Western Mallorca - Mallorca - page 165

Scuba Activa DIVING, SNORKELLING
( 971 23 91 02; www.scuba-activa.com ; Plaça del Monsenyor Sebastià Grau 7; dive incl equipment
€38, equipment per day €15-17; 9am-6pm Apr-Oct) This well-run dive centre takes you in-
to the depths of the brilliantly clear waters around Illa de Sa Dragonera, among Mal-
lorca's best for scuba diving, with equipment rental and a full range of courses. It also
runs one-hour snorkelling trips (€29).
DON'T MISS
HIKING THE RUTA DE PEDRA EN SEC
A breathtaking week of walking in Mallorca will see you traverse the entire moun-
tainous northwest, from Cap de Formentor to Sant Elm. Old mule trails constitute
the bulk of the (still incomplete) 167km GR221 walking route, aka the Ruta de Pedra
en Sec ( Dry Stone Route ). The name refers to the time-honoured dry stone building
technique here and throughout the island. In the mountains you'll see paved ways,
farming terraces, houses, walls and more built of stone without the aid of mortar.
The GR221 begins in Pollença near Can Diable and the Torrent d'en Marc stream,
but you could start with a day's march from Cap de Formentor. A reasonably fit
walker can accomplish the eight-stage stretch from Pollença to Port d'Andratx in
four days, but it's worth adding on an extra few days to include stops in some of
the beautiful villages en route.
The first stretch is an easy walk of about four to five hours gradually curving
southwest to the Monestir de Lluc ( Click here ) , where you can stay overnight. You
will ascend about 600m in the course of the day, before dropping back down a little
to the monastery. The following day sees another fair climb to over 1000m, taking
you past the Puig de Massanella (1365m), southwest to the Embassament de
Cúber dam, past Puig de l'Ofre (1093m), which many like to tick off the list, and
down the Biniaraix ravine to Sóller to sleep. You might want to spend a couple of
days here to explore the surrounding area.
To Deià ( www.deia.info ) you're looking at two to three hours' walking (from Sóller
you could follow several trails, not just the GR221) and another two hours for
Valldemossa ( www.valldemossa.com ) . Those in a hurry could make it as far as Es-
tellencs but, again, you might want to spread the walking over a couple of days. The
last day would see you hiking from Estellencs to Sant Elm via La Trapa .
The walking requires a reasonable level of fitness but no special skills or equip-
ment, other than good boots, sun protection, water bottle and so on. Good map-
reading and compass skills are essential, as paths are not always well marked (one
of the delays in completing the GR221 trail has been that 92% of the Serra de Tra-
muntana is private property and many rights of way are disputed). With various al-
ternative routes, it is easy to become disoriented.