Yes, you can set foot on Caribbean-white sand in Mallorca without renting a car. Not every cove, but the ones that pay off. The honest map of what public transport reaches.
Legend says Mallorca's good coves are only reachable by car. It's half true: the most hidden ones in the east really do demand a 4x4 and a dirt track. But a handful of the best —including Es Trenc, the turquoise-water one from the postcards— are within reach of public transport if you accept early starts and combining a bus with a stretch on foot.
Es Trenc, the accessible Caribbean
Es Trenc is a wild beach of white sand and clear water, protected from development, and a seasonal bus reaches it from Palma via Campos. The key is the hour: from ten it fills up and the car park collapses, so going car-free and early works in your favour. Bring water and shade: there are barely any facilities, and that's part of its charm.
The north-west: Sóller and Sa Calobra by sea
In the Serra de Tramuntana, Port de Sóller is reached by the historic tram, and boats leave its harbour for Sa Calobra and the Torrent de Pareis, sparing you the road of impossible bends. It's the most comfortable —and most beautiful— way to reach one of the island's most spectacular coves without a steering wheel.
What you accept by going car-free
Without a car you give up the secret cove that only a dirt track reaches. In return, you skip hunting for parking at eleven under the sun. It's a fair trade.
Download the bus timetables (TIB) before you go, because coverage drops, and chain the coves sensibly instead of improvising. All of this, with the bus-and-boat combinations that actually work, is in the Mallorca-without-a-car itinerary you copy to your account in one click.
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Es Trenc and Mallorca's coves without a car: how far you get