Route · 7 days · round-tripYacht charter route · Mallorca

Ciutadella round-trip.

Sail Menorca in 7 days from Ciutadella: south-coast calas, Cala Galdana and Macarella, Cova d'en Xoroi, Mahón harbour and the wild north coast.

The route

Day-by-day route

Click any pin on the map or any day in the route summary below to see that day's stop, story and photos.

Day 1

Ciutadella → Cala en Bosch

An easy six-mile hop south to warm up the crew, ending at a pine-backed sand cove with a British watchtower above.

Distance

6 NM

Sailing

~1.2h at 5 kn

At a glance

Route at a glance

Best season

April – mid-October (peak May – Sep)

Duration

7 days

Departure

Ciutadella

Sailing area

Mallorca

Route summary

Click any day to jump back to the map and see its photos, narrative and mooring tip.

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The full story

Day-by-day journey

Named anchorages, mooring notes and things to do for every leg of the week — the map follows along as you scroll.

Day 1 / 7

Day 1

Ciutadella → Cala en Bosch

The first leg is deliberately gentle: six miles down the coast to let the crew find their feet before the longer days. Cala en Bosch sits behind a screen of Aleppo pines, the sand shelving gently enough for a first swim off the bow. Above the cove stands the Torre d'en Quart, one of the stone watchtowers the British put up in the 1700s to watch the approaches. Menorca has been a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 1993, and it shows: no wall of high-rise hotels, only low scrub and headland. We usually take the marina for the first night, fill the water tanks and sort the galley while there is still shore power. Ashore, look for caldereta de langosta at S'Amarador and a glass of the island's own Vi de la Terra.

Things to do

Swim off the bow in Cala en Bosch

Climb to the Torre d'en Quart watchtower

Caldereta de langosta at S'Amarador

Try a Vi de la Terra Menorca

Mooring tip

The marina takes you stern-to for roughly €70–110 a night in peak season and shrugs off any northerly. If it is full, or you would rather stay on the hook, drop into the cove itself on sand in 4–6 m.

Day 2

Cala en Bosch → Son Saura

Only four miles today, so there is no rush to slip the lines. Son Saura opens as a pair of pale sand beaches with no road behind them; you reach the water either off the boat or on foot along the Camí de Cavalls, the old bridle path that rings the whole island. Just east lie Es Talaier and Cala en Turqueta, both worth the tender ride for the colour of the water alone. In July and August the seagrass meadows are protected and you need one of the designated buoys, booked ahead through the Govern Balear; the rest of the year you can anchor on clear sand. Inland sits the Talaiot de Son Catlar, the largest prehistoric walled settlement on the island. We carry a few formatjades, the local cheese pastries, for a slow lunch in the cockpit.

Things to do

Swim at Es Talaier and Cala en Turqueta

Walk a stretch of the Camí de Cavalls

Explore the Talaiot de Son Catlar walls

Book a posidonia buoy in high summer

Mooring tip

From July to August you must lie to a marked posidonia buoy here, around €40–60 a night, reserved online with the Govern Balear in advance. Outside those months, anchor on sand in 4–6 m clear of the seagrass.

Day 3

Son Saura → Cala Galdana

Cala Galdana is the bay everyone has seen in a brochure, a limestone amphitheatre with a river gorge, the Barranc d'Algendar, running down behind it. There is a proper marina here, which makes it a good place to top up water and let anyone who wants a shower have one. The real draw sits a mile east at Cala Macarella and its small neighbour Macarelleta, both reachable only from the sea or on foot. We anchor off Macarella for the afternoon, on sand in four to six metres, and clear out before dusk because overnight stops are not allowed over the seagrass. If legs are willing, the Camí de Cavalls climbs the western cliff for a view straight down into the turquoise. Lunch is arròs de peix at Es Bruc, up on the headland.

Things to do

Anchor off Cala Macarella for the afternoon

Walk to Macarelleta on the cliff path

Arròs de peix lunch at Es Bruc

Hike into the Barranc d'Algendar gorge

Mooring tip

Cala Galdana's marina berths you stern-to at around €100–160 in peak season, tucked well out of any northerly. Macarella next door is a day anchorage only, sand in 4–6 m, with no overnighting over the posidonia.

Day 4

Cala Galdana → Son Bou

After the drama of Galdana, Son Bou feels wide open. The beach runs close to two kilometres, backed by real dunes and a strip of wetland that stays surprisingly green. At the western end you find the footings of a 5th-century basilica, an early-Christian church now sitting low among the wildflowers and easy to miss from the water. There is no marina, so this is an anchoring night: drop the hook on sand in five to seven metres, well sheltered when the wind sits in the north. Watch the forecast, though, because a southerly makes the whole bay untenable and you will want Galdana's berths five miles back. For dinner ashore, Sa Paissa does a good oliaigua, the island's tomato and green-pepper broth.

Things to do

Walk the two-kilometre sweep of Son Bou

Find the 5th-century basilica ruins in the dunes

Oliaigua supper at Sa Paissa

Spot flamingos at S'Albufera des Grau

Mooring tip

No harbour at Son Bou, so plan on the anchor: sand holds well in 5–7 m and the beach shelters you from the north. If anything southerly is forecast it becomes a lee shore quickly, and Cala Galdana five miles west is your bolt-hole.

Day 5

Son Bou → Cala en Porter

Cala en Porter is short and steep-sided, the kind of cove where the cliffs do most of the talking. The headline act is the Cova d'en Xoroi, a warren of terraces cut into the rock face some thirty metres above the sea; it opens for sunset drinks and turns into a proper bar once the DJ starts around ten. Get there early if you want the good tables at golden hour. Down at water level we anchor on sand in four to six metres, holding fine in northerlies, though there is no marina if the weather turns. A walk along the cliff path throws up one viewpoint after another. For dinner, Àmbit works farm-to-table, and their squid stuffed with sobrasada is the thing to order.

Things to do

Sunset drinks at the Cova d'en Xoroi

Anchor swim below the limestone cliffs

Squid with sobrasada at Àmbit

Follow the cliff path to the viewpoints

Mooring tip

No berths in Cala en Porter, so it is the anchor on sand in 4–6 m, comfortable while the wind stays north of you. It is an exposed little notch, so keep watching the forecast rather than committing if anything southerly is building.

Day 6

Cala en Porter → Maó-Mahón

The sail into Mahón is the set-piece of the week. You turn in past the entrance forts and follow a harbour nearly five kilometres deep, one of the largest natural anchorages in the Mediterranean, with islets and old quarantine hospitals scattered down the middle. The marina at the head leaves you a short walk from the old town. Menorca spent most of the 18th century under British rule, and the legacy is everywhere: gin, sash windows and a taste for pomada, gin cut with cloudy lemonade. Xoriguer has distilled by the waterfront since around 1700 and runs tastings most days. Buy fish straight off the slab at the Mercat des Peix, or let Sa Llagosta cook it for you as a proper island stew.

Things to do

Tour the Xoriguer gin distillery

Sip a pomada on the quay

Buy fish at the Mercat des Peix

Fish stew at Sa Llagosta

Mooring tip

Marina di Mahón takes you stern-to for about €100–160 in peak season and is as sheltered as harbours get, whatever the wind does. If you would sooner anchor, Cala Padera down the inlet holds on sand in 5–7 m.

Day 7

Maó → Ciutadella

This is the committing day, so we are usually off the lines by nine. It is roughly twenty-four miles back to Ciutadella, and the run lifts you onto the north coast: rockier, emptier and far more open to the Tramuntana than the south you have been cruising. Cala Mesquida, just outside Maó, makes an early swim stop, and the narrow salt-pan inlet at Port d'Addaia is a calm place to break the passage. After that it is a steady leg west, usually with an afternoon breeze filling in. Aim to be alongside in Ciutadella by early afternoon to refuel and rinse off before handover. The harbour is a long, tight canal prone to sudden surges known as rissaga, so leave real slack in your lines. Finish with a greixonera, the island's cinnamon custard, on the Plaça des Born.

Things to do

Early swim at Cala Mesquida

Break the passage in Port d'Addaia

Refuel and rinse the boat at Ciutadella

Greixonera custard on the Plaça des Born

Mooring tip

Ciutadella berths stern-to at roughly €80–130 in peak season; refuel at the fuel berth by the entrance before you work your way in. The harbour can surge with the rissaga, so double up your lines and confirm the handover slot 24 hours ahead.