What you can see on the Sant Lluís webcams
At Punta Prima the camera sits close to the water, looking across the turquoise shallows to the low, flat island offshore and its lighthouse, with rocks and breaking waves in the foreground. It shows the colour of the sea and whether the swell is rolling in or the water lies flat. Further west, at Cala Torret, a camera looks over terracotta rooftops and white villas to a rocky point and the open sea beyond, a wider view that takes in the morning sun on the water.
Punta Prima and Illa de l'Aire
Set just above the water at Punta Prima, on the south-east tip of Menorca, this camera looks across the channel to Illa de l'Aire, the low, flat island whose tall lighthouse stands out on the horizon. Flat rocks lie in the foreground, and the sea between the shore and the island shifts from turquoise in the shallows to deep blue further out.
It is live video at sea level, so you see every wave break and can judge the swell well before a swim at the nearby beach. The camera faces the morning sun, and the lighthouse makes it easy to tell how far you can see through any haze.
Cala Torret and the south-east coast
From the rooftops of Cala Torret, a small resort of white villas next to Binibeca, the camera looks east along Menorca's south-east coast. Terracotta roofs fill the foreground; beyond them, white houses run down to a low rocky point and the sea, and far off the lighthouse of Illa de l'Aire marks the horizon.
It faces the morning sun, so early in the day the water shines silver and the coast stands in silhouette; by afternoon the light is behind the camera and the sea turns blue. It is a view for the weather and the state of the sea on this part of the coast rather than for a beach.
A French town and a fishermen's village from the 1960s
The town of Sant Lluís, inland, was founded by the French in 1761, during their short rule over Menorca, and was laid out on a neat grid around a whitewashed church named after Saint Louis. A restored windmill at the edge of town is now a museum. On the coast, Binibeca Vell looks like an ancient fishing village of whitewashed alleys, but it was designed in the 1960s by the Barcelona architect F. J. Barba Corsini.
When to watch Sant Lluís
Menorca is one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland. It is also the most easterly part of Spain, and this south-east coast faces the sunrise, so on clear mornings both cameras look towards the sun rising over the sea. Mornings are usually the calmest time; a sea breeze often builds in the afternoon. When the north wind blows, this south-facing coast is often sheltered.
Around Sant Lluís
Mahón, the island capital, is about 5 miles (8 km) north of Punta Prima, and Es Castell sits at the mouth of its harbour. Along the coast between the resorts runs the Camí de Cavalls, the old path that circles the whole island, passing defence towers and small coves.
Visiting Sant Lluís
Menorca airport is just a few miles inland, so this is one of the quickest corners of the island to reach on arrival. The beach at Punta Prima is sandy, but the coast between the resorts is mostly rock, with ladders into the sea. Watch the flags on the beach before swimming when the wind blows from the east.
