Cala Murta

Cala Murta is on the Formentor peninsula, past the Formentor hotel on the way to the lighthouse: a pine-filled valley that ends at a shore of round pebbles between two high rock walls, with intensely turquoise water that gets deep quickly. A few metres out there are patches of sand where you can stand, and along the rocks either side a mask shows you shoals of fish, sea urchins and starfish. Being so enclosed, it is one of the few coves around here where you can swim on a windy day, which is also why boats anchor in it. You walk in on a tarmac track that starts at the road, goes through a gate whose signs make it look like private land (the way is open) and drops through the pines, mostly in shade, in 20-30 minutes; there are a few picnic tables before the cove. There are no facilities and no bins: whatever you bring, you take back. The stars are the feral goats and donkeys, which come down to the water's edge and go through your bag the moment you swim. Few people come, though in August families arrive with inflatables. It is for confident swimmers and snorkellers, and pairs well with a walk; not for lying on sand or for non-swimmers.

Reviewed in November 2026