sea life that fills it. Bring a mask.

It stays quiet even in high season.

• There are no services of any kind: no toilets and no drinking water nearby. Bring all the water you will need.
• The shore is round pebbles and the seabed is rocky; water shoes make getting in and out easier.
• The beach lies open to the north. When the tramuntana blows, the sea turns rough and swimming is off.
• There is no bus stop nearby, so plan on a car or on walking in along the Camí de Cavalls.

Heading along the Me-1 from Maó towards Ciutadella, a road turns off for the north coast a few kilometres after Ferreries. The last stretch is a forest track that follows a stream bed, and a car gets along it only with some difficulty. Two car parks lie about 460 m and 2.2 km from the beach in a straight line; the rest is on foot.

Walkers can come the whole way instead. An easy six-kilometre route starts at the foot of Sa Muntanya Mala and stays almost flat as it skirts the hill and follows the sea, passing Cala Pilar, a cove no car reaches. Ets Alocs sits on the Camí de Cavalls between Cala Pilar and Cala en Calderer, and the path is signed as the Camí de Cavalls.

Best: a calm summer day, with the sea flat and clear over the rocky bottom. Even in high season few people make it here.

Avoid: days when the tramuntana blows. The beach faces the open north, and that wind drives the sea straight onto the pebbles.

The waters off Ets Alocs belong to the Menorca Marine Reserve, set up for the rich sea life along this coast, and fishing here is protected. Leave rods and spearguns behind unless you have checked the reserve's rules before you come.