Mallorca’s famed caves are amongst the number of tourist sites that attract millions of visitors every year, together with the Cathedral and the Cartoixa de Valldemossa. Caves which are geared for visitors are accessible in Porto Cristo, near Artà, in Campanet and in Genova but, the best known caves are the Coves del Drac (or: Cuevas del Drach) just outside of Porto Cristo. The Drac caves are recorded on Cardinal Despuig‘s legendary map of Mallorca of 1784 but, were mentioned in a first written record of the caves as early as 1338. The Coves de Drac also have their place in a 1896 novel by Jules Verne (Clovis Dardentor).

All caves in Mallorca are quite spectacular and often breathtaking if you enjoy the natural beauty of stalagmites and stalactites and the fables of the underworld. It is a pity that the Drac caves are so overly popular because it has led to a commercialisation with sometimes unpleasant overtones and, frankly, I find the admission charge of 11.50 € quite exorbitant. I’ve been there four or five times over the years but, I did not venture back recently only to take a digital photograph of its undeniable splendour. I somehow prefer the caves of Artà, in Cap Vermell close to Capdepera. They are equally impressive with lighting effects that are less cheesy than those in Porto Cristo. The Artà caves are marginally cheaper than the Drac ones with a ticket price of 10.50 € per adult.

There are plenty of other caves in Mallorca of a similar fascination but without touristic exploitation. They are suitable for practising the sport of caving or spelunking, a potentially hazardous activity, attractive as it may be. I do not know enough to advise you and would rather direct you to people who appear to know better, such as rocksportmallorca.com who do a useful section on caving.

The photo (top) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and commons.wikimedia.org. The image (bottom) was also borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of Alta Mar and fabian.balearweb.net.

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