Sa Calobra is possibly Mallorca’s most-unique beach, set between two enormous cliff faces at the mouth of the ‘Torrent de Pareis’ which is a gorge that cuts through the mountainous terrain of the Serra de Tramuntana to the north-west of the island.
The beach at Sa Calobra itself and the incredible scenery of the surrounding gorge are a stunning sight and, if you’re coming here by car, the drive to Sa Calobra alone is an experience in its own right.
We’ve driven a lot of winding mountain roads around Europe but the drive to Sa Calobra could be the most winding, hairpin bend-filled one of them all.
Although it’s a good quality road, it’s actually quite a challenge to drive (and I’d imagine likewise even being a passenger) as you navigate a seemingly endless series of narrow switchback turns, with even at one point a full 360-degree loop turn (known as the ‘tie knot’), all the while trying your best not to be distracted by views which are constantly tempting you to take your eyes off the road and stare at the awesome combination of the bright blue sea against the mountainous backdrop.
We visited Sa Calobra in October – outside of peak season but still a busy time, particularly with cyclists who travel from all over the world to take on the famous route.
We set out early in the morning, which was well worth doing as the roads were quiet, with far more cyclists than other cars at that time of day.
Coming from the south, once you pass the beautiful port of Soller, the road begins to narrow and climb up into the mountains – and continues to do so for another hour or more of driving.
Even though the distance as the crow flies from Soller to Sa Calobra is pretty short, you have at least an hour of driving ahead – and that’s before factoring in a lot of time slowing down to squeeze past motorists coming the other way, overtake the many groups of cyclists grinding their way up the climbs, avoiding the cross-country ski training teams (who use skis adapted with rollers to train on the tarmac), not to mention the numerous stops to look at and photograph the breathtaking views.
By setting out on the drive to Sa Calobra early we missed out on all the tour buses, which arrived later in the day, and which must provide another challenge when passing them head-on or being stuck behind them as they wind their way up and down the mountain road.
Although the drive to Sa Calobra is a tricky one, it’s also one of the most stunning and impressive drives you might ever do in your life and the rewards come from the many viewpoints along the way as well as the incredible beach and gorge when you eventually reach the end.
Sa Calobra is a wild, remote beach without any actual facilities at the beach itself.
The road here ends at a car park, which was quite busy on this mid-week October morning that we visited – and is no doubt quite chaotic in the peak summer season, especially as it’s not particularly large.
We did however get a space easily – and then had to walk a few hundred metres down towards the sea.
There is a handful of restaurants and small shops here, before the path heads through tunnels carved into the cliffs.
There are viewpoints on this path and arguably the best view of Sa Calobra beach is looking at it from the path leading towards it – or as you approach it by sea.
There was an amazing view from the cliff-side path of the tiny piece of beach sat between these two overwhelming cliff faces, this shaft of sunlight slicing through the gap in the cliffs and illuminating a narrow part of the crystal clear sea, lighting it up bright blue in contrast to the darker areas alongside shaded by the towering cliffs.
We sat down on the beach and cooled off in the beautiful sea – a perfect way to recover from the long and difficult drive here, before exploring around a bit further into the gorge (where a river runs during wetter times of the year).
There are hiking trails up into the mountains through the Torrent de Pareis, but that wasn’t for us today, we were happy just taking in the amazing views and relaxing on the beach, until the crowds began to build a bit later on, following the arrival of numerous bus excursions which, even at this lower-season time of the year – began to fill the beach up a bit too much for our liking.
Driving to Sa Calobra was ideal for us on this particular day – and we thoroughly enjoyed experiencing the road there too, although may have found it less enjoyable at a busier time of year.
A far more relaxing way of getting to Sa Calobra is undoubtedly by boat. There is a passenger boat service between Port de Soller and Sa Calobra, which of course has beautiful scenery of a different kind, but we were glad to have made the drive and seen the road, which is a tourist destination in its own right.
On the way back, we took a detour towards Sa Calobra’s neighbouring cala – Cala Tuent, which, on this day at least, was our favourite beach on the whole of Mallorca. A virtually deserted, unbelievably tranquil and peaceful cove with amazing mountain scenery and none of the crowds of Sa Calobra just next door.