With the Summer-like temperatures of the last few days it seems as though the beach season has almost started in earnest even though the water temperatures are still quite icy. Still, it might be time for sharing a secret, mightn’t it?

I don’t like going to the beaches in the Summer. They are too crowded, too noisy, too perfectly equipped, for my liking, and, in general, less attractive to me the more popular they are to others. Whilst I agree that you won’t find a nicer beach on the island than Platja d’es Trenc, one must admit that in June, July, August and September, all the plastic sunbeds, the melon vendors, the yachts anchoring off-shore, the thousands of people and their hectic beach-life activities just put one off. I either go there early in the morning before the masses get out of bed, or late in the afternoon when the hordes pack up and return for their half-board supper in their hotels. Or else, I go to a beach where there is none of the above and enjoy the peace and quiet and primarily, the unspoilt landscape and virgin nature. You can still find virgin beaches here on the island. I’ve been to three of them in the last fortnight and there were but a handful of visitors on either of them. Even in the Summer, you won’t find more than three dozen people there on a stretch of 500 metres. I can live with that.

If you are curious about such beach treasures, try Es Canons, near Colònia de Sant Pere, or the Platja d’es Caragol (see photo), near the Cap Ses Salines lighthouse, or the Platja d’es Pregons Petits, not far from Colònia de Sant Jordi. You will have to walk for twenty minutes in each case, which is good for your exercise and it also keeps the hordes away, and you will have to bring your own refreshments but you will be rewarded with a vista and a feeling of Mallorca as it would have been found fifty years ago, unspoilt and full of character.

I have mentioned an excellent website for beaches before and I don’t mind repeating myself. They give accurate descriptions of 208 Mallorcan beaches, in Catalan, Castellano, French, English, German and Italian, complete with photos and detailed descriptions as to how to get to each one of them.

The photo was taken near Ses Salines, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 9th, 2012. The time was 17:14:55.