The name means “fishhooks.” That was the first thing I learned about the Caves of Hams, and honestly, it stuck with me longer than any travel brochure ever could. The thin, curved stalactites that hang from the ceilings of these caves on Mallorca’s east coast really do look like old Catalan fishing hooks — the kind you’d find in a Porto Cristo tackle box a century ago. Pedro Caldentey, the speleologist who discovered them in 1905, apparently thought the same thing.
Most visitors to Mallorca head straight for the Caves of Drach down the road. Bigger name, bigger crowds, bigger underground lake. But if you want the quieter, more atmospheric experience — the one where you can actually hear the classical music echo off the water instead of competing with a hundred other travelers — Hams is where you should be buying your ticket.
Getting tickets is straightforward, but there are a few things worth knowing before you go — especially if you are thinking about combining Hams with its more famous neighbor, or if you want to dodge the tour-bus crowds that roll through Porto Cristo every morning between 10 and noon.
Best overall: Caves of Hams Entry Ticket — $21. The standard entry gets you the full tour including the Sea of Venice underground lake and the Mozart concert. No guide needed — the self-guided route is well marked.
Best combo: Dinosaurland + Caves of Hams Combined — $29. Great if you are traveling with kids. The dinosaur park is right next door and the combo saves you about eight euros vs buying separately.
Best day trip: Drach Day Trip with Optional Hams — $62. Covers both cave systems in one day with hotel pickup from most Mallorca resorts. The Drach visit includes Lake Martel and the boat concert.
- How the Caves of Hams Ticket System Works
- Caves of Hams vs Caves of Drach — Which One Should You Visit?
- The Best Caves of Hams Tours to Book
- 1. Caves of Hams Entry Ticket —
- 2. Caves of Drach Day Trip with Optional Caves of Hams —
- 3. Caves of Drach Entrance with Music Concert and Boat Trip —
- When to Visit the Caves of Hams
- How to Get to the Caves of Hams
- Tips That Will Save You Time
- What You Will Actually See Inside
- More Mallorca Guides
How the Caves of Hams Ticket System Works
The Caves of Hams operate on a simple walk-up system. You buy your ticket at the entrance in Porto Cristo and enter on a self-guided tour that takes roughly an hour. There is no strict timed-entry system like you find at some mainland Spanish attractions — you show up, pay, and walk in.
That said, buying online through a tour platform like GetYourGuide gives you a confirmed time slot and lets you skip whatever line exists at the ticket window. During peak summer months (July and August), the difference between walking up at 11am and having a pre-booked ticket can be 20-30 minutes of standing in the sun.
Standard ticket prices at the door:
- Adults: around 21-23 euros depending on the season
- Children (3-12): reduced rate, typically 12-14 euros
- Under 3: free
- Combo with Dinosaurland: around 29-33 euros (saves about 8 euros vs separate tickets)
Online prices through GetYourGuide tend to match or slightly undercut the door price, with the added benefit of free cancellation up to 24 hours before. For a family of four, pre-booking is a no-brainer — guaranteed entry, no waiting, and you can cancel if the weather is too good to be underground.
Caves of Hams vs Caves of Drach — Which One Should You Visit?
This is the question everyone asks, and the honest answer is: it depends on what you want from a cave visit.
The Caves of Drach are the headline act. They contain Lake Martel — one of the largest underground lakes in Europe — and the famous boat concert where musicians float across the lake playing classical music in near-total darkness. The walkway is about 1.2 km long, and the whole experience takes around an hour. It is genuinely impressive, but the crowds can be thick. Tour buses from Palma and the resort towns arrive in waves, and during peak season you might share the experience with several hundred people.
The Caves of Hams are smaller, quieter, and — I would argue — more interesting from a geological perspective. The signature hook-shaped stalactites are unique to this system, and the Sea of Venice (their underground lake) has its own music show that feels more intimate. The tour is self-guided, so you move at your own pace instead of shuffling along with a guided group. Fewer tour buses stop here, which means smaller crowds year-round.
My recommendation: Visit both if you have the time — they are only about a 10-minute drive apart in Porto Cristo. If you can only pick one, choose Hams for the atmosphere and Drach for the spectacle. If you are traveling with kids, the Hams + Dinosaurland combo is hard to beat.
The Best Caves of Hams Tours to Book
1. Caves of Hams Entry Ticket — $21
This is the one to get if you just want to see the caves. At $21 per person, it is one of the cheapest attraction tickets on Mallorca, and you get the full experience: all the illuminated chambers, the hook-shaped stalactite formations that give the caves their name, and the classical music performance at the underground Sea of Venice lake.
The tour is self-guided, which is a genuine advantage. You walk at your own pace, linger where you want, and skip past the sections that do not grab you. The whole thing takes about an hour, though I spent closer to 75 minutes because the formations near the lake are worth studying. The Caves of Hams entry ticket is the most booked option on GetYourGuide for this attraction, and for good reason — it is simple, affordable, and includes everything.
2. Caves of Drach Day Trip with Optional Caves of Hams — $62
If you want to see both caves in one shot — and you do not have a rental car — this is the practical choice. At $62, the day trip includes hotel pickup from most Mallorca resorts, the Caves of Drach entrance with the Lake Martel boat concert, and an optional add-on for the Caves of Hams.
The Drach portion is the star here. Lake Martel is genuinely massive — one of the largest underground lakes in Europe — and the concert where musicians float across the water in near-darkness is something you will remember. The Hams add-on is worth the extra cost if you have never been, because the contrast between the two systems is striking. Drach is grand and theatrical; Hams is intimate and geological. The full review of this day trip breaks down exactly what the itinerary looks like hour by hour. One reviewer noted the pearl factory stop felt overly commercial, which is fair — you can skip that part and grab coffee in Porto Cristo instead.
3. Caves of Drach Entrance with Music Concert and Boat Trip — $64
Not everyone has a full day to spend on caves. If you only have half a day and the Caves of Drach are the priority, this standalone package from Palma gets you there and back without the optional Hams add-on. $64 per person covers transportation from Palma, skip-the-line entry to Drach, the boat ride across Lake Martel, and the live classical concert underground.
It is essentially the same operator as the combo trip above, minus the Hams portion and the pearl factory stop. The Drach entrance package works well as a morning activity — you leave Palma around 9am and are back by early afternoon, leaving time for the beach or a visit to Palma Cathedral in the evening. The guide is multilingual and the whole operation runs smoothly — no complaints on logistics.
When to Visit the Caves of Hams
The Caves of Hams are open year-round, which is part of their appeal as a rainy-day backup plan on Mallorca. Hours shift slightly by season, but generally the caves open at 10:00 and close between 16:30 (winter) and 17:30 (summer). Last entry is usually 30-45 minutes before closing.
Best time to go: Early morning (first entry at 10:00) or late afternoon (after 15:00). The tour buses from the big resorts usually arrive between 10:30 and 12:00, and the caves are noticeably more crowded during that window. After lunch the crowds thin out, and by 15:00 you might have entire chambers to yourself.
Best months: April through June and September through October. Peak summer (July-August) brings the biggest crowds and the hottest weather — though the caves themselves stay a comfortable 18-20 degrees Celsius year-round, so they make a welcome break from the heat regardless.
Temperature inside: Around 18-20°C (64-68°F) with high humidity. Bring a light layer even if it is 35 degrees outside — the temperature drop when you walk in is noticeable, and the humidity can make it feel cooler than the thermometer suggests.
How to Get to the Caves of Hams
The Caves of Hams are located on the Carretera Porto Cristo-Manacor road (MA-4020), about 1 km south of Porto Cristo on Mallorca’s east coast. They are roughly a 60-minute drive from Palma, 45 minutes from Alcudia, and 30 minutes from Cala Millor.
By car: This is the easiest option. The caves have their own parking lot right at the entrance, and parking is free. Follow signs for Porto Cristo from wherever you are on the island, then look for the brown “Coves dels Hams” signs on the MA-4020. The Caves of Drach are signposted on the same road, about 2 km further south — easy to hit both in one trip.
By public bus: The TIB 412 bus runs from Manacor to Porto Cristo. From Palma, take the TIB 401 to Manacor, then transfer to the 412. The total journey takes about 90 minutes. The bus stop in Porto Cristo is about a 15-minute walk from the caves — doable, but not ideal if it is hot.
By organized tour: Most day-trip packages (like the Drach combo listed above) include hotel pickup from major resort areas including Palma, Alcudia, Cala Millor, Cala d’Or, and Magaluf. This is the most convenient option if you do not have a car, especially for the Hop-On Hop-Off bus travelers who are basing themselves in Palma.
Tips That Will Save You Time
- Buy tickets online before you go. Not because they sell out — they rarely do — but because the ticket window line during peak hours can eat 20-30 minutes of your morning. Pre-booked tickets let you walk straight in.
- Wear shoes with grip. The paths inside the caves are paved but can be slippery from humidity. Flip-flops are a bad idea. Trainers or sandals with a back strap work fine.
- Leave the flash at home. Photography is allowed inside the Caves of Hams (unlike some European caves), but flash photography is not. The colored lighting is enough for phone cameras if you hold steady — lean against a railing for stability.
- Combine with Drach if you have time. The two cave systems are a 5-minute drive apart. Visit Hams first (smaller, quicker), then Drach (bigger, more crowded). This order works better than the reverse because Hams feels underwhelming after Drach’s scale, but the reverse — Hams first — makes each cave feel special for different reasons.
- The Dinosaurland combo is legit for families. It sounds like a tourist trap, but the outdoor dinosaur park next to the caves is actually well-maintained and kids under 10 genuinely enjoy it. The combo ticket saves about eight euros compared to buying separate entries.
- Pack water and snacks. There is a small cafe at the cave entrance, but the selection is limited and the prices are what you would expect from a captive-audience tourist spot. Porto Cristo town has much better lunch options — try the seafood restaurants along the harbor.
- Avoid Monday mornings. Several Mallorca day-trip operators schedule their Porto Cristo cave excursions on Monday, making it the busiest day of the week for both cave systems.
What You Will Actually See Inside
The Caves of Hams were discovered in 1905 by Pedro Caldentey, a local speleologist who was exploring the limestone karst terrain near Porto Cristo. The name “Hams” comes from the Catalan word for fishhooks — a reference to the thin, curved stalactites that are unique to this cave system. You will not find formations quite like them anywhere else on Mallorca.
The cave system is divided into several distinct sections. The first passages are relatively narrow, with formations pressing in from both sides. As you go deeper, the chambers open up and the formations become more dramatic — tall stalagmites rising from the floor, curtain-like draperies hanging from the ceiling, and the signature hook stalactites that earned the caves their name.
The highlight is the Sea of Venice — an underground lake where a short classical music concert (usually Mozart) is performed. The tradition dates back to the early 20th century, and while it is not as grand as the Lake Martel concert at Drach, the smaller space creates better acoustics. The sound bounces off the water and the low cave ceiling in a way that a bigger space cannot replicate.
Mallorca’s caves were formed over millions of years as rainwater — made slightly acidic by absorbing carbon dioxide from soil — slowly dissolved the island’s limestone bedrock. The process created underground chambers, stalactites (hanging down), stalagmites (growing up), and eventually underground rivers and lakes. The island has over 200 documented caves, making it one of the most cave-rich islands in the Mediterranean. Most are not open to the public, which makes the ones that are — like Hams and Drach — that much more special.
More Mallorca Guides
If you are spending a few days on the island, the caves pair well with other east-coast activities. A catamaran cruise along the Mallorca coast covers the same turquoise water you can see from the Porto Cristo cliffs, and it is one of the best ways to see the coastline without a car. Back in Palma, Palma Cathedral is worth at least an hour — the Gaudi-designed interior lighting is something else entirely. And if you want to cover a lot of ground in one day, the Hop-On Hop-Off bus route through Palma hits the main sights without the parking headaches.
This article contains affiliate links. If you book through our links, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps us keep producing free travel guides.