More Calas  April 2 -3,  2001 Cala Pi was idyllic. The water was crystal clear, and we could see the patches of seaweed and the ripples of the sandy bottom through a depth of ten feet by the cool white light of the full moon which rose each night to ad to this enchanting atmosphere. There were a couple of boats that came in for just a few hours to swim, picnic, and explore the limestone cliffs, and two German boats stayed near us overnight. We were a bit worried about one of them who rambled all over the cala before dropping anchor only 50 feet off our port bow, and dropping back astern of us. Then he put his dinghy in to take out a stern anchor. I was hoping that he would not foul our stern anchor. He settled in about 30 feet off our port quarter, closer than I would have anchored to any other vessel in such a constricted anchorage; but, I guess that close proximity is accepted over here. In narrow calas such as this, a bow and stern anchor are necessary as there is not room to swing without risk of hitting the cliffs either side. Some boaters tie off to trees or rocks on shore to prevent full swings, but I did not want to damage trees, or fray my lines by doing so. I climbed the cliffs to get a few pictures of Veleda nestled down in the cala, and wandered along the pine strewn paths along the top of the cliffs to the outer entrance to the cala, where I was able to get some good shots of the cala and the ancient stone watch tower that dominates the north point. It is interesting to see how locals and fishermen have walled in some of the crevices and caves for storage sheds. I waded the beach up to my knees, but the water was too cool to have a relaxing swim. We dinghied around to Cala Beltran, a more isolated and narrow cala a half mile south. No boats, hotels, houses or buildings near it, a narrow cala with limestone walls, and a sandy bottom, winding around to end at a small shale beach leading into a dry rocky torrent.  Next day we left about 0930 and motored 20 miles past San Jordi, around Punta de las Salinas, the southernmost tip of Mallorca, and up to Cala Figuera. It looked like an interesting two pronged cala, suitable for a short lunch stop, with a couple of anchoring areas marked. However when we nosed into it, the entire south shore was built up, and there were no areas for anchoring free of private mooring buoys. The northern arm was cluttered with a variety of fishing and sailing boats at mooring buoys, the town pier had one sailboat with stern to mooring, and the arm behind the town pier was awash with small fishing boats. It did not look welcoming, so we just turned around and left for Cala Mondrago a couple of miles up the coast. This was much better. It was a very wide cala with four arms, each providing a good daytime anchorage in ten to fifteen feet of water with sandy bottoms. I say daytime anchorage as the entrance to this cala is so wide that it would be open to swells from the east and southeast, making it dangerous for overnight except in the calmest of conditions. We anchored in the northeast cove, with just enough room to swing at anchor as there were no other boats in it. Fifty yards away was a half moon sandy beach with a few people sunbathing. After a short lunch, we launched Sprite and dinghied around the shoreline of the entire cala. No boats in the center cala, but a few power boats were in the western two bays off wide sandy beaches. We didn’t go ashore, but proceeded outside of the cala. On our way out we found a delightful small opening, too small (narrow) for a sailboat, that meandered several hundred yards between the limestone walls, terminating in a rocky pond leading up into a shallow dry torrent. I love the sense of isolation I feel when meandering up a winding narrow rock-walled channel like that.  On coming out into the larger cala again, we kept gunkholing around the southern shore out below the open coastal cliffs, weathered with fissures, rock arches, overhanging limestone slabs, and caves. There were a couple of caves deep enough to take Sprite into, and in one cavern we were in an entrancing rocky grotto. This was awesome! As we entered, we heard the surge of the waves sloshing into the shallow hollows and echoing off the walls and domed ceiling of this nature-carved limestone chapel. The base of this sanctuary was fringed by a royal purple border of coral below which the clear aquamarine waters magnified the rocky crevices. Seaweed formations bowed and waved as the sea surged in and out, casting diaphanous reflections around the cavern, and creating a glittering display of diamonds sparkling upon the water. The brilliant whiteness of the strong afternoon Mediterranean sun cast its rays at the threshold, rippling in undulating patterns across the underwater formations. It was ethereal. I would have liked to turn the motor off and just drift in that sanctuary, lulled by the reflections and echoes; however the surging waters would have crashed us into the jagged overhanging rock walls, and so we had to slowly work our way out through another gothic opening in that arched mini-cathedral. We then motored across the wide opening of the cala to investigate the caves on the northern side. Here too were large caverns etched into the limestone cliffs, one of which had an opening at the height of the arch, casting sunlight into the darkened interior. These formations reminded me of the underwater Thunderball Cave in the Bahamas which was used in the James Bond movie Thunderball. I think I mentioned it in my logs of the Bahamas a couple of years ago. I’ll have to look them up to see if I described the same sense of awe that I had for these caves. We then puttered back to Veleda, to weigh anchor from this exquisite lunch stop and to head for Cala Llonga. We had a pleasant motor sail until a warning buzzer caused some concern. We assessed the problem as a broken alternator belt. Fortunately we had actually obtained proper sized belts for it, and replaced it easily. Remember the definition of cruising as doing boat maintenance in exotic locations? By 1630 we were anchored in Cala Gran, the northwestern cala of the four calas in this coastal opening. However, we didn’t stay there for the night, as I will explain in my next log. Next log