Sant Elm: land’s end with a “dragon island”
Not far from Andratx in the south-west of Majorca is the small seaside village of Sant Elm, with its well-maintained beach. If you’d prefer to go shopping or wining and dining rather than swimming and sunbathing, have a walk through the pedestrian area. Various restaurants will tempt you with paella, fresh fish and seafood. However, visitors will find the most beautiful ones at the end – land’s end, as it were, or the point where you cannot go any further. The restaurants there undisputedly have the best view in Sant Elm – of the sea, the sailing yachts and a slumbering giant.
Real Estate Mallorca – Sant Elm
Cast off on the Margarita
It’s recommended to have a look at the timetable for the “Margarita”. This is a cutter that takes 20 minutes to chug across from Sant Elm to the so-called dragon island – Dragonera – several times a day in the summer. The boat goes from the jetty right below the restaurants. From afar, the island of Dragonera (which is 4.2 kilometres long and up to one kilometre wide) actually looks like a peaceful, dozing dragon. That is reputedly why the island bears this name.
Nimble salamanders
The small, lightning-fast, endemic lizards that frolic around the island in their thousands may also have prompted the name. And if you happen to take along some provisions like a baguette or a sandwich as you go for a walk to the old lighthouse on the island, one thing is certain! These nimble companions will stay at your side and not take their eyes off you for even a second. The salamanders always have an appetite – and will actually scoff crumbs right out of the hands of day trippers…
Perfect diving
The Scuba Activa diving school, located near the exit to the village, is just right for nature lovers who want to check out the world below water. They’ll have everything you need, whether it’s a compressed air tank, a wetsuit, a diving instructor or a buddy. You can go right down into the fascinating and diverse underwater world around the Dragonera Natural Park. There, you’ll dive through undulating seagrass, marvel at cobalt blue damselfish and come across stately octopuses, while black sea bream peep out from behind the rocks.
This diving spot is considered to be one of the most beautiful in the Western Mediterranean Sea. It is habitat to around 70 percent of all the species that exist in the Mediterranean. Among them also are dolphins, mackerel, scorpionfish and wrasse.
Water wonderland
This is home to some really wondrous creatures, such as the neon-coloured sea slugs that deck themselves out in pink, orange, purple, yellow and turquoise. You’ll come across red false coral, yellow cup coral and white gorgonian coral. You can also see starfish and long-legged spider crabs – and from time to time a seahorse comes along. The underwater landscape is not lacking either, with its steep faces, caves and unique rock formations. There are even two wrecks at a depth of more than 30 metres for experienced divers. And anyone who is lucky enough to live and own their own property in Sant Elm will always have this water wonderland close by.