The old port is the whole advantage
Ciutadella’s harbour is a narrow channel cut into the town, and boats leave from the quay along Passeig des Moll — a south-coast excursion company at number 34, a charter firm at 46-48 trading since 1998, and a maritime excursion business with more than 40 years on that same quay. You walk down from dinner the night before and see the boat you are getting on.
What that position buys is the south-west calas. Son Saura, Es Talaier, Cala en Turqueta, Macarella and Macarelleta are the beaches everyone photographs and nobody enjoys the drive to; from Ciutadella they are a morning’s sailing and an anchor chain.
Two different days from the same quay
The big excursion boats run a fixed and generous shape: full days roughly 09:30 or 09:45 to 17:00, with about 2 hours anchored at Cala en Turqueta and about 1.5 hours at Son Saura, and half-day versions of about 4 hours, morning or afternoon. Lunch is usually aboard and included.
A private charter buys the clock instead. The same coast, but you decide when to move, where to eat and whether to stay for the light. Yacht charters from this port use the same half-day and full-day split as the rest of the island, sold as blocks of about 4 or 8 hours.
What it costs, honestly
Shared south-coast days sit roughly between €35 and €90 per person — about €35 for a half day and about €45 for a full day with paella and sangria on the big Ciutadella boats, rising toward €80 to €90 per person for a semi-private llaüt trip. Private charter is quoted per boat and per date, in the same island-wide band of about €200 to €1,800 a day with the skipper added separately. We send the real number for your date rather than a headline figure that belongs to April.
Boats, capacity and the wind
Rental and charter boats here take roughly 5 to 12 passengers, with one Ciutadella yacht carrying 11 guests plus her captain. Direction is a morning decision, not a booking decision: the Tramuntana closes the north coast on its bad days, and the boats here are open about running north or south depending on the weather. Take that as a good sign.
Season runs May to October, with the genuine high band from late June to early September and cheaper shoulder bands either side. One outlier date is worth planning around: a total solar eclipse on 12 August 2026, for which a Ciutadella boat is already selling a sailing at about €120.
Who runs it, and what we do
Every boat is run by a licensed local business — we arrange, confirm and stay reachable; they skipper. Balearic charter businesses do not publish registry numbers on their sites, so registration is verified directly with each business rather than quoted from a page. Cancellation terms are set boat by boat and range from free cancellation 48 hours ahead to a sliding scale that starts a month out, with weather cancellations normally refunding the deposit in full — we get yours in writing first.
The full island is on the Menorca overview, the shared version of this day on the south-coast boat tour, and the traditional option on the llaüt charter page. Request availability with your dates and numbers.