Honeymoon in Mallorca in October? Other suggestions?

[RichF]

It seems like there are a few international folks on here, and others that have traveled a lot, so perhaps someone can help.

My fiance and I are thinking of heading to Mallorca for our honeymoon next October.  It would be two weeks in mid-October.  Wikipedia suggests that this is the rainiest month of the year (avg. 7 days of rain), but I'm guessing it's not that bad.  I've seen a few mentions of climbing there in October on MP forums, so people seem to be getting out.  

This wouldn't be solely a climbing trip, but we'd definitely want to get a few good days of sport climbing in, and might check out some deep-water-solo for a day too if we found a good spot.  We'd be looking for grades from 5.10-5.12.

Does Mallorca seem like a good fit for this trip?  And this time of year?  Any other suggestions?  She's been to Spain before (Rodellar, I think), but I never have.  We like the idea of having beach and climbing nearby, but would also like to have interesting things to see on non-climbing days (historical/cultural sites, etc.).  I think we're interested in somewhere near the Mediterranean (as opposed to Caribbean destinations that might fit these criteria), but I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks!

[Chris W]

I really only planned on doing one thing on my honeymoon, and it wasn't climbing...

[daustin]

I went to Mallorca a few years ago for 3 weeks in January, on a pure climbing trip. A few comments:

- There's tons of climbing in your grade range
- Most of the sport climbing and cool cultural sites are on the west side of the island, but most of the beaches and DWS are on the east side. It's not a big island so you can day trip to opposite coasts, but something to keep in mind depending on what you want to do the most of
- There are certainly plenty of museums and other types of cultural activities in Palma. Outside of that, I'd say that Mallorca isn't the best destination for touring/sight-seeing. Not that there isn't a lot to see, but compared to other spots in Europe it's less "attraction-dense", so to speak
- In January, we got perfect weather. Every day was sunny and probably right around 60-65 degrees in the sun. Obviously we lucked out, but it's certainly not impossible to get great climbing weather in winter
- In January, we were also pretty much the only tourists on the island. Very off-peak, and the locals were really welcoming. Not sure what it's like in Oct.

For your situation, I'm not sure I'd recommend Mallorca. For me, it was perhaps one of the best trips I've ever been on, but that was because we had 3 full weeks with nothing to do but climb, get to know the locals, and putz around on rest days. With only 2 weeks and divided attention, I'd consider other more conventional destinations that might be easier to travel to but still have accessible climbing. Paris + Font comes to mind, as do southern France + Verdon Gorge, Greek islands + Kalymnos, etc. That said, I have no doubts that if you DO go to Mallorca, you'll have an excellent time.

[RichF]

Thanks daustin!  Maybe others will chime in with specifics about the weather in October, but I appreciate all of the other Mallorca beta!  Southern France/Verdon is worth looking into.  

I need to look into the Greek Islands a little more.  She's been to Kalymnos before - I think I heard that it's great climbing but not much else going on out there.  Maybe some of the other areas are better?

[MarkAnderson]

Dec 9, 2015 16:52:34 GMT -7 Chris W said:

I really only planned on doing one thing on my honeymoon, and it wasn't climbing...

Writing Thank You cards?

[Chris W]

Lots of thank you cards.

Rich, hope you guys have a great time. I believe Rock and Ice had an article about Mallorca and Wolverine Publishing has a guidebook for the area. Don't forget to write lots of thank you cards while you are there

[iepsje]

Hi there, cool trip! We have been two times in Mallorca the last week of october/the first weeks of november. And 2 times later (late november, early december). Usually, the beginning of octobre is dry and good weather, and the end of October gets wetter and wetter. One day we had over 60mm of rain in 24 hours...

Mallorca is a nice Island, with a couple of mountains (that normally stop the rain on one side of the Island), so usually we check the weather in the morning, the wind and expected rain and then decide to climb on which side of the Island. It can be really raining on the east and nice and sunny on the beach in the west, or vica versa. We could climb almost all days during our trip, the first day of really bad weather you can head to one of the very overhanging crags (forgot the name) which is dry the first day or two and then starts seeping. In you grade range you can climb almost every where on the island, only for the rainy days it starts around 7a/7b.
So i guess weather will be oke for your trip if you are flexible with dividing your days between climbing, bedroom and playing tourist The big and small cities are nice to play tourist and absorb some atmosphere. The water is still warm from summer, and on a hot day you probably do not want to be in the sun too much. The food is delicious and there are also good hiking possibilities.

If you have any more specific questions, let me know.

[RichF]

Dec 14, 2015 4:25:20 GMT -7 iepsje said:

Hi there, cool trip! We have been two times in Mallorca the last week of october/the first weeks of november...  If you have any more specific questions, let me know.

Thanks!! That's exactly the sort of beta we need!

I'll probably get in touch with more specific questions if we decide on Mallorca.  Thanks again!