View of the anchorage from the archeological park

If it hadn't been for the swell that disturbed our sleep for 3 nights I would rate the Santa Ponsa anchorage very highly. Although the swell wasn't so bad it made us want to leave it was annoying in the early hours especially after being hit on the head by my mobile and my glasses as they fell off a shelf during a particularly vigorous roll.

It's a big anchorage, with good anchoring depths (we're in 4m) and good holding mostly in sand with a few weed patches. During the week it wasn't so busy but it's heaving over the weekend. We've seen that a possible deterant to boats anchoring too close is to stand naked and pee off the back deck as the arriving boats circle around you. Certainly worked for a French boat we saw, although I also saw far too much as we dinghied past.


Sunset over the anchorage

The resort itself is touristly but smaller, more scenic and quieter than its brash neighbour Magaluf and with lots of nationalities visiting. Plenty of bars and restaurants with all types of cuisine, reasonable drinks prices (€1.80 for wine, €2.50 for large beer) and two Eroski supermarkets. There is also a fantastic butchers where we stocked up on lamb chops ready for a future bbq.

There are scenic views to the mountains inland, seen even better high up from the archaeological park which is walkable from where we parked the dinghies. A bit of up through a scrubby park and a final ascent up a rocky pinnacle to give really great views down to the anchorage and beyond. The beaches are clean with a large one at the head of the bay with umbrellas and loungers; a more secluded cove lies on the south shore and was opposite where we anchored.


Exploring the archeological park

We had a reunion with our Dutch friends on Pimentao and went along to cheer on Holland in their final group game in the World Cup.

On the 23rd June the Spanish celebrated the shortest night by gathering on the beach and setting it alight with tealights, candles and little fires. Groups of people sat around with the lights nestled in hollows dug into the sand forming circles of fire around them. It looked very pretty. At midnight we headed down to the sea where the tealights were set sail and gently bobbed their way out into the bay.


Nit de foc

Friday was 'tourist' day for us - we took a bus into Palma with Pat and Duncan and had a few hours wandering the old town. We did make the mistake of getting the round-the-resorts bus on the way there which took forever (1 and 1/4 hours) stopping at all the resorts along the coast to Palma including Magaluf and Palmanova. We did get to see some of the anchorages on the way although they didn't look that great that day with an onshore breeze. The munber of boats of every size in Palma's marimas was staggering, no wonder anchorages get full in high season if just a fraction of those boats headed out. The direct bus on the return wasn't so fast as the first bus broke down as it arrived at the bus station, by the time a replacement arrived there was double the people and it was a scrum to get on. I wish people could learn to queue nicely! Friday evening we hit the bars of Santa Ponsa for some live music. We headed to the north end where a street is lined with mostly Irish bars and found one with a couple of blokes tuning up. What was supposed to be an hour or so out ended up with us leaving the second bar at 4am after dancing our socks off to two sets of really great musicians. I was very happy as they pulled an excellent version of 'Love Cats' out of thin air for me having said they didn't really know it.


Trip to Palma

Practicalities:

Diesel is available from the marina, as is drinkable water which costs €1 for 45 litres, available from the fuel pontoon.

Many shops and supermarkets in town including a medium sized and a big Eroski supermarket (strangly sited across the road from each other about 100m apart).

Dinghies couldn't be left on the beach but there were places to tie up around the rocky shore with rings or bollards to tie to. We used a concrete platform on the south side where there were several bollards and the dinghies were sheltered from the swell.
Recycling and rubbish bins available along the streets.
There are showers along the main beach and one in the cove on the south side. The showers were handy for rinsing off my dive gear after giving Emerald's bottom a scrub as she is looking a bit too green instead of red under there.
Tourist information in the middle of the main beach.
Buses to other towns including to Palma (€3.40 each way, around 40 minute journey time).