Palma Bay Boat Tour & Snorkeling (Sa Calma Boats) Review (2024)

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The beautiful waters of Mallorca Island are known for great conditions for snorkelling. After returning from our trip to Hawaii, where we snorkelled amongst the coral and swam next to turtles, we had high expectations coming into Mallorca.

We found a tour via GetYourGuide at a fairly reasonable cost of $52 CAD/person (approximately €35/person), which was not far from our resort.

Overview of Tour (agenda, price, meet-up location, inclusions)

The tour offered by Sa Calma Boats tour company offers the following for €34 per person:

• Total time of ~2.5 hours, which consisted of roughly a 50-minute boat ride to the Cala Velló area, a 50-minute snorkel/swim, and a 50-minute boat ride back
• Snorkelling would include gear (goggles, lifejacket) upon request
• 1 free drink (water, beer, or sangria)

The pick-up/drop-off location would be Club Marítim de Can Pastilla, with no shuttle to/from the hotel.

Review of Experience

A Tip on the Weather

Our experience would reflect going to Mallorca in spring, which often consisted of sunny days, but could get very cold fast with wind chill. Because of this, many of the boat riders were prepared for a warmer day and did not expect how cold it could get in the Mallorca waters.

So a big tip (if you’re going in spring) is to bring a jacket or sweater onboard – it’ll make the boat rides infinitely more enjoyable. If you don’t bring these, don’t fret, staying inside the boat is still enjoyable and will shield you from some of the wind chill.

Boat Ride

The ride to the snorkelling spot would be a fast and smooth one. Again, provided you bring a sweater to combat the wind chill, this portion will likely be an enjoyable one. The staff were incredibly friendly and would be very attentive to our needs. The drink prices (after you redeem your free drink) are very reasonable (~4€ for a glass of wine or beer or sangria). Food is not available on board.

The music played on the journey is a typical mix of English pop/hip-hop/oldies, and it is played reasonably loud so be aware of that.

The ride there is still fairly close to shore, so you’ll be able to spot lots of the local sailing hikers nearby en route to the snorkel/swim spot.

Snorkelling/Swimming

Upon arrival to the swimming spot, our entire boat group was hesitant to jump in given that the wind had chilled us all to the point where we needed to sunbathe a little. The water itself was frigid, not too dissimilar to the water we jumped into in Chilliwack, BC, which is not too far off from glacier water temperatures. However, the whole boat would eventually go for a dip in the water, and we all loved it. A cold dip isn’t for everyone, but for those who can stomach it – it’s an awesome experience! Just be aware that the water here is incredibly salty, which does help with buoyancy.

On snorkelling, we did not spot too much wildlife in the waters here, but the waters were indeed very clear. Fish were in abundance swimming below us, but nothing extremely notable was to be spotted.

Conclusion

Our group would recommend the boat tour in Palma to experience the beautiful waters of Palma. For a pure snorkelling experience, I would personally rate this tour as average, as there wasn’t too much wildlife to be spotted. However, the price was very reasonable and included a free drink, so I’d still recommend coming, especially in the summer when the waters are warmer.

If you’re up for a short drive or boat trip, places like Cala Varques, Cala Mondrago, and Cala Llombards offer crystal-clear waters and diverse marine life ideal for snorkelling adventures as well.

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