Wet spring break in Mallorca
The big sister of the Balearic Islands is beautiful in spring. Especially from a paddle board in the Bay of Palma.
Nine O`clock in the morning, the streets of the German tourist headquarter Arenal are still quiet. A few early birds are sipping to their café con leche at the small café next to the shiny white beach, that we soon will be heading for.
My friend and I are waiting for the girl next door to open her surf hire shop, and realize that we are half an hour early.
But Sacha the surf hire girl is also early this morning, and after a couple of minutes she is ready to give us a couple of nice stand up paddle boards.
-If I were you, I´d taken this, she says, and point at the Red Paddle Co board lying ready on the floor.
This is our second time paddling the waters of the Bay of Palma during our fur day spring break in Mallorca , and Sacha thinks I should go for a faster board this time.
I agree, since I already tried a bigger and more stable one the first day.
After paying 16 euro for the two us us, we grab the boards and head for the beach 100 meter down the street.
Just like summer
The white sand is clean and smoot, as we cross under the palm trees in order to get to the water. We are the first to enter the transparent clear sea this morning.
It might be a bit chilly for the faint hearted ones, but with the sun starting to break through the clouds, the temperature will soon approach the twenties.
The water temperature reminds me of first warm weeks of June back home. It is probably not more than 16-18 degrees, but still enough to lure people into the waters every afternoon after some hours in the sun.
But the nights are still cold in April, and so are we. Or a little bit chilly, at least. Diving in to the water is not my first priority right now.
The good thing is the tranquility; no screamings form semi drunk beach bums, no jet scooters crossing the waters in front of you, and no noise from powered engines nearby. The only “disturbance” is the sound of our paddles hitting the water surface every fourth second or so, and a dozen of fishes heading the same way as we.

FASTER: The Red Board is slightly more unstable, but more streamlined and faster. Feels good for a swimmer!
Splash board
The shallow water combined with the clarity of the water ensures that we still see details of the sandy bottom almost a kilometer out from the beach. Due to the minerals and algae in the waters of Mallorca, the water is surprisingly clear. I suddenly just have to jump in. We are in the middle of the bay, half a kilometer off shore, and almost half way to Palma. Now, after the paddle work, the temperature is perfect. Splashing in the water, using the surf board as a kick board, is much more fun than just standing up all the time. It is also way much better than the crowded lanes of the indoor swimmingpool where we have spent two days competing. But nothing negative about the Son Hugo Municipal pool; If it wasn´t for the annual Mallorca Open Masters swim competition, we would never have been in Mallorca this year at all.
But time is running out, and our one hour hire is soon coming to an end. We also have a plane to catch this afternoon, so there is no way we can extend this beautiful experience this time.
A classic beauty
After a weekend with swimming competition, car sightseeing in the inland and paddling the clear waters outside Palma, we are flying out of the Baleres with quite a different view of Spain´s all time high tourist machine. This island is true a beauty. I just never saw its real face while visiting during the overcrowded peak summer season in my younger days.