Santo Tomas
is situated in the centre of Menorca’s South coast, approximately 35 – 40 minutes drive from Mahon Airport. Nowhere takes very long to get to on Menorca and owing to its very central location, even Cuitadella is just 40 minutes away, with Mahon harbour being within easy reach, but also about 45 minutes drive.
Santo Tomas is one of Menorca’s more “traditional” holiday resorts, having been built before the stricter planning controls were imposed on the island’s developers and as a result Santo Tomas has more of a feel of Majorca about it than many of the more sympathetically developed resorts on the island, with seven quite large hotels offering reasonably priced package holidays.
Whilst some may regard these hotels in Santo Tomas as a bit of an eyesore, the upside is that they do offer the opportunity to holiday on Menorca relatively cheaply. Also the concentration of hotels around Santo Tomas makes for plenty of evening entertainment for adults, as well as entertainment and kids clubs for the younger ones, so there is no excuse for them being bored! Since there is only one road into Santo Tomas and so in general there are only holidaymakers staying at Santo Tomas plus one or two residents. It isn’t a destination for daytrippers.
Out of the holiday season, Santo Tomas is all but a ghost-town!
Santo Tomas Amenities
Santo Tomas has a selection of what I would call “tourist shops”, as well as two quite reasonable sized supermarkets and two bakers. There are car rental offices as well as cash machines, tennis courts, pony trekking and even mini golf. For the smaller children there are a couple of climbing frames, swings and every earklly evening a kids mini disco at Las Dunas Hotel. I seem to remember when I stayed at The Lord Nelson at Santo Tomas, my daughter, then 6, was press ganged into the tigers club – at least I thing that was what it was called, which menat my wife and I could have a quiet mooch about the shops doing “boring” stuff knowing she was well taken care of.
There are two splendid beaches at Santo Tomas, separated by a rock headland which is home to The Hotel Sol. San Adeodata is the western beach here and home to quite a few villas occupying the front line overlooking the thin sandy beach. To the east the beach is overlooked by the hotels and although deeper and a little wider, San Adeodata was worth the walk from the hotel.
Even further west lies Playa de Binigaus, undeveloped and often occupied (although not exclusively) by nudists. Of the three beaches, this is the most remote and least spoiled as a result.
Santo Tomas does have some quite strong currents, so keep a watchful eye on the flags and the kids.
Santo Tomas Holiday Tip
Santo Tomas does have everything you need for a most enjoyable holiday with small children (up yo 10 years I would say) and if you are on a package tour, there is plenty to keep adults and children amused. If you do fancy exploring a little further afield, hiring a car for a day is well worth the expense, as most places worth visiting are easily within an hour’s drive. If you are hiring a car in the height of the season, preb-ooking might be an idea and air conditioning is a must!
We do intend to add more detail as time allows, ut we hope this brief guide has given you a taste of what it might be like to holiday at