Chartering around Mallorca: the Cabrera permit and protected seagrass meadows

Chartering around Mallorca sooner or later tempts most crews south to the little archipelago of Cabrera. It is a land and sea national park, and taking a charter yacht in requires a permit from the park administration beforehand. Permits are issued for set dates and for the boat you name, and in high season they go quickly. Anchoring is not allowed inside the park; you moor on the buoys in Cabrera harbour that are allocated with the permit. The base looks after the yacht's papers, the Cabrera permit is yours to apply for.

The second point applies across the islands: the protected seagrass meadows. Posidonia is a seagrass found only in the Mediterranean, and around the Balearics it forms large meadows that keep the water clear and protect the beaches. The Balearic government has banned anchoring on these meadows, enforces it with patrols and fines offenders. In many popular bays summer buoy fields are laid, elsewhere you anchor only on sand. In clear water the difference is easy to see from the deck: sand shows pale, seagrass dark.

Apply for the Cabrera permit as soon as your plan is fixed and keep it to hand for when a park boat comes alongside. At handover ask the base about buoy fields on your route and for charts of the seagrass meadows. Anchor only on pale sand and far enough from the seagrass that the boat cannot swing onto it. Carry your ICC or equivalent and the crew list. If the anchor drags through a meadow, or the yacht hits a buoy or another boat while manoeuvring, you are liable as skipper, so make sure your own skipper liability insurance applies in Spain.

Worth remembering

Around Mallorca the colour of the seabed decides whether the anchor may go down.