Santo Tomas Holidays – A stunning beach on the south coast

A small, peaceful south-coast resort with just one road in and one road out, Santo Tomas is all about relaxation. The pine-covered hillside behind with beautiful countryside on either side provides a lovely backdrop. You’ll find two small commercial centres here with a handful of shops and supermarkets. Nightlife is mainly hotel-based, with a small selection of bars in town. For a livelier night out, Mahon and Ciutadella are both accessible car – it’s worth hiring one for the week to explore the area.  The main draw of Santo Tomas is the stunning beach; clean and expansive with soft golden sand, it’s rated one of the best on the island. What’s more there’s plenty to do for both families and couples here, with tennis and 5-a side football facilities, crazy golf, children’s playgrounds and pony rides. 

When to go

With its quiet, small-town atmosphere, Santo Tomas is never going to feel over crowded at any time of year. The busiest (and most expensive) times to visit is over the peak summer period of June-August. Even then you will still find plenty of space on the beach.

The beautiful surrounding countryside and old, rustic bridleways of Santo Tomas make the resort a great spot for walking and cycling. This is especially so during the spring months of April-May, when the weather is warm but not stifling and countryside is coming into bloom. Spring will also see lower prices than the peak season.Holidays to Santo Thomas between November and March are not recommended, as the weather is not so good and the resort more or less closes down for tourists.

The weather in Santo Tomas

The Balearic Islands benefit from a warm Mediterranean climate, with hot summers and relatively mild winters. Spring in Santo Tomas starts in April with average maximum temperatures of around 17C, climbing up to around 21C by the end of May. June-August is the summer period, seeing temperatures of 25-28C before cooling down for the autumn months of September-October to around 22-26C. Winter is from November-March. During this time, temperatures drop to 14-18C with increased rainfall and strong northerly winds.

Getting the best deal

Getting the best deal on Santo Tomas holidays is all about booking well in advance. The resort is small, so the best-priced rooms in popular accommodation will sell out fast. Try to avoid notoriously expensive times such as the Easter and summer school holidays, as well as half-term.Opting for a holiday in the off-peak seasons of spring and autumn will see far cheaper prices than booking for the summer months. And choosing to self-cater will always lower the overall cost of your holiday. Take a look at our best deals on package holidays to Santo Tomas below or check out our late offers here.

Airport and transport need to know

You can fly to Menorca from over 15 UK airports, including London Gatwick, Luton and Stansted, Manchester, Liverpool and numerous other regional hubs such as Norwich and Humberside.You’ll arrive at the island’s Menorca Mahon airport (MAH), located in the south east corner of Menorca, around 2.4 miles away from the capital Mahon. Small and very busy during the peak season, this airport has just one terminal set across 2 floors, and a small selection of shops.

Santo Tomas is around 19 miles from the airport, and takes around 40 minutes to reach by car. Taxis wait outside the terminal building and operate on a ‘fixed price’ basis. You should expect to pay around €30 for a taxi for 4 plus luggage. Taxis can accommodate up to 4 people and do not have child seats unless specifically requested in advance by telephone.

You can also book a shared shuttle bus to the resort from coach companies that run services from the airport, like Menorca Airport Transfers. This is a cheaper option than a taxi, with return fares costing around €25.

The cheapest but most time-consuming way to get to Santo Tomas is by public bus. You’ll need to catch the Airport-Mahon bus. Buses leave from outside the terminal building at twenty five past and five to the hour and take around 15 minutes to reach the central bus depot in Mahon. Fares are around €1.50 for a single. Once in Mahon, you can catch a connecting bus to Santo Tomas. See here to download a PDF of the bus timetable.

You can hire a private car from the airport from car hire companies such as arguscarhire.com. 
 

The best beaches in Santo Tomas

The southern coastline of Menorca is widely regarded as having the beast beaches on the island. While the beaches of the north and west tend towards small rocky inlets and coves (which are beautiful in their own right), the southern coast is all about expansive golden sands that often stretch for miles.

Santo Tomas Beach

Santo Tomas has one of the best beaches in the area. In fact, it effectively has two beaches, separated by a rocky spit. Each half is around 600m long, with sand dunes to the rear separating the beach from the hotels of the resort. The eastern beach is known as Playa Santo Tomas and is the deeper of the two. The western half is known as Playa San Adeodato and is longer but narrower. This beach has a beach bar, lifeguard and watersports on offer including pedaloes, jet skis, motor boats and windsurfing. Those with small children should be aware that both beaches can have strong water currents, so you should keep an eye on the safety warning flags. The southern end of the beach going towards Son Bou is popular with nudists.

Son Bou Beach

With the longest beach on Menorca, Son Bou is popular with tourists and locals alike. You can walk to Son Bou from Santo Tomas in around 45 minutes along a coastal path that affords some breath-taking views of both resorts. If you do walk to Son Bou, be aware that the first part of the beach is popular with nudists, and you will have to walk right up to the other end to reach the shops and restaurants. Son Bou has excellent facilities with free parking, lifeguards, sunbeds, parasols and wheel chair access. There are 3 beach bars here as well as numerous watersports on offer including banana boat rides, kayaking, snorkelling, water-skiing and pedaloes.

Cala Galdana Beach

One of the most photographed bays in the Balearics, and one which has graced many a travel brochure, Cala Galdana undoubtedly deserves its title of ‘Queen of the Calas’. This stunning, pine-clad bay is encircled by high cliffs that almost form a lagoon of clear, turquoise water. The water is warm and shallow and the sand soft and white. Towards the western end of the beach you can hire kayaks and pedaloes for around €12 an hour, and water skiing is on offer at the eastern end. Private boat hire, glass-bottom boat trips and scuba diving can also be arranged as the eastern end. You can walk to Cala Galdana in around 1.5 -2 hours, northwards along a coastal path. Alternatively there is a bus that runs via Ferreries from Santo Tomas.