Malgrats

The Illes Malgrats are the two rocky islets off Santa Ponsa which, together with Illa del Toro, make up the marine reserve declared in 2004. They are five to ten minutes by boat from the centres in Santa Ponsa and Palma, which makes them the short trip par excellence of south-west Mallorca.

The range of routes is wide. On the sheltered side is the Piscina Malgrats, an area barely 3 m deep, sand and rock, used by the centres for courses and for trimming weight. From there you can work down the slope into the mid range. And at the far end is Punta Malgrats, a near-vertical wall dropping to 35 m, the serious dive of the group.

Protection has brought biomass back: schools of barracuda, scorpionfish, moray eels and good-sized groupers are regular, along with octopuses and nudibranchs on the overgrown rock. Fishing is banned outright from May to October and heavily restricted the rest of the year.

As at El Toro, diving here needs a reserve permit, arranged by the centre. It is a busy area for boats in summer: always fly a marker buoy, and ascend along the wall or the mooring line.