Port de Pollença, Mallorca

We recently went on holiday to Mallorca, one of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. For anyone thinking "doesn't he mean Majorca?" Well, yes you can call it that if you want but the locals speak Catalan and that's what they call it. The island is Spanish so both Catalan and the more commonly Castilian Spanish are spoken but all the official notices and road signs are in Catalan so you might as well get used to it.

Port de Pollença Harbour

The town is pretty much a tourist resort but a good bit quieter than nearby Port d'Alcúdia, one of the most popular resorts on the island. We stayed in the Oro Playa aparthotel in Port de Pollença (Puerto Pollensa) in the North of the island. The accommodation was good but, like most places we stay when on holiday, we almost never partake of the laid-on entertainments or restaurants so can't say much more than that. It was clean and well kept and the staff were very friendly., which is pretty much all we wanted The only downside was its proximity to the Puerto Azul hotel, which blasted out endless holiday songs at high volume for its kids club. Seriously, if you don't have kids, then don't ever consider going to the Puerto Azul, you'll be suicidal in a week.

As for the resort itself, the town is centred around the harbour area and the main square, where there are loads of restaurants and snack bars. There's also a very good beach stretching down from the South side of the town and around the bay. As for the eateries themselves, most are very good quality quality and I don't think we had a bad experience in the two weeks we were there. As ever, the Indian restaurants are woeful compared to those at home but we've gotten used to that by now and expectations of a decent curry abroad were set aside long ago. The nightlife is another issue though - there's very little of it. The resort is obviously more aligned to family or elderly tourists so if you're looking for a wild nightlife go to Alcúdia instead.

Port de Pollença Beach

It's not completely bar-free though and we did find a couple of decent ones near the main square, one Australian and two Irish-themed ones. Not that they'd ever seen a real Aussie or Son of Eire behind the bar but they were lively enough and had some live music most nights. We ended up in Mulligan's most nights as the area's only decent rock band, and the only one we could find in the resort, called The Hustlers played there several times a week. The downside was there are also two Elvis impersonators doing the rounds. One, a young fit-looking guy, was really bad and seemed to sing anything but Elvis numbers and the other looked like he'd lived the Elvis lifestyle and was close to expiring at any minute. I'm sure he also had a Glasgow accent.

There's not a lot else to do in Port de Pollença. I did find a little nature reserve called l'Espai Humit de la Gola. If you walk along the front, you'll notice a little bridge over a stream that's pretty full of fish. and always attarcts a few tourits. If take the road leading off on either side of this, you can get down into the reserve. It's not large but it's a pleasant stroll through a butterfly and bird infested wetland area. There appeared to be a resident Little Egret that was always worth watching as it pranced around catching who knows what in the shallows.

l'Espai Humit de la Gola

So, to sum it up - good beach and good food but not the best of night-life although Alcúdia isn't far away. If you want to get out of Port de Pollença for the day, there a decent walk though the Boquer valley to Cala Boquer, you can also walk over to Cala San Vicente but that's a bit more strenuous. Getting to the little town of Pollença or Alcúdia is easy by bus too and there's always car hire if you want to go further afield.