The 18 best beaches in Menorca
Fine white sand, the sea an almost-unbelievable shade of turquoise, and the prettiest scenery - Menorca's beaches are often compared to the Caribbean, and yet they're so close to home. These are the most beautiful of them all.
AlamyCala Mesquida
Mesquida is the resort beach that hides in plain sight: a less-visited, still-stunning expanse of deep sand that provides parking, toilets and lifeguards, plus lunches at Cap Roig (restaurantcaproig.com) and delicious homemade gelati from Lucas Soldati's beach van.
Flickr.com/MorfheosCaló Blanc
Notwithstanding one sandy notch, you lay a towel on a rocky foreshore. So, why come? For astonishing water. Plunge off the rocks and you drift in a sea that is not just aqua but which glitters with a pale, sapphire brilliance.
AlamyCala del Pilar
First the bad news: this wild beach requires a 30-minute walk in. The good? The track is beautiful - a slow escape from the everyday - the colours once there almost Antipodean in intensity and the mineral-rich earth headlands offer a free mudpack.
Michel FiguetCala Mitjaneta
Because Cala Mitjana, the main beach, gets busy, swim around a headland to Mitjaneta, painted in a palette of dark green pines, pale white limestone, silver sand and teal water. There's only room for 20 or so sunbathers. Make sure you're one of them.
AlamyCala Trebalúger
Nature and nurture for your soul on one of the quietest virgin beaches of the south coast, a 20-minute walk from Cala Mitjana. There's a secret, too: a river in the gorge behind where terrapins plop and kingfishers flash like blue sparks. Keep it quiet.
Flickr.com/Franco VanniniCala Escorxada
Though new boat-taxis from Cala Galdana mean more sunbathers - if you're active the 45-minute coastal walk from Sant Tomas is beautiful - Escorxada retains a virgin beauty; a sliver of pale sand and clear azure water cradled between pine-draped cliffs. Bliss.
Flickr.com/Dave StoneCalas Coves
This brings out the mystic in everyone: from the prehistoric tribes who honeycombed its cliffs with caves to the hippies who dropped out here in the 1970s. Come not for the beaches but scenery straight from a myth; a natural auditorium built of sea, cliffs and sky.
Platges de Binigaus
Stay at the near end for deep, white powder and lunch in a lovely chiringuito, Es Bruc. Go beneath cliffs at the far end for privacy and nudism. Either way, this pristine natural beach is a place to linger for the sunset.
Flickr.com/Marc Puig i PerezCala Presili
No beach in Menorca whispers Caribbean like this ribbon of white sand before water the colour of lapis lazuli. Wallow in warm shallows, gaze to a candystriped lighthouse on Cap Favàritx and remember how much money you've saved. Cocktails tonight!
Platja d'en Tortuga
The sand still dazzles, the sea is still gorgeous. But the 1.2km walk beyond Cala Presili means more space and more tranquillity to appreciate the beauty of the surrounding S'Albufera des Grau Natural Park.
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AlamyCala Pregonda
Powder sand, glassy water and strange islets sculpted by the wind - Pregonda is the stuff of postcards. Bring your snorkelling gear: you're in Menorca's marine reserve, where fish flit through the Posidonia grass meadows between islets.
Platja de Cavalleria
Come to Cavalleria for all the benefits of a wild beach - a long scimitar of sand and shimmering blue-green sea beneath a flawless sky - without any of the hassle of access: the car park is just behind.
AlamyCala d'Algaiarens
There's a silky spread of sand near the car park, but a second beach tucked behind the headland is the one to go for: quieter, deeper, with shade beneath pines at its far end and a hippy cave to explore on the hill.
Rex/ShutterstockPlatges Son Saura
Two sand crescents arcing either side of a point, this beach is low-key by local standards - one reason why it's a favourite among Menorcan families. Another is that its sheltered shallows are supremely safe for children.
Platja des Grau
Tots in tow? They'll love a bay of bath-warm water that's barely knee-deep 50m out. There are also nature walks, tapas bars in Es Grau village and Robinson Crusoe fantasies on Ile de Colom, reached by kayak hired from Menorca en Kayak (menorcaenkayak.com).
AlamyCala des Talaier
Walk around the coast from Son Saura and hoik over a stone wall to discover a simple slice of the Med before it became cool. Space can be limited on a high summer weekend. At other times this idyllic notch proves small really is beautiful.
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Flickr.com/hugos007Cala Turqueta
A gorgeous virgin beach spread between pine trees and sea of an eye-popping teal. The catch? It's so popular they've erected a monitor of parking spaces 15 miles away. Arrive early. If you're feeling brave, there's a cliff-jump on one side.
Flickr.com/Leonardo FaleroCala Macarelleta
This is a postcard playa, its water so clear that yachts appear to hang in space. A restaurant on adjacent big sister Macarella sorts out lunch. Arrive by 10am to guarantee a spot in high summer - such is the price of fame.
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Flickr.com/Carlos GarciaCala Turqueta
AlamyMesquida cove
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Flickr.com/Cesar VellidoCala Macarelleta beach
Flickr.com/Sönke BiehlCala Macarelleta beach
Rex/ShutterstockCala Macarelleta beach
Alamy