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Recollections, reviews, discoveries, and future plans.

EXPLORE | Spain > Platja Coll Baix

spain-platja-coll-baix-05.jpg

I was fortunate enough to be told about this hidden beach and I'm really hesitant to share the location out of fear of people overcrowding and ruining it.  At the same time it's an amazing place and people should have the opportunity to appreciate it.  It's called Platja Coll Baix and is located on the northern side of Mallorca near Alcúdia.  It's only accessible by hiking 2-3km or by boat.  When I arrived there were only 3 other people on the beach and a single boat anchored in the cove, while I was the only person actually in the water.  The visibilty was amazing and the water temp was perfect.  I highly recommend bringing fins because even though the water may look calm, you never know what kind of currents are coming through these places.  I actually lost a friend down in Mexico a few weeks ago after he was caught in a riptide.  He was a strong swimmer, but didn't have fins on.  Anyway, fins (I was using Churchills) and a quality mask (I was using a Riffe) will make the experience much more enjoyable.  After hiking and climbing over some rocks to get to the beach, jumping in the water was a refreshing reward.  Up to this point this beach is definitely one of my favorite spots I've been to.

TRAVEL | Spain > Mallorca > Montuïri

View from my walk into Montuïri from my house in the countryside.

For the past 6 weeks I've been living on a finca (country estate) 2.5 miles outside a small town called Montuïri on the Spanish island of Mallorca (also called Majorca) in the Mediterranean Sea.  Mallorca is part of the Balearic Islands located off the east coast of Spain which includes Menorca, Cabrera, Ibiza, and Formentera.  Over the past 8,000 years the archipelago has changed hands and has been occupied by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, and Moors.  You can see the historical influence from each of these civilizations as well as the religious influence from times of Christian and Muslim occupation.

Everywhere you go on the island you hear a mix of Spanish, German, Swedish, Russian, Swiss, Italian and English being spoken.  Even though Mallorca is part of Spain, Catalan is the preferred language of choice by the real locals.  Street signs tend to be in Catalan or Spanish, but not both.

So far my experience here has been pretty cool and I'll have more specific posts focusing on each experience.  I was supposed to fly back to San Diego on May 18, but decided to stay longer so I'll probably be adding quite a bit of content over the next month.  Here are some photos of the area I've been living in.