Bay of Palma

The Bay of Palma is the broad, south-facing bay that S'Arenal sits at the eastern edge of. Looking west from the beach on a clear day, you can see the entire arc of the coastline: the cathedral and old city of Palma in the middle distance, the hills behind it, and the western headlands receding into haze. It is one of the better views on the island's southern coast, available simply by standing on the beach and looking left.

The bay's orientation and the consistent summer trade winds make it one of the most popular sailing and windsurfing areas in the Balearics. The water is warm enough for swimming from May to October. Snorkelling directly off the beach at S'Arenal gives you sandy bottom and reasonable visibility — the more interesting marine environment is around the rocky headlands outside the main beach zone.

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The bay stretches roughly 30 kilometres from Cap de Cala Figuera in the west to Cap Blanc in the east, and has been a natural harbour since antiquity. The Romans knew it as Portus Magnus — the Great Port — and the sheltered anchorage is what drove the founding of Palma (then Palmeria) as the island's capital in the 1st century BCE.

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