Also known to natives and tourists as Puerto Andratx since it shares the name with a municipal district in yacht charter Mallorca, the town is located in the southwestern corner of the island.

Up until very recently, the town remained only by locals and kept its old architecture. The change came with 2004 when EU funds were pumped in and tourism began to really take off. 32km away from Palma, the region remained for a long time “undiscovered” by tourists and even major tour operators and even today, very few reach here and when they do it’s out of sheer curiosity.

A curiosity is that originally, the town’s residential area was built inland, away from the port, as a means of protecting from pirate attacks. The only testament of that today can be found in the upper part of town where you’ll find the fortress-like church of Santa Maria. This is also a good place to get a nice view of the whole region and certainly of the whole town so make sure to bring a camera.

Despite the relative closed nature of the town, the first thing you’ll notice when you arrive here is that you’re not the only one who has discovered this treasure as numerous celebrities have fancy villas built here. Names like Claudia Schiffer, Tom Cruise or Michael Schumacher are frequent when talking about local real estate.

Even if commercial fishing is still being carried in Andratx on a small scale, the real attraction of the town is the local marina and its 300 berths where luxurious yachts moor and contrast with the local Mallorcan feel and architecture. In fact, this town remains one of the best (if not the best) preserved example of a Mallorcan town.

The only downsides to Andratx are the fact that in summer (July and August) when the season is in full force, the streets can get a little crowded and the fact that the town doesn’t really have a beach. Although there are some excellent locations for sunbathing outside of town, you’ll have to travel some distance to get there.

For some, this isn’t a problem as they use Andratx as a base to explore some of the more remote regions of Mallorca on the western coast along the Tramuntana.

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3. Yacht Charter Puerto de Alcudia – Fun on Mallorca’s North Side
4. Yacht Charter Porto Cristo
5. Yacht Charter El Arenal – Fun in Mallorca