Calas de Mallorca is a modern purpose built resort on the east coast of the island, approximately 70km or 44 miles, away from Palma and the Son Sant Joan International airport. Although the resort is part of the municipal district of Manacor, the nearest inland town is actually Felanitx. Recognising that a boundary between the two municipal districts has to be drawn somewhere, someone in authority has decided that the interests of Calas de Mallorca would be best served by Manacor.

From experience, the transfer time east from the airport can be a lengthy 1.1/2 to 2 hours, which for most visitors from the UK is almost as long as the flight to the island itself. This journey time can usually be trimmed a little if you choose to either take a taxi transfer, or are confident enough to collect a pre-booked hire car from the airport and drive. Although it has to be said that if you do decide to drive, the route is not particularly easy, and may actually take longer than a tour operators coach transfer.

The route east will take you along the Ma-19 motorway to the town of Campos, where you need to join the Ma-5120 to Felanitx. From here the the final few miles over to Calas de Mallorca is where it starts to become complicated, however, in response to the large number of requests that we have received over the last few weeks, we have now attempted to produce a more detailed version of this route, complete with links to maps where appropriate, which can be found on the Route Map link on the left hand frame of this page.

For those visitors opting for a taxi transfer, the taxis from the ranks outside of the arrivals hall are numerous, although on occasions you should be prepared to queue, and in theory at least, should all operate on a fixed price basis, typically charging around 70 Euro for the journey to Calas de Mallorca, however experience has shown that this "fixed price" may vary slightly depending upon the number of suitcases, the time of day or night of the journey, and of course the number of passengers carried.

Also an important consideration for families with small children, is that these taxis do not as a rule carry child seats, therefore children may have to sit on their parent's knee for the journey. If this is a cause for concern, we strongly recommend that you make arrangements for a pre-booked taxi to be waiting for you, and clearly specify at the time of booking that a child seat is needed for the journey.

A number of travel writers have unfairly branded Calas and the surrounding area, as being "somewhat reminiscent of Basingstoke new town". In all fairness although I've never visited Basingstoke, I and thousands of other visitors, have spent a number of very good family holidays in Calas de Mallorca, and cannot imagine how the comparison can be justified.

Overall the resort is quiet and generally relaxed, and is perhaps most suited to those visitors looking for a base from which to explore the east coast more, although you'll need to recognise that public transport around most of the east coast is very limited, and somewhat unreliable, so if you do wish to explore beyond the resort, car hire is highly recommended.

If you do have a strong sense of adventure, daily buses run over to Palma around 10 times each day during the summer months, north to Porto Cristo 3 times a day, and also inland to the town of Manacor, which is the home of the Majorca Pearl industry. Although we will endeavour to cover this in more detail on our Attractions and Amenities pages, these artificial pearls are produced in a special process that somehow combines glass and pulverised fish scales and the resulting article is then barely distinguishable from the genuine thing.

For beach lovers, Calas de Mallorca has three small sandy coves called Cala Antena, Cala Domingos Gran and Cala Domingos Petit, all of which offer the usual selection of pedalos and water sports to choose from. However, one thing certainly to be aware of is that the sea does have strong undercurrents, and may not be suitable for either weak swimmers or children. The largest of the three beaches is Cala Domingos, which does carry the European Blue flag for cleanliness, but at a little less than 100m wide it can become very crowded during summer weekends.

Throughout the day, and well into the evenings during the summer months, the Calas Express road train runs between the beaches, or alternatively if you are feeling especially energetic, or brave, you can always take the coastal path which is cut into the cliffs.

The resort has a reasonable selection of bars and shops concentrated at the Centro Commercial, which should suffice for the everyday essentials of holiday life, but in all fairness to the resort, if you do move away from the hotel and apartment complexes there are few other family attractions or activities in the town. So, if you are looking for all day activities, it's best to ensure that these are available at your hotel before booking. Evening entertainment here is also mainly hotel based, although the resort does have a small, but ever growing number, of live music bars.

The Sunday morning market at the nearby town of Felanitx is widely recognised as being one of the best in Majorca, and is well worth a visit. This is always a good place to pick up some local pottery, but you'll need to be prepared to haggle with the traders if you want to pick up the best bargains.

All things considered, Calas de Mallorca, as with most of the other east coast resorts, does tend to attract families and may not have enough appeal, or variety, for groups of young singles.

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