Motion Sickness: Coll dels Reis to Port de sa Calobra Drive
The Coll dels Reis to Port de sa Calobra trip covers about 7.6 miles (12 km) and takes around 30 minutes. The terrain is cliffside hairpin descent, which makes it a very high motion sickness risk route.
The MA-2141 drops from the Coll dels Reis at 682 m to the sea in 12.2 km, through about 26 bends, most of them hairpins. The best known is the Nus de sa Corbata, a 270 degree loop where the road passes under itself. There is no flat recovery stretch, and whatever you drive down you must also drive back up.
Key facts
- The Coll dels Reis to Port de sa Calobra trip covers about 7.6 miles, which is 12 km.
- It takes about 30 minutes.
- The terrain is cliffside hairpin descent, which puts the route in the very high band for motion sickness.
- 3 sections are flagged as motion sickness pressure points, starting with Nus de sa Corbata.
- Steadiest place to sit: Front passenger seat, eyes through the next bend rather than at the cliffs.
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Where Motion Sickness Hits Hardest
The sections most likely to trigger motion sickness are: Nus de sa Corbata (270 degree loop), Mid cliff hairpin sequence, Final bends into Port de sa Calobra. Go before 9am or after 5pm; midday tour buses force reversing on hairpins. The boat between Port de sa Calobra and Port de Soller is the only alternative to driving back up. Spring and autumn traffic is far lighter than July and August.
Best Seat for Motion Sickness on This Drive
Front passenger seat, eyes through the next bend rather than at the cliffs.
Going on the Coll dels Reis to Port de sa Calobra drive? Set it up first
Set it up before you pull out, not at the first lay-by. Dizzout is a drug-free app that plays precisely calibrated audio through any headphones you already own, wired or Bluetooth, with relief in about 90 seconds. Free to try.
Before you need it: find out how prone you are
Take the free 2-minute testTwo minutes, no sign-up, and it ends with a drug-free plan to prepare.
Put it on your phone before you go
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Send them the app that helps stop it, drug-free, in about 90 seconds, works with any headphones. Free to try.
Prevention Tips for the Coll dels Reis to Port de sa Calobra Drive
- Have Dizzout downloaded before you start, so it is ready the moment symptoms begin
- If you plan to take an over-the-counter tablet such as Bonine or Dramamine, those need 30 to 60 minutes before departure to do anything. Ask a pharmacist first
- Eat lightly before the drive; a heavy meal makes symptoms worse for most people
- Take breaks every 90 minutes minimum on long stretches
- Keep the car cool and well-ventilated
- Avoid reading or phone use in the back seat
Which of those actually hold up when they are tested is a separate question, and we keep the answers in one place: the remedy verdicts, ranked by evidence.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the Sa Calobra road?
Short in distance, long in memory: a continuous hairpin descent from the Coll dels Reis down to the little port, about half an hour of turning with no flat recovery stretch anywhere. And the same road is the only way back up, so the real dose is double whatever the map suggests.
What is the Nus de sa Corbata?
The road's signature bend, named the knot of the necktie in Catalan, where the road loops back on itself so tightly it has become the emblem of the whole descent. It is the moment passengers remember, and a fair warning of the geometry ahead.
Do you have to drive back up from Sa Calobra?
Yes: the road dead ends at the port, and every car that goes down drives the same hairpins back up. The classic workaround for queasy passengers is the seasonal boat along the coast toward Port de Soller, with one person taking the car back up alone; check timetables locally before counting on it.
When should you drive Sa Calobra to avoid buses?
Before 9am or after 5pm, by the standing local advice our tips carry. Midday brings tour coaches, and meeting one on a hairpin means reversing, shuffling and idling on a slope, which is the worst version of this road for everyone's stomach. Early light on the cliffs is the bonus.
How high does the Sa Calobra road start?
At the Coll dels Reis, a mountain pass in the Serra de Tramuntana, from which the road sheds essentially all its height on the way to the sea. The descent is the whole story: continuous downhill cornering with the weight on the nose of the car, which many passengers find harder than climbing the same bends.
What's the fastest way to stop car sickness mid-drive?
Once symptoms have started, pills won't work fast enough - they take 30+ minutes to kick in. The fastest options mid-drive are sound therapy via headphones (Dizzout states relief in about 90 seconds), pulling over for fresh air, and looking at the distant horizon.
Other drives we have looked at
Route facts last checked September 2026. Roads, rules and seasons change; the linked official pages are the live word.