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Virtually all the tranquil coves around the island are ideal for snorkelling, with plenty of rocks and hidden recesses to explore. A favourite is the cove down from Estellencs. As for scuba diving, there are several centres, including at Port d’Andratx and Cala Rajada (seePorts and Resorts), offering the gear and boat trips out to the best spots.

Paragliding and jet-skiing are popular. Though windsurfing is also popular around the whole island, it is really best only on the eastern and southern coasts, where the waters tend to be calmer, and within the protected bay of the Port de Sóller (see Port de Sóller). You can hire the equipment from various establishments along the beaches.

Watersports at Cala Deia

Watersports equipment for hire

The island is a hiker’s dream, with no end of trails, many of them marked and mapped out. There are compelling challenges for climbers, too, on the rocky cliffs that abound along the entire length of the Serra de Tramuntana, from Sóller in the west to the end of the Península de Formentor in the east. Tourist offices and parks offer published guidelines for tackling the island’s wilds.

You’ll see groups of avid cyclists, decked out in their colourful threads, all over the island, from the twistiest mountain roads to the narrowest stone-walled lanes of Es Pla. Given the challenges most people experience when driving in Mallorca, it takes a bit of nerve to negotiate the same roads on two wheels. But you can easily rent bikes of all types in most towns, and the landscape is certainly conducive to cycling.

This is a sport that has taken Mallorca by storm. Courses are prevalent near the big resorts, though some of the finer hotels have their own and many more have putting greens. There are some 18 major golf courses scattered all around the island.

You can hire sail boats or motor boats for yourself, or sign on for a full-day or sunset cruise, many of which also feature water-skiing and other activities, and buffet lunches. They are the only way to explore some of the island’s more inaccessible – and therefore virtually private – coves.

As with other water activities, there are a number of boats that will take you out fishing for the day, particularly from the small port towns that still fish the seas commercially, including Portocolom. The bays of Pollença and Alcúdia (seePort de Pollença, Alcúdia and Port d’Alcúdia) are also popular for fishing.

Nature reserves are best for bird sightings, especially those on the northeastern coast, S’Albufera and the Península de Formentor (see Areas of Natural Beauty). Spring and autumn are optimal times to visit, when migratory birds use Mallorca as a staging post between Europe and Africa. The isolated islands of Sa Dragonera and Cabrera (see Illa de Cabrera) are also excellent.

There are two bullrings: one in Palma and one in Muro, though historically the bullfighting tradition has not been so important to Mallorcans (or to Catalans generally) as in other parts of Spain. In season, between March and October, there are eight or nine bullfights. The killing, albeit executed according to strictly ceremonious guidelines, can be bloody and pathetic, so be warned.

There are two football (soccer) teams in Mallorca: Real Mallorca and Atlético Baleares, both of whom play in Palma during the season, which runs from early September to April. Real Mallorca has enjoyed considerable success in recent years, and, in any case, attending a match can be a fun, high-spirited, and good-humoured way to see the locals participating in the game they love the best.