A trip to the Balearic Islands
With everything – except boredom
Text: Christian / Pictures & short films: Carola
Early summer 2026
Spring is once again proving to be the ideal time to travel: pleasant temperatures, almost no heat, few tourists and, in some cases, almost deserted anchorages.
Our focus for the first half of the year is on Ibiza and Formentera, followed by Cabrera, two trips to Mallorca and, finally, several weeks in Menorca, where we’ll explore almost every bay, particularly along the south coast.
Formentera
Ibiza
Mallorca
Cabrera
Menorca
This leaves plenty of time to discover lovely places on land as well. We particularly like Santa Eulària des Riu on Ibiza and, of course, Formentera with its incredibly beautiful azure-blue beaches, which exude a Caribbean atmosphere.
Formentera
First anchor spot at Formentera - Cala Saona
First time ashore
Impressive atmosphere
Panoramic view of the northern part of Formentera
Formentera has wonderful sandy beaches
An spontaneous barbecue on the beach with Christine & Frank (SY Greta ⛵️)
View from the cliffs down to the anchorage at Ensada de Tramontan
Panoramic view of Formentera with a view of Ibiza
And let’s not forget the beautiful sunsets
Ibiza
Cala d'Horta - our first anchor spot at Ibiza
Sant Antoni – enjoying the island vibe with Tina & Eberhardt (SY Shivaya)
A view of Sant Antoni – in April, the weather is still changeable
Everything looks so much nicer in the sunshine – a view across the bay and towards Sant Antoni
Everything at a glance
Evening mood
We have wonderful memories of the musical evening we enjoyed on board with the crews of SY Greta and SY Shivaya 🎶🎤🎸
Església de Santa Eulàlia del Riu
Santa Eulària – another place in Ibiza where we’re moored in a marina for a few days whilst we wait for our new depth sensor.
We’re visiting Ibiza Town
Out and about in the old town…
…with narrow streets
View of the harbour and Ibiza Town
Ibiza Town Beach
View of the old town
Hiking Day
We’re walking along the coast and are absolutely blown away
Can you feel the wind too?
WOW 🤩
We’re visiting the legendary hippy market in Las Dalias
Great sound – we love it here 🎶💃
Giri Café in Sant Joan
Cala Portinatx
Cala d’en Serra
Mallorca
In Mallorca, we return to a place we know well. Port d’Andratx has shown us yet another side of itself.
Portocolom also remains a good memory; we were able to visit it at a time when it wasn’t too crowded. The excellent heladería was unforgettable – I quickly became a regular there.
Entrance to Port d’Andratx
Port d’Andratx – Meeting up with the SY Greta ⛵️
Music and entertainment are all included
A reunion with old friends.
But new friendships are also being formed
Leaving Port d’Andratx
Entrance to Portocolom
We’ve had a very restless night. We’d never experienced anything like it before. The swell in the marina was so extreme that we were literally ‘tossed about’ in the boat.
Now that we’ve been allocated a new berth, we’re going for a walk first.
Once again, Christine and Frank surprise us in Portocolom – Chris takes us straight to his favourite ice-cream parlour. 🍦
A view of Portocolom Bay
A treat after a coastal walk – it’s never a dull moment with André & Lisa (SY Rocinante)
Travelling along the east coast ⛵️
Before we leave Mallorca for good, we’re staying one last night in Cala Agulla – in the north of Mallorca
Farewell to Mallorca
Cabrera und Menorca
The real highlight, however – apart from the wonderful island of Cabrera, where I’ll be celebrating my birthday with a cheerful group of friends – is undoubtedly Menorca.
The first order of business there is to slow down. Bay by bay, we make our way leisurely from west to east, sometimes in such massive leaps of just four nautical miles. 😉
Together with our sailing friends, we spend many unforgettable hours. I often think back to our little river expedition in the dinghy or our evening picnic on the beach.
Cabrera
Cabrera – a week of unspoilt nature and loads of lovely people
We’d only just met him in Port d’Andratx, and already Ruedi’s inviting us round for a raclette dinner (he was a bit quicker than us on his ⛵️Dali 2 😅)
View across Cabrera and the bay
A guided walk on Cabrera takes us to places we wouldn’t otherwise get to see – as most of the island is a nature reserve.
Happy Birthday Chris 🥳
Nicola & Dirk (SY Saga) have a birthday cupcake 🧁
A cosy get-together – a birthday to remember
Menorca
On the way to Menorca
Menorca – Cala Son Saura
A change of perspective – drone footage
Thanks to SY Greta for this brilliant photo
Hiking on the Cami de Cavalls
Next Stop: Cala Macarella
A stunning bay
Great walking trails, especially the Cami de Cavalls – which takes you all the way round the island.
The whole gang reunited – SY Rocinante, SY Greta & SY Blue Wave 🤩
Cala Trebaluger
On a river expedition with André & Lisa
And suddenly, it feels as though we’re being transported into another world
We’re clearing the way
We can follow the river for about 1.6 km…
…then we’ll have to turn back again
Beach picnic with the ‘Sailors’ Gang’
What a peaceful evening atmosphere
The next day – off on a short walk (here: a view of Cala Trebaluger)
On the way, we pass what are known as ‘barracas’. These are traditional dry-stone huts that are typical of Menorca.
Of course, we’re out and about here on the Cami de Cavalls too
Destination reached: Cala Mitjana
Platja de Binigaus – On our way to Maó, we drop anchor here for the night
A view of the SY Rocinante & SY Blue Wave
After our long stroll around the bays, Maó offers a wonderful contrast. This quiet little harbour town lies deep within a widely branching bay and surprises us with its charming old town, lively market hall and many narrow streets lined with restaurants.
Welcome to Maó
View
Restaurants line up one after the other
In the streets of Maó
Snapshot
Here, too, Chris has discovered an excellent gelateria: Gelateria Deliri – our top recommendation 👌🍦
Fish market – there are sooo many tapas to choose from
Whilst we’re in Maó, a visit to La Mola – also known as ‘The Castle of the Sea’ – is, of course, a must. Here’s a view of the approach to Maó, across the bays and La Mola
Another insight with a long-term perspective
Of course, a walk along the Cami de Cavalls is a must – Sa Mesquida (Thanks to Lisa for this brilliant photo)
Sa Mesquida is a small fishing village
The north coast is quite different from the south coast. The landscape reminds us a little of Ireland.
View of the old town
Take it all in once more
Past Illa del Rei
We carried on along the north coast to Port d’Addaia. This small, family-run marina, surrounded by hills, really took us by surprise. It’s an unspectacular place, but one where I could easily imagine leaving our boat moored for a longer period. What more could you want than a well-maintained little marina, a dry dock, a chandlery and a cosy harbour pub? 😀
Arrival at the Port d’Addaia Marina
A short report
Our journey takes us into the heart of nature
Salines de Addaia
A lovely spot
Here you can just about make out the marked channel leading into the marina
But as the saying goes: Everything comes to an end, except for sausages – they have two. With a touch of wistfulness, we set sail once more and head for Fornells, a place we first visited two years ago.
But before we head for Fornells, we’ll drop anchor in Cala Arenal d’en Castell
Cala Arenal d’en Castell
Fornells
As we’re already familiar with Fornells from our last stay, this time we’re taking the opportunity to explore the surrounding area and discover something new, such as here – Platges de Fornells
In Fornells, we weather the strong winds that are raging out in the bay
We’d rather watch that from the shore 😉
From there, we sail further west along the north coast to Port de Pollença on Mallorca. I’d wanted to visit Port de Pollença two years earlier, but the weather thwarted our plans back then; this time, however, it’s going to work out.
But our journey won’t take us back to Mallorca quite so soon. We’ll be staying in Cala Algaiarens for a few days
Cala Algaiarens
Evening mood
Cala del Amarrado – another cove on the way to Mallorca
Cave explorers on the move
Cala del Amarrado captivates visitors with its bizarre rock formations and caves. There is something new to discover round every corner.
The weather window is right. It’s time to say goodbye to Menorca.
So we’re setting course for Mallorca and Port de Pollença.
Our anchor proves a bit stubborn at first, before finally digging in securely. So, despite the strong wind, we spend a few peaceful days at anchor. It’s particularly lovely to see two sailing boats we know again; we even watch a World Cup football match together with their crews (SY Karl and SY Moewe) in a bar.
Between Menorca and Mallorca
Port de Pollença – there’s plenty going on here
Time for a trip ashore
Another lovely view
It’s absolutely heaving at the dinghy dock – so the only spot left for us is in the second row. 😂
A seaplane during a training exercise – very exciting
We’ve been keeping an eye on the weather forecasts for days now, as we’ve booked a berth in a marina near Barcelona from 1 July. We need a good weather window for the crossing.
In the end, we decide on the impulse to set sail a little earlier than planned and head for the mainland. The forecast is for not much wind, but at least a little, and we want to make the most of this window of good weather. The forecast for the following days is for the Mistral, with strong winds.
Goodbye Mallorca
We’ll be sharing details of our crossing from Mallorca to the Spanish mainland and our overall thoughts on the trip in a special blog post.
We can tell you already that the crossing didn’t go as expected.
