It's a dramatic 10km journey
southwest from Sóller
along the C710 to the beautiful village of
DEIĄ
. The mighty Puig des Teix meets the coast here, and, although its lower slopes are now gentrified by the villas of the well-to-do, the mountain retains a formidable, almost mysterious presence. Doubling as the coastal highway, Deią's main street skirts the base of the Teix, showing off most of the village's hotels and restaurants. At times, this main street is too congested to be much fun, but the tiny heart of the village, tumbling over a high and narrow ridge on the seaward side of the road, still manages a surprising tranquillity. Labyrinthine alleys of old peasant houses curl up to a pretty country
church
, in the precincts of which stands the
grave of Robert Graves
, the village's most famous resident - marked simply "Robert Graves: Poeta, E.P.D." (
En Paz Descanse
: "Rest In Peace"). From the graveyard, the views out over the coast are truly memorable.
Graves put Deią on the international map, and nowadays the village is the haunt of long-term expatriates. These inhabitants congregate at the
Cala de Deią
, the nearest thing the village has to a beach - some 200m of shingle at the back of a handsome rocky cove of jagged cliffs, boulders and white-crested surf. It's a great place for a swim, the water clean, deep and cool, and there's a ramshackle beach bar, but in summer the cove often gets crowded, especially when the day-trippers arrive by boat from Port de Sóller. It takes about twenty minutes to walk from the village to the
cala
, a delightful stroll down a wooded ravine; from the bus stop, walk in the Palma direction to a sharp right bend in the main road, then turn right down the shallow steps and continue downhill, taking a right fork after a few minutes. When the lane ends a signposted footpath continues in the same direction; after about five minutes turn right by a white painted sign and follow the path until it joins a surfaced road about 500m from the cove. Alternatively, driving there takes about ten minutes: head north along the main road out of Deią and watch for the sign.
