Fabulous family beaches in Mallorca

With an entire 10km of sand from Ca’n Picafort in the south, to Port d'Alcúdia in the north; Playa de Alcúdia sits in the middle and is the largest of all the Balearic Islands’ beaches. Unsurprisingly, it offers a wide range of facilities with everything you could ever need, including: numerous beach bars and restaurants, a great selection of water sports, sun beds, parasols, ample car parking… plus the added bonus of public toilets, showers and even a WiFi connection! Effortlessly, this beach becomes incredibly busy in the summer months as the purpose-built resort fills up with tourists.

Restaurants

Lined with an excellent selection of beach cafes, bars and restaurants along the beachfront and in the streets behind, you’ll be spoilt for choice on local and international dining options.

Nightlife

There’s a real variety of nightlife across the bay of Alcudia, with different vibes and genres for everyone. An evening spent in one of their many bars and pubs, offering live music and outdoor seating, will often lead to later festivities in the lively nightclubs and discos.

Hotels

There’s a large amount of accommodation to choose from with several beach front hotels specialising in kids’ entertainment as well as more luxurious options with rooftop pools and bars overlooking mallorca’s northern peninsula.

North of the Pollensa harbour, along the popular ‘Pine Walk’, there are several smaller beaches with charming coves expanding along the coastline. Along this way from the marina, Albercutx Beach offers a chain of tiny shoreline bays, with teams of crystal water. Stretching for over a kilometre, some places are too narrow to actually lie down. However, it does make for a good alternative to the main beach, particularly if this is where your accommodation is. Further south you’ll find C’an Cullerassa Beach; popular with the locals this pebbly spot offers shade and tranquillity for those who prefer more peace.

Pollensa’s beach areas all benefit from bright, fine-grained sand with clear, shallow water. Catering especially well to its returning tourists, several sections offer sun loungers and shade as well as showers, public toilets, changing facilities, a children’s play area and even volleyball courts. Wheelchair and disabled access are well facilitated.

Given its renowned beauty and popularity, the area is often fairly crowded in July and August; although locals live here year-round, which means a handful of the amenities will stay open throughout the winter. Find out more about the town with our Guide to Port de Pollenca.

Restaurants

South of Pollensa harbour, the main beach offers a variety of small eateries, a shaded picnic area and several mini markets ensuring your beach day is well provisioned for. The harbour’s northern seafront offers a fantastic selection of local and international cafes and restaurants; with large, shaded terraces across its pedestrianised promenade.

Nightlife

Once a simple fishing port, the town is now a family-friendly resort making Pollensa more cosy than vibrant with its nightlife. However, there’s always a great atmosphere with lots of live music to enjoy with a sundowner.

Hotels

Puerto Pollensa is a charming and scenic Mallorquin town with the bonus of several beach spots and ample dining. This means that there is great selection of beachside hotels and apartments available during the summer season.

Whilst the beach stretches a good 7km in length, it’s only 20m wide which means you’ll often find you’re in close proximity to others walking along the sandy shores in search of their own quiet spot. Despite its relative remoteness, the beach remains popular, becoming busy at peak times.

Given that its location isn’t a tourist hotspot, Es Trenc still boasts some decent facilities including sunbeds and parasols for hire, lifeguards on duty, public toilets, ramps for the disabled and a few notable restaurants.

It’s also worth noting that Es Trenc has been an unofficial nudist beach for many years, dating back to the Franco era. That being said, it still makes for a more peaceful and less commercial beach than some of Mallorca's other more popular shores. If you’re after chill vibes, sandy shores and Caribbean blues, this one will likely suit you.

Restaurants

With only one main restaurant and a few chiringuitos, the Mallorcan-style beach bars serve casual but decent food but there’s not much in the way of restaurants outside the tourist activity. It’s probably a good idea to bring ample supplies as there aren't many shops but you’ll often see an occasional vendor selling souvenirs in the way of jewellery or tapestry.

Nightlife

Whilst the beach can often draw a younger crowd, it's more likely to be couples canoodling rather than ravers in search of a party. Occasionally one of the bars will feature live music, but in general the ambience remains very chilled.

Hotels

Whilst the area isn’t developed with large beachfront hotels along the shore, a large selection of accommodation is available in the surrounding towns of Sa Rapita, Colonia Sant Jordi and Campos.

Playa Carregador is at the eastern end of the resort and is 600 metres long by 60 metres deep.This beach is famous for its (artificially enhanced) fine white sand and clear blue sea.

Also enjoying artificially enhanced silky soft sand is Playa de Palmanova beach. In the heart of the resort, it is enormous at one kilometre long and 60 metres deep. With heaps of space for families, there are several small playgrounds and shaded grassy areas at the rear.

The largest and farthest west beach is Son Matias, offering several trendy bars and a great spot to spectate with a drink. It rolls on for 1200 metres and is 100 metres deep.

Facilities are excellent in all areas with sun loungers and parasols for rent, showers and toilets, good disabled access and a high level of lifeguarding services.

Free car parking is available and access is also possible by public bus.

Restaurants

There are many International and Mediterranean restaurants and bars located on the promenade behind the beach with several waterfront establishments looking out to sea. The area caters to differing tastes and budgets with a friendly and vibrant holiday vibe and you’ll easily find something to suit your preferences.

Nightlife

Palma Nova has enough animated bars and beach clubs to keep you entertained for weeks. With everything from chill-out lounges to sports bars, British style pubs, karaoke bars and beachfront parties, tourists will easily find their home comforts here amidst fellow families on holiday or younger groups of travellers.

Full of bars, clubs and restaurants with live music and resident DJs, new bars are always opening in the area ensuring Palma Nova’s facilities continue to improve. Palma Nova’s clubs will keep you dancing with themed nights, live DJs and a great mix of local and international music. There’s usually also some promenade entertainment in the form of street performers, artists and souvenir vendors.

Hotels

Palma Nova is particularly popular with British and European tourists thereby benefiting from a wide range of hotels, apartments, and resorts to accommodate its visitors. The peak tourist season typically falls between May and September when the weather is warmest and sunny.

Portals Nous Beach or Playa Oratori, as it is known to the locals, is a relatively large, handsome beach featuring Mallorca's picture-perfect turquoise waters, fine golden sand and an excellent choice of facilities.

The location of the beach is second to none, thanks to the world-class restaurants and bars in Puerto Portals on its doorstep, and the more modest amenities of Portals Nous, just a few minutes walk away. This part of the island offers some of the island's most prestigious hotels, the best beach clubs and gastronomy along with a whole host of activities from family-friendly waterparks through to topnotch golf courses.

The main high street of Portals Nous focused along Carretera d'Andratx, is a short walk from the beach, where you’ll find an array of independent shops, bookshops, a supermarket, quaint newsagents and a good selection of restaurants. Although Portals Nous dates back to the 1950’s, investment in this area has been substantial, so the amenities are both modern and exciting.

From Portals Nous village, you can access the beach by walking down a small lane (that leads to the church) and then down some steps. Alternatively, park in Puerto Portals and walk through the small shipyard to the beach. Sundowners at one of the beach bars along the beach are the perfect way to watch the sun go down. For those who want a cosmopolitan and elegant night out, dressing up and sipping cocktails or champagne before or after dinner , the ritzy bars and restaurants within Puerto Portals will provide. A more casual affair awaits in the village of Portals Nous directly behind the beach, with traditional Spanish tavernas, international pubs, and other establishments to choose from.

As a destination popular with tourists, there are plenty of clean and contemporary hotels near the beach. These include the 5-star resort style hotels and glamorous boutique hotels through to more affordable but chic options. For those seeking a more exclusive feel of a private villa, close to the villages, there's a good selection of villas of varying sizes and budgets available.

In August, Portal Nous and surrounding areas come together for their August festivities, these include crafts, sports competitions, and open air concerts.

Find out more about the marina of Puerto Portals in our Guide to Puerto Portals.

The coastline here is less built up than in other areas of Mallorca, offering a chance to sit back and soak up the beautiful Balearic countryside from the Mediterranean shore.

This beach is just under 3km long and provides sun beds and parasols for hire, as well as public toilets and showers.

Restaurant

A beach bar offers simple refreshments alongside two local cafes and the nearest shop being close by. The small, town centre has a further variety of shops, restaurants, and small supermarkets.

Nightlife 

An incredibly peaceful holiday destination, Canyamel is not renowned for having a vibrant nightlife. If you’re after a wider selection of evening entertainment, you will find it in the nearby towns of Capdepera and Arta.

Hotels

The closest place to stay (apart from Canyamel itself) is Capdepera or Arta. (Arta has a great market that specialises in arts and crafts every Tuesday.) You’ll find only a handful of hotels within the town itself, plus a beautiful 5-star luxury hotel on the outskirts. The majority of guests tend to stay in private holiday accommodation.

The beach is 130m long by 30m deep and is divided into two areas. The more popular and thankfully larger beach has soft white sand, popular for sun worshippers in the summer months when there are parasols and sun loungers and pedaloes for hire. For the keen swimmers there is the little island of Es Pantaleu to swim out to and explore, bring your snorkels along too. There are usually lots of yachts in the bay in the summer, day-trippers to the area coming for a swim in the crystalline sea.

If you walk around the corner to the left of the beach, you’ll walk over the sunbathing platform for the hotel and through to another little cove that is equally as nice. If walking is your thing then head to the other end of Sant Elm, walking right past the beach and at the end of the promenade you can catch a ferry across to Sa Dragonera. This island looks like a dragon rising up out of the sea majestically, it is a nature reserve that is cross crossed with walking paths and it is uninhabited, except for its indigenous lizards.

The beach is well serviced with toilets and access for the disabled, and is supervised by life guards. It's very child friendly, with shallow waters gently easing in depth and an adventure playground on the sand. Across the road from the beach, and further into the village you'll find a number of good quality restaurants (specialising in fish) with sea views. Car parking is available in two car parks - the one closest to the beach is a pay car-park, or you can park further away for free.

Sant Elm town isn’t very big and you can easily walk from one side of the village to the other in 10-15 minutes, ambling along the high street with its shops, bars and restaurants. Some bars have a trendy, bohemian feel, while the shops offer lots of crafty bits, artisanal products and more.

If you are looking to stay away from the large scale tourist resorts, but craving a holiday vibe then Sant Elm is the perfect place to stay and offers a handful of hotels, apart-hotels and villas in the town and the surrounding area.

These little coves walled by stone jetties and backed by pine trees give a more exotic feel to your beach day than the busy long stretch of the main beach, and if you take pictures in front of the villa with the carved elephants no one will believe you weren’t in Thailand for the week.

The added bonus of these beaches is they are the last patches of sand in Puerto Pollenca to get the sun in the evening. The main beach loses the sun behind the taller buildings but the further down the pine walk you head, the later you can be soaking up the last rays of the sun. Whether or not you choose to camp out on the beaches, the pine walk itself is well worth a wander and is very popular with residents and holiday makers alike for a pre-dinner stroll at around 20:00.

You can wander all the way along, peering at the boats and the villas until you reach the military zone at the northern end which is gated and stops you proceeding any further. There are no toilets or showers specifically for these beaches but you can always walk back past the port to the main beach and use their facilities. 

Hotels nearby

The entire stretch of the pine walk is home to a diverse collection of accommodation options including quaint cottages, traditional stone villas and modernistic chrome and glass fronted cubes. If you’re lucky enough to be staying in one of these sought after premises on the Pine walk waterfront then you’ll absolutely want to make the beaches of D’Albercruix your base camp for the week. Nearby in the port there are family-friendly apart-hotels, boutique hotels and more luxurious options are available. This area is also popular for villa rentals. Nearby Hotel Diana has a pool jutting out into the sea and the Hotel Miramar uses theirs to host beautifully located weddings.

Restaurants nearby

A short stroll towards the port opens up  a long stretch of shops, supermarkets and restaurants but the row of commerce is removed from Albercuix, the cobbled walkway and a row of the pine trees that give the area its name, so although all the shops and eateries are to hand, the beaches don’t feel crowded by them. The nearby restaurants serve local cuisine along with international favourites. There are no ‘chiringuitos’ on the beach itself.

Nightlife 

Nearby Port de Pollença is well known as one of the most family-friendly resorts, however there are numerous bars plus ‘Chivas’, a small disco for those looking for some late night fun.