Cala Bota

Cala Bota is the mouth of a seasonal stream on the Manacor coast, near Cales de Mallorca: a small, narrow cove of pebbles and stone, no sand, between low limestone cliffs pitted with cave-like hollows, with a fallen tree trunk and the stream bed running down to the water. The water is clear and nearly always calm, because rocks at the entrance break the waves; with a mask, the bigger fish stay close to the sides. You can only walk in: park in a small, makeshift, sun-baked lay-by on the road, go through a gate into the estate and walk 15-30 minutes on a gravel track with some shade and plenty of goats, poorly signposted and easy to lose. There are no facilities. The most common complaint is cleanliness: as a stream-mouth cove open to the currents, after rain and storms it fills with plastic, mounds of seagrass and palm fronds, and in one summer the beach all but vanished under seaweed. Some people go without clothes, and few come at all – at midday in August, twenty at most. The top of the right-hand cliff has great views, but no railing. It suits walkers who want to be almost alone, not anyone after a comfortable lie-down.

Reviewed in November 2026