Dive siteBaleares · Mallorca

Illa de Formentor

Boat diveDifficulty Easy

The islet off Formentor beach, with a cave above the waterline visible from the boat and an arch at 14 m you swim through. A progressive wall from 6 to 20 m, suitable for all levels.

Max depth: 20 m
Minimum level: OWD
Visibility: 15-30 m
Active window: Watched

See trips How to get there39.92127, 3.14710 See weather

Weather and position

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Site position

Illa de FormentorBoat · Difficult (78/100)

Excellent 95-100
Very good 90-94
Acceptable 80-89
Difficult 70-79
Not advised 50-69
Very poor 0-49

Site briefing

Illa de Formentor briefing

About this site

Illa de Formentor is the islet rising off Formentor beach, inside the bay of Pollença. Its cave above the waterline is visible from the boat, and that same perforated rock structure is what makes the dive fun.

You start at around 6 m and work your way down the submerged wall to 20 m, checking cracks where moray eels, groupers and nudibranchs usually sit. The highlight is at about 14 m: a wide arch you swim through and exit from the top. On the way back to the mooring, in the shallows, common dentex, octopuses, white seabream, salema and the odd school of barracuda turn up.

The route finishes beside the outer part of the cave, at a narrow gap in the rock the centres call "the eye of the needle", crossed calmly and with nothing dangling from your kit.

Being inside the bay and shallow, it is one of the northern sites that holds up best when Cap de Formentor is unworkable, and one of the few in the area that takes newly qualified divers.

Best season

May
June
July
August
September
October

Safety

Arch at 14 m and narrow gap ('the eye of the needle'): overhead environment, crossed one at a time
Boat traffic off Formentor beach in summer
Light current when rounding the islet

Dive site photos