Information on Santa Ponsa
Anchored in Santa Ponsa June 2018 some 9 days for repairs and eventually got lifted out in the Club Nautico there to fix the drive shaft. The bay is still a very busy spot with a lot of boats coming in and leaving every day.

The main anchoring spot to the south of the bay is separated to the north by shallows marked by a buoy to the west and a pole to the east. These shallows are no joke! They start immediately with the buoy and extend to the area around it and towards the east.
Make sure to read the charts if you plan on going there before and give that marked area a wide berth! We saw a boat run aground there in the middle of the day in good weather conditions.

It is also possible to anchor in the north of the bay as seen on satellite images but passing ferries and motorboats make some decent waves there during the day. Anchoring ground is sand, everywhere else in the bay you find thick seagrass/Posidonia.

It’s not a bad idea to inquire about your neighbors chain length for opinions on how much to put out differ very much as always, but so close to each other with winds changing often, we’ve seen a few crashes and even more near misses.

Getting lifted out of the water in Santa Ponsa club Nautico was only one phone call away and the next day we could do it, they lift the boats only Monday to Friday. The boat is some 14 meters long and 20t heavy and one way cost us some 250€, four and a half days in the dock plus in and out of the water cost us some 850€ all together. Prices are on their website.

The marina is quite narrow (in our opinion too narrow for boats <12m) and it pays to go early in the morning to avoid winds.

There are some service companies in the Marina if you require help. We stayed on land for 4,5 days over the weekend for extensive repairs by ourselves, staying on the boat was no problem with water and electricity. The facilities in the dry dock itself including a toilet and a cold shower did the job but were in very bad shape.

If you need Parts there is a kind of industrial area in Santa Ponsa called 'Polygon Industrial de Calvia', going there by taxi will be some 6-10€. A lot of nautic related companies have their shops there and anything they don't have they can order, everyone will send you to 'Multi Marine son Bugadelles' in C/o Valencia 57. If you need parts immediately, a taxi to Palma will cost you around 25-30€ one way, making the driver wait not too long and taking the same taxi back should be free. Bus to Palma is 3-4€.

Santa Ponsa itself offers quite a variety of places to visit, activities and shops. If you try to avoid the tourist crowded areas, you can find some local jewels like super fresh produce shops and so on.

Despite the repairs, we enjoyed our prolonged stay in Santa Ponsa.

I anchored in Santa Ponca during the summer months of 2016. Santa Ponca may be the only place you can anchor for free on the south coast of Mallorca. The Santa Ponca anchorage has easy access to express buses to Palma, the airport, and other destinations via the central bus station. There are a few decent authentic Spanish bars/restaurants, etc… nearby, but most other establishments cater to the majority UK tourists.

The best place to land a dinghy is on the beach (despite clear demarcation sometimes it can be difficult to dodge swimmers and drag a dinghy ashore). There are some other places on the sides of the harbour, but the local residents try to discourage dinghies tying up.

The city of Santa Ponca usually schedules many live concerts on the beach. They usually last way past midnight, and can be quite boisterous. The beach has no or very few toilet facilities. Buses, rental car agencies, and taxis are abundant near the beach landing area. There is at least one major supermarket within walking distance of the beach.

While the supermarket has a great variety and selection, the parking lot is rife with thieves. Our rental car was burgled during broad daylight in the parking lot in the less than one hour while we shopped. The thieves took, credit cards, money, mobile phones, watches, gifts, etc… We reported the burglary to both the Policia Local, and the supermarket management. No one blinked an eye and we have never received even a courtesy email.

There is a marina (with a fuel dock, fresh potable water, showers, and coin laundry), which, at least, during the summer time is very expensive. Any boat can use the fuel dock to either obtain fuel or just potable water. Of course, if just getting potable water, it is recommended to go during the less busy time (4-6pm).

Anchoring in the harbour is always tight (close to other boats). I noticed quite a few boats maintaining double anchorages (meaning they would anchor, leave an anchor and either a buoy and/or a dinghy). Some would return before the end of the day, but most wouldn’t return for days. These weren’t local boats, they were experienced (non-Spanish flagged) cruisers depriving the rest of us a spot to anchor.