Cala Ratjada

Colm delights us with a poke bowl for dinner on our first night at anchor in the quiet bay of Cala Molto. Inspired by his meal out in Porto Cristo, he bought sushi rice before we left town this morning.
There are two other boats at anchor here and nothing ashore except a small beach at the foot of a pine forest. It feels remote but just over the rocky promontory there is another beach and 15 minute’s walk along it brings you to the resort town of Cala Ratjada.
We like the isolated buzz so we stay on this side and enjoy all the natural pleasures that surround us.
The snorkelling here is fabulous with lots of interesting rock formations to explore in crystal clear water. We swim to a cave on the shore below the pine forrest. Swallows dart in and out of the cave above us and then swimming below us are wrass, sea bream and the very cute chromis chromis.
The rocky promontory on the other side of the bay has fantastic under water features with boulders to swim between, a large plateau on which fish are feeding and a drop off where we can clearly see the seabed 20 meters below us. Ruby and Colm have become such confident snorkellers, it is a joy to watch them duck dive down to look at starfish or sea cucumber. Its like watching them float through a beautiful garden. Colm begins a ‘fish journal’ in which he draws and labels the fish he has seen. In it already there are pictures of Mediterranean Barracuda, flying Gurnard and Ray.
On our third evening here we pack a picnic and Ruby and I set off to row ashore. On the way, we call to say ‘hi’ to the crew of yacht ‘Kaos’. Meanwhile Colm and Ronan snorkel to the beach and when we land, Colm joins me for a walk. We wander up through the pine covered headland and have great fun practicing our Irish by making up scéalta. Ruby chooses to walk a different path for some much needed peace and quiet - it’s perfect until on the path ahead a red headed animal emerges from a bush. Ruby turns on her heel and promptly returns to the beach. There are big discussions as to what it could have been, a boar, a fox, a wolf? We come to the more pedestrian conclusion that it was probably a wild goat.
As we eat our picnic, we watch others pack up and leave as the sun goes off the beach. It cooler and quieter now, the perfect time to enjoy this beautiful place.Read more