A Hike to Cala Sant Vicenç

Miguel is our new boss and co-founder of Predator Arquitectura SL. We offer architectural services there. For internal purposes as well as for external clients.

Miguel is from Mallorca. He spent a long time in Madrid in between. But as a family man, he loves the island as a great place to live.

And this very Miguel shares with me a passion for “men’s tours.” By that we really don’t mean pub crawls. Rather, well-kept hikes that aren’t too long, crowned by lunch afterwards.

The day before, I’d researched Cala Sant Vicenç on komoot and found a lovely route. Listed as “moderately difficult” and something like 4.5 hours. From the sofa, very manageable. And there was the option to simply shorten the tour.

At the EROSKI supermarket in Port de Pollença, you turn left if you’re coming from Pollença. And at the second roundabout there was a parking lot where we met. Who was late? Of course, the German …

Then came the typical problem with hikes in Mallorca: “Let’s take that other path there.” Meaning the path that’s clearly visible on Google Maps. Or in OpenMap maps or wherever. Only trouble is that someone put up a fence there. And the path isn’t passable.

So I realized that a variation of the hike didn’t really work and resigned myself to letting my phone tell me where we should trudge through the undergrowth.

I was actually wearing hiking boots. Heavy boots. In my possession for 25 years. Miguel had sneakers. But with my shorts I was at a disadvantage, because we struggled parallel to the ridge through Mallorca’s hostile tundra.

Suddenly we reached the spot where the “path” was supposed to kink steeply upwards. And by steep I mean steep. But since there was no path to be seen anywhere and scrambling over bare rock at a very steep incline is neither my thing nor looked particularly sensible, we simply continued parallel to the ridge.

What looked like a high plateau was unfortunately only an intermediate plateau. No real path leads away from there. Almost free of vegetation. So we kept forcing our way through until we somehow got back onto the main path.

Isn’t that a beautiful path? Exactly! Really easy to walk. Wonderful. We then marched slowly up the hill along the path toward Cala Sant Vicenç. The path gets narrower and it gets warmer and warmer, just under 30 degrees. Surely we won’t die of thirst on such an almost child-friendly hike?

It’s truly a platitude, but if you do a hike like this, remember water. And for the bald guys or those with thinning hair: remember a hat. Both are really essential. Now we’ve almost reached the “top”—in fact it’s barely a good 100 meters of elevation gain. But in the heat and after all the ups and downs it feels like much more.

The rest of the way is mostly downhill. We cross a torrent and meet an English hiker who is already on her way back. How disciplined some people are … The route winds in gentle turns along the slope toward Cala Sant Vicenç, the view opens onto sweet little holiday cottages probably from the 70s/80s, standing beneath the pines as if they were inseparably connected and time had just paused for a moment.

In the end we reach the small cove of Cala Sant Vincenç and enjoy an ice-cold cola. Somehow it feels a bit as if time has stood still here. And the light is very special.

Either way, a lovely little excursion. If you stick to the “normal” path from the start.

When we set off again, we decide—against all reason—to try the “unknown” route. You can imagine how that ended: in disaster.

First we follow the road to Cala Carbó, a gorgeous bay with super clear green water (sounds kind of paradoxical … super clear and green …).

Now we make the decisive mistake. Instead of simply following the path that would have gotten us to Port de Pollença quickly and comfortably, we trust my navigation skills and head off on the next wrong turn. Naturally uphill again …

There are always these so-called cairns on the “right” paths here. Supposedly you can’t get lost. But has anyone ever thought about the fact that a pile of stones on a scree slope isn’t particularly clearly defined?

And apparently everyone finds their very own special route, because there are piles of cairns everywhere. What that has to do with “little men” is the next question. They’re more like stone pyramids …

Anyway, we grumble and curse and the ridge doesn’t get any closer. At some point we simply give up. And go back …

When we’re back on the right path, we breathe a sigh of relief. Finally! It goes steadily, ever so slightly uphill. Without that nasty coarse scree that—and now it gets tragic—has finished off my beloved hiking boots.

Suddenly the sole of my 25-year-old Salomons starts to come loose. I curse and think, “this can’t be happening.” Apart from the heavy sentimental loss (I deliberately hiked very little to spare them!), walking becomes difficult because the front part of the sole is now hanging down. And I have to clomp around in a stork-like gait.

Hoping the shoes somehow hold out, I keep clomping along until the other shoe starts too. Can you believe it? 25 years, nothing. And then they “die” together? Almost a romantic notion!

At some point I actually tear the sole off, and the remaining layer is enough protection against the gravel and small stones, and we make it all the way to Port de Pollença.

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If you stick to the “normal” route, which is the shortest diagonal connection from Cala Sant Vicenç to Port de Pollença, then the hike is more of a lovely little walk with really great views.

You can skip the detour to “A” or the paths to the east that we took shortly after Cala Sant Vicenç … And in the end I have my doubts—for “normal people”—that the tour I’d picked out would have been doable in 4.5 hours. The problem here is often simply that there are no longer any access points. Then suddenly there are fences …

So if you get hikes recommended, make sure they’re reasonably up to date.

Afterwards, by the way, we rewarded ourselves with a stop at the Placeta Garden Restaurant—you absolutely have to read that!