Mondragó Natural Park

Swim out from Cala Mondragó and the sand stays in sight below you, even where the water gets deep.

The coves sit at the ends of pine-wooded ravines, and footpaths join one beach to the next, so a single morning can take in Cala Mondragó, S'Amarador and the rocks beyond, where a swim can be had with nobody else in the water. Behind the shore the park keeps grassland, dunes and a large bird population. Once the car park is behind you, the sounds are waves and birds.

• In summer the car park is half full by 10:00, and by early afternoon cars queue to get in. Come early.
• Sea urchins live on the rocks around the coves. Water shoes make swimming off the rocks far more comfortable.
• The beach restaurant gets busy. Go at a quiet hour, or come prepared to wait.
• Free toilets stand about 80 m away, and there is a drinking-water point about 650 m away.

Without a car, the Cala Mondragó bus stop is the closest arrival, about 60 m away; the next stop, Sa Barca Trencada, sits about 1 km off.

Drivers leave the car in one of two paid car parks: Ses Fonts de n'Alis, on gravel, about 500 m away, or S'Amarador, on bare ground, about 750 m away. From either, the rest is on foot along the paths to the coves. An information board and a map of the Volta a sa Guàrdia d'en Garrot walk stand about 50 m away, worth a look before you set off between the beaches.

Best: before 10:00 in summer, or any fine day in spring and autumn. Avoid: summer from late morning onwards.

In summer the car park is half full by 10:00 and cars are queuing at the entrance by 14:00, while outside the holiday season the coves and the paths between them are far quieter.

Mondragó has been a natural park since 1992 and is a Natura 2000 site, so the dunes, pine woods and shore are all protected ground. Carry every piece of rubbish back out with you. The pine woods burn easily in the dry months: no fires or barbecues anywhere in the park.