The popular holiday resort of Cala Galdana is the main coastal development of the municipal district of Ferreries, on the central south coast of Menorca, which is approximately 35km or 22 miles west of the capital Mahon and the Aeropuerto de Menorca international airport.

Although as the crow flies the distance from the centre of Cala Galdana to the airport, which is actually a little to the south of Mahon, is considerably less than 22 miles, the roads on Menorca aren't that fast, and it's not unusual for a coach transfer into resort to take approximately 30 to 45 minutes from the time you leave the airport grounds.

Although we recognise that most visitors to the area are on traditional package holidays, many of the tour operators now consider the transfer from the airport to your accommodation to be an optional extra, which in turn is leading more people to make their own arrangements for the journey by either pre-booked hire car, or alternatively by one of the many taxis from the ranks outside the arrivals hall.

Although taxis from the airport do operate on a fixed price basis, this "fixed price" can vary upon the number of suitcases, the time of day or night of the journey, the number of passengers carried, and finally the mood of the driver, although as a very rough guide the journey should cost around 35€ for a taxi carrying 4 people.

A point we cannot stress enough is that these taxis do not normally carry child seats, so very small children will have to sit on their parent's knee for the journey. If this is a cause for concern, we strongly recommend that you make arrangements for a pre-booked taxi to be waiting for you, and clearly specify at the time of booking that a child seat is needed for the journey.

Pre-booked taxis are often a little more expensive, although as with all things in life, you only get what you pay for.

The journey for those who have chosen to drive is for the most part fairly easy, even for an inexperienced driver on the island, although again an added complication is that in recent years the local Government has re-numbered most of the roads on Menorca, so make sure that you have an up to date map before setting out!

As with the other resorts on the island, we have put together the basic route for this journey, complete with links to maps where appropriate, and this is available from the Route Map link on the left hand frame of this page.

If however this all sounds a little too daunting, you should seriously consider making the journey by either taxi or coach, and then possibly hiring a car once you are settled in the resort.

Once you are in the resort, and have settled in to your accommodation, the journey east back to Mahon, or continuing west to Ciutadella, for shopping or sightseeing, is then possible by public transport, but only if you plan your journey times carefully.

During summer weekdays, a regular bus service makes the 15 minute journey from Cala Galdana into the nearby town of Ferreries at least 10 times a day, and from there further connections are then available.

Throughout the summer, visitors often ask us for bus timetables, however bitter experience has shown us that the term "timetable" is sometimes too generous a term to best describe the time the buses actually run, although these are published each year on the bus stop in town, on the Transportes Menorca sa web site, and in the form of a "jpg" file on the local councils web site. However, in all cases clearly no responsibility can be accepted as to either the content or accuracy of information provided on these external links.

As with the resort of Arenal d'en Castell in the north of the island, Cala Galdana is a near perfect horse shoe bay which is surrounded by almost vertical pine clad cliffs. Without a doubt, this resort is considered to be the most beautiful and picturesque on the entire island, and frequently features on the cover of many of the major tour operators summer sun brochures.

The height of these cliffs also gives those with accommodation at the top, spectacular views over the bay. However, for those less mobile, or families with young children, please bear in mind that access to the beach may be via a considerable number of very steep steps. So choose your holiday accommodation carefully.

The warm shallow waters makes Cala Galdana a very popular choice with families, and the beach is without doubt a major attraction to the resort with fine, clean sand and a good variety of water sports and other facilities available. Also during the summer, many families from Ferreries make the short trip to the resort and enjoy a picnic lunch amongst the pine trees that separate the beach from the road.

The resort of Cala Galdana is effectively split by the only notable river on the island called "The Algendar", but don't get too excited, during the summer months it only stretches 500m inland and ends in a marshy bog, which can sometimes get a bit smelly.

The Algendar ravine does actually extend for a further 10km inland, almost as far as Mount Santa Magdalena, and marks the geographic boundary between the municipal districts of Ferreries and Ciutadella.

The walls of the ravine rise to a height of over 80m, and house a number of caves along its length. In 1988 the Government of the Balearic islands officially recognised the ravine as having special environmental interest, and has now afforded the area further environmental protection from future development.