Puerto de Maó – Cala Mesquida – Fortaleza de La Mola

1. Start off from the Sea Terminal of the port of Maó.
2. Go west towards the Maó-Fornells road until you reach a roundabout.
3. Take the 1st exit to the right onto the Me-3.
4. You’ll reach a small island where you must stop and give way to vehicles driving along the main road to the naval base before continuing along the Me-3 towards Cala Mesquida/ La Mola fortress.
   *In spite of improvement works this is a narrow, uneven carriageway and you should drive slowly, giving way to bicycles and mopeds on the way.
5. Continuing along the Me-3 for approximately 2 km look out for a junction on the left to Cala Mesquida-Es Murtar to locate your first point of interest.
6. After the junction you’ll see a path leading to Es Murtar, a small development with few services, mainly occupied by locals. However, continue along the main road and in a few seconds (450 m) you’ll reach Cala Mesquida.
7. Beyond a slope and a small jetty next to a freshwater stream, you’ll arrive at this quiet development, populated mainly by Menorcans. Take the main road (Carrer Gran) on the left to cross the development and then take a single-carriageway road that leads to the beach at Cala Mesquida with its defence tower, «The Tower of the English». With fine golden sand, the beach is 320 m long, 80 m wide and has very quiet waters. It also has public parking space.
8. If you arrive in the summer season, you can enjoy a dip then go back the way you came along the main road (Carrer Gran) of the development, passing the jetty, climbing the slope which has a sign for the way out of the development, and following the road for approximately 1.6 km until you get back to the junction that leads to the Me-3.
9. *This junction has poor visibility so take special care when rejoining the road and turning left.
10. On the way you’ll pass some junctions leading off to residential developments like Cala Rata and Sant Antoni, the most luxurious of which, with some excellent views over the port of Maó, is the Cala Llonga development.
11. Continue along the Me-3 until you see on the right (coinciding with the last entrance to the Cala Llonga development) the last section of the road, barely built up, that leads to the emblematic La Mola fortress.
12. Before reaching the fortress, some 1.8 km away you’ll see a small sandy beach on your right known as Cala Taulera. In summer it is often a refuge for boats. It’s well worth getting out of the car here to take photographs.
13. Some 750 m further on, continuing along the main road, you’ll come to an exclusive (free) parking site for visitors to the fortress. From here you can begin to admire the majestic nineteenth-century defensive fortification. Explore the history of Menorca!