Cabrera National Park from Mallorca: Permits, Moorings and How to Get There

01How to get to Cabrera: the three real options

The scheduled boat leaves from the port of Colònia de Sant Jordi, in the south of Mallorca, and takes around an hour to reach Cabrera's harbour. The classic excursion runs about six hours, with four hours free on the island and a stop at Sa Cova Blava on the way back if the sea allows, and costs €58 per adult and €31-32 per child in 2026. Two companies are licensed, and in summer you book ahead: the park caps the number of visitors.

A private yacht changes the whole day. From Andratx or Puerto Portals the crossing runs around three hours depending on the boat and the sea; from the south of the island it's far less. You choose the departure time, where you moor, when you eat and how long you spend at the Cova Blava, which by mid-afternoon, once the excursion boats have gone, is a different place. With crew on board, no licence is needed.

The helicopter is about 12 minutes' flying from Son Bonet, and makes sense combined with a yacht waiting for you at anchor: you arrive, give the hours to the island and return without losing half a day in transit. It's the option for a tight diary, not for anyone who wants the day at sea.

02The permits, explained: navigation, day buoys and overnight buoys

Cabrera is a Maritime-Terrestrial National Park, and inside its limits no boat sails without authorisation. The navigation permit is free, requested online through the Balearic Government's booking portal, and valid for 12 months. With it, boats up to 15 metres can moor during the day on the day-use buoys: 30 at Es Burrí, 8 at Sa Coveta Roja and 12 in the harbour by the main quay, from an hour after sunrise until an hour before sunset. Dropping anchor away from the buoys is not allowed.

Staying overnight also needs a buoy reservation in Es Port. There is a cap of 50 boats a day, with a limit of two nights in July and August and seven the rest of the year. The buoy is yours from 6pm on the first day until 5pm on the last, and there's a daily fee by length: in season (1 May to 30 September) €18.60 for a white buoy up to 12 metres, €40 for a yellow one from 12 to 15, €90 for orange from 15 to 20 and €275 for red from 20 to 35 metres; from October to April, half or less. Over 35 metres needs a special authorisation.

Cancel more than an hour ahead and half the fee is refunded. In practice the cost isn't the money, it's the buoy: in July and August the 50 places go weeks ahead, and you need the navigation permit before you can request one. When you come with us, we file both, permit and buoy, and confirm the date before you sail.

03The rules once you're inside

Maximum speed is 10 knots in park waters and 2 knots inside the harbour bay. You land in only two places, the main quay of Es Port and the Cas Pagès jetty by Sa Platgeta, and always by tender: the main quay is reserved for the scheduled boats and the park's own. No jet skis or water sports, no drones without a permit, no fishing.

Whatever rubbish you produce goes back with you to your next port. There are no restaurants on the island, just a small cantina by the harbour, and no drinking fountains: water, shade and closed shoes for the climb to the castle are on you, or on the boat, which is one of the reasons a yacht day with lunch on board makes so much sense here.

04What to see: the castle, the Cova Blava and the water

The archipelago is 19 islands and islets, protected since 1991 and never built on, with some of the cleanest water in the western Mediterranean. From the harbour it's a twenty-minute climb to the castle, a fortress documented since 1410 and a listed monument, with the whole bay at your feet. Below it sits the park museum, in the old Es Celler, and the memorial to the French prisoners who survived here between 1809 and 1811.

Sa Cova Blava is the stop everyone remembers: a sea cave where the light comes in from below the surface and turns the water a deep, vivid blue. You go in by tender or swimming, depending on the sea, and the scheduled boats do it on the way back, in the early afternoon; with your own yacht you can wait until they've gone. The longer walks, like the one to the n'Ensiola lighthouse, are only done with a park guide.

The rest of the day is water: snorkelling at Sa Platgeta or s'Espalmador, the loop around the islets (Na Foradada, L'Esponja, Na Redona) and the seabird colonies. It's a seabed you no longer find outside the park.

05A day at Cabrera on a private yacht, with us

A full day on a yacht with the permit starts at €6,000 plus the buoy fee, departing from Andratx or Puerto Portals. We request the navigation permit and the buoy, match your date to the park's real availability and confirm it before you sail; you pick the day. If you want lunch on board with a chef, it's added as one more line.

The helicopter version, out and back with four hours at anchor, starts at €4,800 for a group of 4. And if the idea is to sleep at Cabrera, on a yacht with cabins, the park's night limit rules: two in July and August, up to seven the rest of the season.

It's the same standard we apply across the service. A recent review sums it up: "An unforgettable experience. Balearic Experience exceeded all our expectations: we booked several activities across Mallorca and everything was perfectly organised — punctual, professional and with an attention to detail that makes all the difference. They clearly know the island inside out. We'll be back without a doubt." — Eduardo Jurado Fernández, ★★★★★ Google review.

06When to go

The scheduled boats run from late March to October. July and August are the fullest months and the ones with the fewest buoys: two nights maximum and the 50 places gone weeks ahead. If that's your only window, request the buoy as soon as you have a date.

Late May, June and September give you the same sea with half the boats, up to seven nights and a near-empty Cova Blava. If the calendar allows it, these are the dates to do Cabrera without hurrying.