Porto Colom tourist information

Porto Colom, one of several places in the world claiming to be the birth place of Christopher Columbus, is among east-coast Majorcas more charming resorts.

Located 20 kilometres south of Porto Cristo, it grew up around an existing fishing village and is more atmospheric than some of the entirely manufactured developments up and down the coast.

Fishing boats still bob up and down in the harbour at Porto Colom, and at the northern end of the quay the colourful fishermens cottages provide a charming view.

The main beach, Cala Marcal, is 500 metres from Porto Colom, backed by apartment blocks and hotels, with the hills of the Serres de Llevant further behind in the distance. It is a blue-flag rated piece of sand which gets cleaned every night and has a gently sloping entry to the water, making it popular with families. Its worth buying a mask and snorkel to check out the fish. Also worth a visit is the actual port, which has a more genuinely Majorcan feel. Locals wanting to sunbathe often prefer to use the less crowded pair of beaches in Porto Colom itself.

Around the harbour area there is a fair selection of shops for the everyday holiday essentials, along with more souvenir shops behind the beach at Cala Marcal, and it is here to a large extent, that most of the tourist development has taken place. The town has two reasonably sized supermarkets the first "Cas Corso", is next to the Cas Corso Apartments and the other Spar is situated by the side the harbour next to the Club Nautico offices. Both offer a good selection of fresh and cooked meats, wines and spirits, fresh fruit and vegetables, along with Mallorquin specialities and British branded products. But dont expect too much competition with their prices, as they are both owned by the same people.

From the international airport at Palma it usually takes around 1.1/4 hours to make the 65km journey eastwards, through the town of Felanitx and onto Porto Colom.