A visit out west to Port d’Andratx and Sant Elm Beach

We walked from one end to the other and had a look at some of the fancy yachts in the harbour. There was a nice feel about the place, with restaurant after restaurant along the front offering a wide variety of cuisines to suite every taste. We opted for a coffee stop and were kept company by a flock of mallard ducks who seemingly have this bit of the sea front their home!

The thing with Port Andratx is that there is no actual beach to speak of so you have to go a little way down the road for that. You can go either side of Port d’Andratx to Camp de Mar on the east side or Sant Elm on the west side, we chose the second option. After a windy little drive through the pine trees we popped out in sleepy Sant Elm. Right next to the beach there is a manned car parking area where you will pay €3.50 for an afternoon.

Sant Elm 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, in the shops there are lots of crafty bits and artisanal products, and lots of traditional Mallorcan cuisine on offer. The beach itself is a lovely sandy stretch of 130m and it is yet another blue flag beach for Mallorca to boast of. There are parasols and sun loungers, pedaloes for hire, a children’s playground and an area set aside for beach volleyball.

The beach is manned by a lifeguard from 10 in the morning until 6 in the afternoon from May until October displaying warning flags if necessary and offering assistance. There are the usual amenities of showers and toilets as well and there is disabled access. 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 boats in the bay, 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 for €12 per person for a return. 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.

Sa Dragonera is well worth a visit as is Sant Elm and as you’re on the west of the island what better place for sundowner cocktails!? We enjoyed a lovely refreshing drink right next to the beach, at the hip Vell Marí shop and restaurant, relaxing in deck chairs as we watched the sun setting on yet another beautiful Mallorcan, summer day.

Read more about Sant Elm Beach.