We’ve been visiting new places and our favorites from our first trip. Dragonera is a really unique little island off the western tip of Mallorca that we find ourselves referencing often so we had it high on our list for this trip.

We got up early and fought traffic to get to the ferry from Sant Elm to Dragonera. Sant Elm is <yet another!> small coastal village with beaches and a strong tourist presence. It has well-managed parking lots just as you enter (at the blue mini-roundabout). Highly recommended, currently 5€ for the day.

We all decided to hike to the top of the island, Puig de na Pòpia (360 meters (1,180 feet)). It’s a ~5.3 mi hike composed almost entirely of switchbacks. It was hot & humid of course, although there were mixed clouds and intermittent winds to help out.

One of the coolest things about the island is the lizards. Last time we were here (June 2018) there were lizards everywhere. Right on the stone walls when you get off the ferry there were several dozen fighting for tourists’ attention. This time we did see some, but far fewer. It sounds like they like the hot weather so that shouldn’t be a factor. At the same time we learned that for the first time a horseshoe whip snake was found on the island recently. They are actively trying to trap and remove these threats to the lizard population.

Cole is a speed hiker, we only catch glimpses of him in the distance. Also shown in his natural habitat and with another elusive species.

I feel like maybe we could have coordinated these depth pictures better.. 🤣

This is actually the best shot of the peak and the full drop down to the ocean, from a lookout about halfway up. They have now closed the access to the top of the cliffs, which was one of our favorite things about this hike.

One of the other coolest views on Dragonera is the view back to the rest of Mallorca!

Hiking with a party of six along countless switchbacks means lots of photo ops.

We got to the top to find that the trail now ends at the old lighthouse, no longer continuing to the western precipice. That was a bummer, but they did open a nice area to sit and enjoy the view and the lizards!

Kayla had a sort of love-hate relationship with the lizards as she encouraged them to get really close, but not TOO close!

As usual the return hike was much faster.

We managed to get down and get on an earlier ferry than planned.

When we returned to Sant Elm we were quite hungry, having eaten all of our sandwiches, snacks, and drank all of our water (although we were able to buy water on the ferry which we really appreciated!). We got a tasty meal at Margarita d’Carmen.

We of course then went to Gelats Moya across the street. They had some less common flavors and were quite good.

Matt, Liza, Cole, and Kayla then went swimming & snorkeling at the Sant Elm Beach. Savitri and I walked the street a bit more and grabbed some bread.