Porto Colom Holiday Guide

Porto Colom is 37 miles from the island's main airport at Palma and the transfer takes approximately one hour.

It's best to take a taxi or hire your own car. This will also give you the freedom to explore the rest of the island. Being a quaint fishing village, the place is small, compact and very easy to walk around, with all amenities found close to each other.

The bus services are limited – although you can get to inland Felanitx and capital Palma.

The main beach, Cala Marcal – just 500m from Porto Colom – has been awarded a Blue Flag for its cleanliness. The sand is cleaned regularly and slopes gently into the shallow water, making it ideal for those with families. During summer there are often volleyball and beach football competitions held here.

There are two other, less crowded, beaches in Porto Colom and sea taxis also depart every day to the nearby popular beaches of Cala Figuera and Cala d'Or. If you have a car you can also head to Cala Sa Nau, about 2km out of town, and Cala Ferrera far south of the town.

Traditional fishing boats are moored in the harbour and sit alongside brightly-coloured fishermen's cottages, unchanged for years. This superb natural harbour is often described as having the best anchorage in Mallorca, even the best in the Balearic Isles.

Follow the path behind the cottages and this will lead you to the lighthouse, with its splendid views towards Porto Colom.

Columbus is thought to have learnt to sail at Porto Colom and nearby is Felanitx, said to be the town where he was born. There's a monastery here called Santuari de Sant Salvador - San Salvador was the name Columbus gave to the first piece of land he discovered.

But there are other reasons to visit too - Felanitx is a wonderful town and is at the heart of one of Majorca's key wine growing areas. Check out its colourful Sunday market too.

Sineu is a small medieval village perched on top of a hill, right in the middle of Majorca. It is full of charm and history, has excellent restaurants and hosts an incredible agricultural market on Wednesdays.

Spend a day at the Cuevas dels Hams (The Caves of Hams). These limestone caves are full of stalagmites, stalactites and weird rock formations. There is also an amazing underground lake.

Porto Colom has a good selection of restaurants and bars, many of them serving high-quality local Majorcan food.
Celler Sa Sinia is rated as one of the best, serving seafood specialities from its  perfect situation on the waterfront.

There are lots of seafront restaurants and tapas bars on the harbour road and you'll also find some good places on the beach.
Nightlife isn't the reason most people come to Porto Colom, so if you've come here in search of late-night clubs and rowdy bars you'll be disappointed.
However, there are three discos and lots of low-key bars if you fancy a night out, including British-type pubs if you long for the familiar. Failing that, many of the hotels organise evening entertainment.

Around the harbour area there is a selection of typical Spanish shops selling anything you might want for your holiday.

There's a market held on Tuesdays and Saturdays (June to September) and two large supermarkets in town.

It's possible to organise horse-riding, mountain biking and hiking trips to the surrounding areas.

There is also a diving and windsurfing school in the harbour and small boats can be hired by the day at the marina.

Then there's the main draw – the beach. You can spend the whole day swimming in the crystal clear waters, or take part in volleyball or beach football contests on the sand.