Palma de Mallorca - Docking
There are several places where yachts may berth in Palma and there are about 3000 berths within the bay.
Marinas:
Real Club Nautico de Palma is one of Spain’s foremost yacht clubs. The clubs marina has one thousand berths that are managed from the Capitania building at the western end of the main quay. The old clubhouse continues to be in the old port and the clubs yard and repair facilities are also concentrated here. Members of known yacht clubs are usually allowed to use the clubs restaurant but those who wish to reserve a place for their yacht must make arrangements well in advance as the marina is normally full to capacity. The busiest time is the summer when the club hosts the famous Copa del Rey, whereas Easter week is set aside for the Trofeo Santa Sofia. Cruisers report that fees here are very reasonable and include water, electricity, WiFi and use of the pool.
Adjacent to the club, in the old harbour basin, is Marina Moll Vell (previously call Pier 46). It is used mostly by local boats and rarely has available spaces. It is here that the annual boat show is held during the week preceding Easter.
The first marina along the Paseo Maritimo west of Club Nautico is Marina Port de Mallorca. The marina has 150 berths, most occupied by larger yachts. The marina office is on the north side of Paseo Maritimo at No. 35, but there is a dockmaster’s office on the main quay.
Next is Marina Alboran which is now called Naviera Balearis. It is opposite Hotel Mirador and is a Sunsail charter base. Its main office is also located on Paseo Maritimo in premises that are shared with the Voyage travel agency. Visitors’ berths are available and mid-week is best.
Pantalan de Cuarentenas is a smaller concession with 80 berths for smaller yachts and 12 berths for larger vessels. A similar concession is Pantalan del Mediterraneo which aims at attracting larger yachts with 60 berths for yachts between 20 and 75 metres.
Club de Mar, located at the western end of Paseo Maritimo, has around 600 berths, some of which can take very large yachts of up to 125 metres. Several specialized companies are based in the marina offering a wide range of repair services. Next to the marina is Astilleros Mallorca for haul-outs and underwater work. This marina is reported to be pricey!
Anchorage:
There is an anchorage in front of Palma cathedral, however only in calm conditions with no swell. It is difficult to find a dinghy landing near here.
Las Illetas
About 4Nm west of Palma. This anchorage is sheltered apart from south easterly winds with good holding. Semi-private beach and clubhouse. Very busy in the summer.
Cala Major
Protected in all winds except those from the south, sandy bottom. Bus into town (number 4) from here and dinghy can be left at Calanova Marina. Can be rolly.
Puerto El Arenal
Yachts can anchor north or south of the port, holding is good, and access the marina via tender. There is a small chandlery outside the marina gates. Good anchorage for picking up crew from a nearby airport, or dropping off.
Last updated: September 2020
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We spent three weeks in Palma in 2020 – two in RCNP in February and one in Port de Mallorca in October. Both had reasonable rates for our 17m Oyster, around €70 per night.
Recommend:
* ElectroMarine for electrical work. We had Mastervolt Lithium Ion batteries installed. Mark Racine mark@electromarine.es +34 657 61 25 16
* Tolo Massanet Brummel solved a problem with our MASE generator very quickly. tmnautica@outlook.com +34 678 57 67 35
* Mike Barnes at Guardian Yacht Services for most things. mike@guardianyachtservices.es +34 611 324 466
Hope this helps!
I had several works done in Palma de Mallorca and Santa Ponça in the past two months on our one-year old HR 48: bottom Coppercoat antifouling, welding a bent cheek of the bow roller, waxing the sides of the boat above the waterline, installing the Iridium Pilot, installing the SSB-Pactor ICOM M802, etc.
We had great service and fair price by A+ rigging who modified-insulated the backstay and did a complete rig check.
We had fair prices by Club Nautico Santa Ponça that lifted the boat. However, when they pressure washed the bottom of our boat, that had self-polishing blue antifouling done at the Hallberg-Rassy yard after construction, they sprayed the blue paint over the two adjacent boats in addition to the teak deck of our boat.
We had a good welding of the bow roller cheek by Metalnox (who however initially suggested a 700 Euros cost but later presented a bill of 2,100 Euros without discussing the difference with us beforehand).
We had a bad experience with SNIP who wanted to apply only two layers of Coppercoat and put in the water the next day (Coppercoat recommend four to five layers applied in the same day and 3 days drying process!). I had to baby-sit them everyday because they always tried to cut corners. They also threw away lots of expensive paint because did not want to apply the 5th layer.
We had good installation of the Iridium Pilot by Horizon Marine but they had three different people doing the same installation because one person knew one part for the installation but did not now the second part or the third part. Many more hours than necessary and they charge 80 Euros by the hours.
Another good electrician was Vladimir Stoyanov, expert in power management.Vladimir.stoyanov1@gmail.com)
Very good job by FerdiNautic who did the 50 hour maintenance of the generator.
Yacht Center Palma is a great marine supply store. Ask of Peter for advices.
Thanks to the comments above, we waited out a storm in Portal Vells, then moved to the anchorage by the Cathedral. It’s March so it’s empty. We took our dinghy into RCN Palma and booked to go in for 4 days €47 a night for a 14m yacht. Because of the problems documented with tying up the dinghy, I told them we were at the anchorage and wanted to also tie up the dinghy the day before we arrived. The bureaucracy involved for them is almost as much as for a yacht. The nice lady, asked me how long and how wide it was, worked out the price and then we parked our dinghy there the next day for the total sum of €4.02. Well worth it. It is a long ride from the anchorage though. I should add that the Captiania lady and the marineiro we dealt with were both really nice and very helpful
Palma is massive and potentially quite intimidating due to the number of ferries and cruise liners. However these are easily avoidable and, even entering at night, I didn’t have a problem getting across the entrance and to Real Club Nautico de Palma. I only stayed here for 1 night in July and it cost 93 euros for a 10m yacht, the most I have ever paid.
But the facilities were excellent and staying here gets you to access the other club facilities including a spa, restaurant, gym and swimming pool. Washing machines were the only disappointment as there were only 3 for a large marina, and you have to be up early to make sure you can get in! As with all other Spanish marinas, I stayed at the staff were really helpful. All services for repair and maintenance were available but it would be an expensive place to stay if awaiting a repair.
If you want a couple of days rest and relaxation in some comfort I would thoroughly recommend it, especially as you couldn’t get a decent hotel with these facilities for the same price.
I can only confirm what Scarcity says: Palma is intimidating for people with a small budget.
We arrived after 2 days at sea from Sardinia and went inside La Longa marina. They charge per square meter, we ended up paying €67 for one night. Basic facilities but very central.
We moved to the anchorage in front of Palma cathedral. Anchoring is fine as long as there is no swell, great view!
Anchoring is also possible at Las Isletes a little to the West.
What’s really difficult is “parking” your boat or dinghy anywhere inside the port for a short shopping trip or airport pick-up. On Sundays and holidays it’s possible (not officially, of course) to put the yacht at the fishermen’s petrol station (Repsol, more in the centre quite far inside the port) for a couple of hours or even for the night (make sure you are gone by 5 a.m.!!). Don’t do the same at the other petrol station opposite. We tried and got in trouble, had to pay around €40.
Finding a place to park the dinghy is also difficult when you are anchoring outside the port, there is nowhere to put it. We had to drive the dinghy all the way inside the port (25 minutes with our 3HP outboard engine).
But: Palma is really the place to get anything fixed and organised. We were thinking of getting our diesel tanks cleaned and asked for a quote. We ended up having it done the next day in the morning (!!) for less than 300.-€
I brought my new Lagoon 39 from France to Mallorca in April 2015 to have the purchased options installed and was docked at Club de Mar for a month.
Club de Mar is very expensive and inconvenient. I paid for one month of docking more than 3,500 Euros and the shower and toilet facilities were located about 800 meters away from the berth.
Club de Mar is strictly for mega yachts, with owners that don’t care about price and facilities. On top of the expensive price for the berth, water, electricity and Internet are charged extra.
Palma is intimidating for anyone who doesn’t have a superyacht and Bill Gates’ bank account. But it is the place to get anything done anywhere in the Med.
For all-around help on nearly any issue, the man to know is Marco Witkamp, owner of Palma Maritime. He is extremely knowledgable, responsible and accountable to owners.
Anchorage SW Bay of Palma
39°28′.439N, 002°31′.341E
Cala Portals Vells, SW side of the bay of Palma 7.5 miles SW of Palma
Good holding sand & weed outside of approach to Marina Portals Vells, open to southerlies
2 nice sand beaches and the marina
Charts show in “Restricted area (Entry Prohibited),” but as in most spots on SE Mallorca it is not enforced and there are many boats anchored all the time.