Puerto Portals has 670 berths and around ninety shops and restaurants; Port Adriano has 488 — 87 of them for lengths over 20 metres — and Philippe Starck's signature since 2012. Twenty minutes of motorway separate them. Portals is the port for seeing and being seen; Adriano is the one for big boats and quieter evenings.
01Portals: the marina of Palma Bay
It sits in Portals Nous, in the municipality of Calvià, a quarter of an hour from Palma. Its 670 berths take lengths from 8 to 80 metres, with 7.5 metres of draught in the entrance channel, so a seven-metre llaüt ties up as easily as a sixty-metre yacht. That mix is exactly what gives the place its atmosphere.
Ashore there are close to ninety businesses between shops, restaurants and terraces, and the promenade fills from eight in the evening. If your plan is dinner overlooking the boats and a drink afterwards without touching the car, this is the place. If you want quiet, it is not.
02Adriano: the Starck marina under the El Toro cliffs
It stands at the foot of the limestone walls of El Toro, ten minutes west of Santa Ponsa. Philippe Starck signed the refit that reopened it in 2012 and it shows everywhere: the pontoons, the white canopies, the way the main building steps back so it blocks nobody's view of the water.
Of its 488 berths, 87 are set aside for lengths above twenty metres. It is one of the few marinas on the island built for genuinely large yachts, and that changes the picture: fewer day boats, more superyacht passerelles and crews already working at seven in the morning.
03The difference that matters: what you do once ashore
Portals faces inward. It is an urban marina, close to Palma, with a shopping promenade that works like an expensive village square. It gets busy, and that is either its charm or its flaw depending on the day you are having.
Adriano faces outward. There is less on land and it is more restrained, and the moment you leave the gates you are in Santa Ponsa or heading up the Andratx coast. For a calm dinner after a day at sea, it wins. For a night out, Portals does.
04Which suits your boat
Up to fifteen metres either marina works and the atmosphere decides for you. Above twenty-five, Adriano is more comfortable: the large berths were designed in from the start rather than fitted in later.
Our fleet of 189 boats includes vessels berthed at Puerto Portals and others spread across Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca, with day rates from €180 to €20,000 depending on the boat. When you book we tell you which port yours leaves from and how the access works, because not every berth is equally easy to reach by car with luggage.
05Getting there and parking
Portals is reached from the Ma-1 at the Portals Nous exit; there is parking inside the marina and it fills from midday in August. Adriano is off the same motorway at the El Toro exit past Santa Ponsa, with more room to leave the car.
If you arrive on the day of your flight, it is about twenty-five minutes from Palma airport to Portals and thirty-five to Adriano. We usually solve that with a Mercedes V-Class and a driver, so the luggage arrives at the pontoon rather than the car park.
How many berths does Puerto Portals have?
670 berths for lengths from 8 to 80 metres, with 7.5 metres of draught in the entrance channel and around 90 businesses ashore. It is in Portals Nous, Calvià, roughly fifteen minutes from Palma.
Which is better for a large yacht, Portals or Adriano?
Port Adriano. Of its 488 berths, 87 are reserved for lengths over 20 metres and it takes yachts up to 80. Portals also reaches 80 metres, but with fewer large berths and far more small-boat traffic.
Can you visit Port Adriano without a boat?
Yes. The marina is open to walk through, with restaurants and shops ashore, and in summer it programmes open-air concerts. It is ten minutes west of Santa Ponsa on the Ma-1, with parking in the marina itself.
How long is the drive from Palma airport to each marina?
About 25 minutes to Puerto Portals and about 35 to Port Adriano on the Ma-1 without traffic. In July and August add a margin: the Portals Nous exit backs up at midday and around dinner time.
