Let yourself be enchanted by Menorca’s underwater riches as you discover its best diving and snorkeling spots!
Menorca is an island in the Balearic archipelago. More authentic and wild than its cousins Majorca or Ibiza, it has managed to preserve itself from the ravages of tourism. The coastline is dotted with fishing villages and bathed in a sea of shimmering, almost unreal colors.
Turquoise, deep blue, emerald… Menorca’s sublime sheltered coves can be appreciated both above and below the water’s surface. The unique ecosystem invites you to dive and snorkel in Menorca. Whatever your level and whatever the season, you’ll be able to appreciate its majesty!
Generation Voyage offers you its favourite sites: what are you waiting for to take a dip?
Scuba diving
1. Pont d’En Gil
- 📍 D eparture point: Ciutadella
- 🌡️ Water temperature: 15 – 22 °C
- ☑️ Level: advanced
- 🐚 Fauna and flora: fish, corals, sea urchins
Pont d’En Gil is located very close to the town of Ciutadella. This spot is one of the best on the island and is perfect for diving in Menorca.
Finally, it’s best to be experienced: access to the site is at a depth of fourteen meters and in the dark. Pont d’En Gil is a cave, the most beautiful underwater cavity in the Balearic Islands.
You’ll enter a gigantic air-filled chamber where you can admire stalactites and stalagmites over several hundred meters. A wonderful spectacle for experienced divers only!
2. Es Caragol
- 📍 D eparture point: Cala Torret
- 🌡️ Water temperature: 18 – 24 °C
- ☑️ Level: beginner, intermediate, advanced
- 🐚 Fauna and flora: anemones, groupers
Es Caragol is just a few minutes’ sail from Cala Torret, near Sant Lluis in south-east Menorca. The spot is located in the Isla del Aire marine reserve, an ideal area for diving in Menorca.
It’s Menorca’s second largest marine reserve: this small islet of around 45 hectares is prized for the richness of its seabed. Es Caragol is a reef dreaded by sailors: here you can observe the remains of unlucky boats. It also boasts a wide variety of geology and fish… A must-see!
3. The wreck of the Malakoff
- 📍 D eparture point: Ciutadella
- 🌡️ Water temperature: 16 – 22 °C
- ☑️ Level: advanced
- 🐚 Fauna and flora: barracudas, triggerfish
Near Ciutadella, in the south-west of the island between the Es Talaier cove and Son Saura beach, you’ll find a boat… French. In January 1929, the Malakoff, a cargo ship, hit rocks and sank to a depth of 40 meters.
Measuring around one hundred meters, the cargo ship is now a veritable artificial reef, home to a unique fauna. Diving here is like twirling among placid groupers and sea eels.
Our advice? Take advantage of your stay in the area to visit Ciutadella, a picturesque town where you can enjoy a pleasant stroll.
4. Cap d’Artrutx lighthouse
- 📍 D eparture point: Ciutadella
- 🌡️ Water temperature: 18 – 24 °C
- ☑️ Level: beginner, intermediate
- 🐚 Fauna and flora: rays, corals
Close to the wreck of the Malakoff, Cap d’Artrutx is a great dive site. Close to the splendid lighthouse of the same name (to be admired once out of the water), its seabed is teeming with life.
Small caves shelter corals, seaweed, anemones and the occasional stingray. Ideal for a group of novice divers, Cap d’Artutx is a must for those wishing to learn this activity.
Easily accessible from Ciutadella, it doesn’t even require any technical prerequisites. Just put on your flippers and wetsuit and jump in!
5. Cala Viola Reserve
- 📍 D eparture point: Fornells
- 🌡️ Water temperature: 19 – 27 °C
- ☑️ Level: beginner, intermediate
- 🐚 Fauna and flora: rays, barracudas
Welcome to the splendid little port of Fornells! It’s worth the detour in itself: typical of the Balearic Islands, it’s one of the most beautiful in the archipelago. It owes its fame to its small fishing boats and unspoilt environment.
The nearby Cala Viola reserve is a famous diving site in Menorca. It features sumptuous reefs home to thousands of fish. If you’re lucky, you’ll spot stingrays gliding between six and fourteen meters below the surface. Boats are stranded on either side of the reserve: now they’re home to them…
6. La Catedral cave (Cap d’En Font)
- 📍 D eparture point: Cap d’En Font
- 🌡️ Water temperature: 20 – 24 °C
- ☑️ Level: intermediate, advanced
- 🐚 Fauna and flora: groupers, anemones, sea urchins
No, there are no underwater places of worship in the Balearic archipelago. But the La Catedral cave, one of the largest on the island, remains a mythical and mystical diving site in Menorca!
With a maximum depth of 22 metres, it’s a must for immersion enthusiasts. After crossing a monumental rock arch, you enter an air-filled chamber.
The natural light gives the stalactites towering above you an almost unreal… even threatening look? Don’t panic, you’re in total safety: the spot is suitable for all levels and perfect for beginners to the joys of diving.
7. Junker-88 wreckage
- 📍 D eparture point: S’Algar
- 🌡️ Water temperature: 14 – 22 °C
- ☑️ Level: advanced
- 🐚 Fauna and flora: arapeds, moray eels
Did your trip start with a successful landing at Mahón airport? Then you were luckier than the occupants of this Junker-88. This German air force plane crashed on Menorca on February 24, 1943 between S’Algar and Alcaufar.
The crew was rescued by local fishermen! Today, the wreck lies 47 meters below the surface. You can therefore access the wreck by diving in Menorca. That said, the depth of the site requires experience of the environment and specific certification.
Snorkeling
8. Cala Macarella
- 📍 D eparture point: Macarella
- 🌡️ Water temperature: 22 – 28 °C
- ☑️ Level: beginner, intermediate
- 🐚 Fauna and flora: posidonia, starfish
Snorkeling is the minimalist version of diving: fins, mask, snorkel and that’s it. To try your hand at snorkeling in Menorca, we recommend you head for the beach at Macarella.
Emblematic of Menorca’s south coast, its white sand, cliffs and turquoise waters have made it a must-see. This cove, and in particular its rocky walls, include small caves to explore just a few meters from the surface.
Admire starfish, anemones, crustaceans and multicolored fish. They all go about their business in the midst of moving seagrass and pleasant water from May to October.
9. Fornells reserve
- 📍 D eparture point: Fornells
- 🌡️ Water temperature: 19 – 27 °C
- ☑️ Level: beginner, intermediate
- 🐚 Fauna and flora: red bream, sea bream
Where can you go snorkeling in Menorca near the pretty fishing village of Fornells? Right in the heart of Menorca’s Northern Marine Reserve, created in 1999 and classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site!
You can approach this exceptional site by boat, or opt for the more sporty version by renting a kayak. At the foot of the cliffs, at a depth of less than a meter, you can contemplate barracudas, crowned amberjacks, moray eels, octopus and mullets… A magnificent spectacle in prospect!
10. Cala Tamarells
- 📍 D eparture point: Mahon
- 🌡️ Water temperature: 18 – 26 °C
- ☑️ Level: beginner, intermediate
- 🐚 Fauna and flora: scorpion fish, mullets, nudibranchs
Close to Mahon, the island’s main town, Cala Tamarells is an ideal spot for snorkeling in Menorca. It’s a wild, totally unspoilt beach that’s hard to get to: it’s easy to get there on foot.
Facing east and protected from the swell by a small island, this spot is a favorite with divers. With just fins and snorkels, you can admire caves, fissures, coralligenous algae, sars and saupes. You’ll need a waterproof camera to immortalize your visit!