Dolphins are truly amazing animals.
Social and charismatic creatures, they communicate with a curious language based on the emission of mysterious sounds, in the form of bursts or impulses, which help them to locate each other.
These cetaceans have another peculiarity - they establish strong bonds with their community, and even care for and protect other members of their species who are injured or ill.
This way of behaving, together with their overdeveloped cerebral cortex, makes some scientists regard dolphins as among the most intelligent living beings on the planet.
A further peculiarity of dolphins is that they move through the ocean in large groups, which makes their sighting relatively easy and eye-catching because of how they jump gracefully out of the water.
These jumps, according to experts, allow them to save energy, because travelling through the air requires less effort than travelling through the water. Experts also believe it helps them to locate birds such as seagulls that may indicate the presence of food nearby (usually fish and molluscs), to breathe, and to pick up speed.
Dolphin watching can be an unforgettable experience. For this reason, many people who visit our island want to see these animals in their natural habitat, and even swim among them.
Here we'll tell you where you can see dolphins in Mallorca.
A guide to how to see dolphins in Mallorca
There are more than 30 species of dolphins in the world, which inhabit the main bodies of water on our planet, from the temperate and tropical zones of the Atlantic Ocean to the Amazon River.
We can see dolphins in countries and regions as diverse as Mexico, Florida, Hawaii, Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Portugal, Spain, Dubai, and Australia.
The most common species in Balearic waters is the white-striped dolphin, although in this part of the Mediterranean you can also see examples of round-headed dolphins (whose main characteristic is the absence of a beaked snout) and bottlenose dolphins, with their characteristic crescent-shaped fin.
When it comes to seeing dolphins in Mallorca, Cape Formentor is possibly one of the areas with the most options.
Dolphin watching trips to Cape Formentor depart from the ports of Pollensa and Alcúdia, the latter being very close to one of our VIVA hotels.
It’s important to point out that both excursions leave early in the morning (around 6 a.m.) to offer us a double attraction: on the one hand, the dolphins swimming, and, on the other, the beautiful sunrise on the horizon in a truly unique setting.
Another of the best places to see dolphins in Mallorca is Paguera.
This town is located in the southwest of the island. It belongs to the municipality of Calvià and is only half an hour's drive from the capital, Palma.
Paguera and its surroundings have many places of interest you can visit, and are perfect for water sports and outdoor activities such as dolphin watching.
The deep waters near Dragonera Island can also offer the thrill of watching dolphins leaping out of the water.
If you wish, you can even hire mini-cruises or boat trips which, even though they may not have dolphin watching as their main purpose, can still be very worthwhile.
For example, there are daily boat trips from Camp de Mar with underwater viewing boats where you can see friendly creatures and other cetaceans, both on the surface and underwater.
Boat trips to the Malgrats Islands, a stunning nature reserve of enormous ecological value, are also the perfect opportunity to see dolphins in Mallorca.
If you want something a little more exclusive, we suggest you hire a yacht to sail from any point in Mallorca to the Cabrera National Park, a maritime-terrestrial ecological gem that forms the small archipelago of Cabrera.
In addition to enjoying an exclusive environment, it's very common to see dolphins both on the trip to Cabrera and on your way back to your VIVA hotel.
Finally, if you want to spend a family day out (especially with very young children), we recommend you visit Marineland, a dolphinarium that offers live interactive shows with these cetaceans and other species, such as sharks and rays.
