Drive a few minutes west from Santa Ponsa and the coast softens into a string of pine-fringed coves and easy-going resorts. This is the quieter, greener edge of Calvià — and one of the prettiest stretches of Mallorca’s southwest.
Cala Fornells
Cala Fornells is the jewel: a small, sheltered cove of terracotta villas stacked above the water, pines leaning over the rocks, and turquoise water you’ll want to swim in straight away. It grew up gently in the mid-20th century as a low-rise, almost Italianate cluster of houses and small hotels, and it has kept that discreet, slightly exclusive feel — people sunbathe on the stone terraces as much as on the small beach. The long-running La Gran Tortuga, open since 1974, still serves Mediterranean food above the bay. It’s the kind of corner second-home owners tend to keep to themselves.
Peguera
Next door, Peguera (Paguera) is the all-rounder. Three sandy beaches — Palmira, Tora and Romana — are linked by a pedestrian promenade lined with shops, cafés and restaurants. It was, in fact, the first resort in Mallorca to import sand and build itself a beach. Long popular with German families — locals half-jokingly call it “little Germany” — it’s relaxed, well-kept and busy in the best sense, with a season that runs late: every October it hosts the Challenge Peguera triathlon.
And keep going
The southwest keeps giving. Camp de Mar is arguably the prettiest little resort on the island, with a restaurant on its own islet reached by a wooden footbridge and the Golf de Andratx beside it. Sant Elm sits at the very tip, looking across to Sa Dragonera. Coastal walks like Cap d’Andritxol open up long views over the whole coast. And Palma is still only about half an hour back the other way.
One home, the whole coast
All of it sits within easy reach of El Mirador, the renovated villa in Santa Ponsa — with the southwest coast as your backyard: the busy beaches when you want them, the quiet coves when you don’t.
