This was my 7th visit to Ibiza and the best yet so I wanted to make sure I shared my experience to relive the amazing time I had and show the haters that its definitely not all about the 'good old days'.
We decided to do pretty much 2 weeks on the island and split the time up between playa d'en bossa and san antonio - I pondered a 1 night on 1 night off strategy at first but ended up just smashing it every night - no regrets eh!
Friday 25th - Hush
Landed at around 1:30am and took a taxi over to San An staying at the Poniente Playa around the bay past mambo etc by kanya beach. This place is a great budget option was bout £14 a night each between 4 sharing in an apartment for 6 v tidy and would recommend to anyone. After dumping our gear it was a short walk into the West End to check out a few old haunts. My worker pal from last year suggested viva for some cheap drinks but got stung at €20 for 3 normal sized vodka red bulls and the atmosphere was not that great. So onward to the tried and tested tropicana for a full pint of vodka red bull for €6 and the usual banging tunes at this time. We ventured over to Hush at about 2:30am the only place I d really want to be spending a late night in the west end and it did not disappoint. The place still has a casual workers vibe (must be over 50% workers in there) drinks are reasonable €3 water €5 vodka mixer but the tunes are banging every night and I challenge anyone to find a better bar in the west end. Hearing Swedish House Mafia 'One' dropped twice in 3 hrs was enough to drive me crazy along with the usual blend of classics with new and underground tracks. I was not too keen on their tactic of playing Amy Winehouse at 6am to ensure the punters left promptly but otherwise pleased with the night. The usual walk back round the bay ended with the typical view of skinny dippers who did not realise the sun was going to come up getting caught out and failing miserably to try and keep their dignity!
Saturday 26th - Zoo & Eden
Managed to get zoo tickets for €30 which included free entry to eden so all set for a good 12hr session. Zoo project was busier than I remember last year again with a strong workers vibe but still a great atmosphere. Some of the music was a bit too tribal and minimal for my taste but with all the dressing up and a busy seal pit the night rocked. Loads of places to chill out and definitely worth checking out if you have not been to the venue before. After a good 5 hrs we jumped on the free bus to san an got changed and headed down to Eden. It was Mondo loco and Retro a decent night with some good techno in the main room and classics and housey tracks in the back room. It was pretty busy and they had €6 vodka mixers so it made for a pretty good night so we pushed on til around 5ish.
Sunday 27th - Judgement Sunday
Watched the England Germany game at the golden gate in the middle of the west end, a great atmosphere til it started to go wrong. It did not get ugly but was not worth hanging around so we headed down to the bay bar round the bay towards the east end an old favourite with great mojitos €8 and a great place to chill out for a few hours. After getting over the misery of the result we decided to hit Judgement Sunday purely for the presence of Eddie Halliwell and he did not disappoint. Eden was a different world compared to the previous night packed out and eddie played a great set. The atmosphere was electric with loads of production, dancers etc until the judge came on at about 4:30 and spoilt his own night but I ll give the guy a break he is still a legend. We just moved into the back room and ended the night dancing with guys in inflatable suits to the man with the red face.
Monday 28th - Tiesto
We hit the sunset strip on Monday night and had a few cartons of Don Simon sangria on the rocks always a great way to save some cash and the sugar in the sangria always gets you nicely pissed! All feeling merry on the don Simon we hit tropicana again to throw some serious shapes before shipping out to tiesto that was somehow cheaper than judgement sunday at €35. Entering Priv was awesome seeing the huge crowd below a must for anyone and we soon pushed our way to the front. Tiesto is not really my style normally but he smashed out an excellent set for 3 hrs and i did not step off the dancefloor. The atmosphere was truly electric and its great to see priv at its best a real great club when its full. €9 for water was a bit steep but well worth it for an excellent night. Everyone should do this once even if you don't like tiesto!
Tuesday 29th - Sander Van Doorn/Roger Sanchez/Markus Schultz
This was both the most amazing and disappointing night of the 13. I love amnesia and it is probably my favourite club but I was shocked to find the terrace almost empty all night. Roger was playing some great tracks but for some reason (I guess people over did it at cocoon/tiesto on monday) it was really quiet. The main room was still banging though and sander van doorn played the best set of the 2 weeks. I pretty much floated through it with my hands in the air before Markus Schultz came on and smashed it to equal measure. I only wonder what might of been if you would have taken all the people from tiesto and put them in amnesia for this night it truly could of been one of the best ever. It was €35 to get in drinks at €12 a vodka mixer and still a top night worth re-visiting in peak season when the numbers are better then I think it could be right up there.
Wednesday 30th - Kekahuma/Warung
On wednesday it was time to ship out of San Antonio and head over to playa d'en bossa. Now the fun was really going to start. We stayed at the ebano bout 5min walk to bora bora and space with a really nice pool again would recommend at about £18 per person per night for a room between 4 people. We went straight to Bora Bora and soon had free entry to both space and priv for the night. Our friend was flying in at 2am so we decided to do space 11pm-2am and warung 3am-6am. After the trance fest of the last few days I was really looking forward to the techno at space but unfortunately the night failed to get going whilst we were there and the music left us frustrated prob just there too early sure it would of been banging by 3-4am. So we met our friend did 4 tequila shots each and headed to warung. It was a cool party with lots of production they had a space man, a massive temple in the middle of the club but the music was again not quite there. It seemed like a popular party though esp with the spanish and Italians but just seemed like something was missing. Would like to try kekahuma again 2-6am.
Thursday 1st - Cream
It was the usual messy one in cream and I was actually very grateful to get back to the trance after the average techno and out of sorts latin beats of the previous night. Now this is what amnesia is all about packed out (even though I d prefer the more continental mix cocoon provides) I was just glad to see it full after Tuesday. I think above and beyond must have played all night as I pretty much did not move from my spot in the main room from 1:30am til 6am and did not see anyone else. At €16 the vodka mixers were particularly pricey but that did not stop me enjoying a few and smashing it all the way through to some banging tunes. Shame the guys were only doing one show this summer cos they were awesome and got a great response from the crowd. Definitely still one of the best nights on the island - the vibe at cream is hard to beat.
Friday 2nd/Sat 3rd - Hush and Zoo
Some more friends had flown into san an so friday gave us the opportunity to slow it down a bit for a night and mess about in san an so we did the annual crazy golf competition and pool competition in the ship and met our pals for a night out in Hush. Even after the great music of the last few nights the music in hush was second to none and even though I heard shm's one 3 times in the night I only went more mental the more I heard it - definitely became the tune of the holiday!! We partied on in hush then the after party continued at our pals and carried on through to the zoo project on sat. Things get a little hazy at this point as I had been on it far too long and I sadly crashed out after the zoo at 12pm for sleeps even though others went on to Eden - my one regret I missed 3hrs partying here I think lol need to work on the stamina!
Sun 4th - We love space
Another day another pal flies in. I eventually make it back over to playa den bossa at about 6pm and we hit bora bora beach club for some more don simon. We hit up tantra on the way down to we love (€50 ouch) and were in good spirits. Don t forget if there are 4 of you you can get a taxi receipt refunded when you go into space on sunday this can get you €30 back if you come from san an or just keep an old receipt and use that you just hand it in at the door. We love was a fantastic night as always great variation between the rooms plenty to keep you interested and loads of places to chill etc. The highlight was definitely hearing simian drop we are your friends and going totally bezerk. Another afterparty followed at our apartment and sleep was beginning to become a thing of the past!
Mon 5th - Cocoon
Last year cocoon was my favourite night although now I put that down to Joris Voorn's amazing set but although we were definitely spoilt music wise for the weeks we were here you have to say Sven was very poor tonight. He really played quite a slow dull set and never really got the crowd going. On the terrace it was much better Nick Curly was superb but the sound on the terrace still has not been sorted out - come on if your paying €43 to get in and €12 a drink the sound quality has got to be better although I do love the room so much its almost forgivable. It was again surprisingly quiet for amnesia esp cocoon maybe everyone was at tiesto which in fairness was a better night (I never saw myself saying that) but the 'party animals' were sneaking out by 5am I left at 6ish and got a giant pizza in bossa a strange but memorably weird highlight.
Tues 6th - Carl Cox
€20 to get in before 12pm to see carl cox, umek, dubfire and nic fanculli you are having me on?? no ok then!!! This is the best night on the island by a mile. It was opening night so it might of made it a bit special but oh my god for €20 prob almost the cheapest night you can get you got those dj's and an amazing atmosphere! Cox was awesome on the sunset terrace as was fancuilli in the terrace, umek also rocked it although dubfire was a bore. At 3.30am I hit the main room - an absolute sweatbox barely recognisable from sunday night and it was like an old school rave shirts off all going crazy! 3 more hours of banging music followed and this was truly the best night I have had in Ibiza. I would pay €60 but at €20 it is the one party you cannot miss. Hit this one people!
Wed 7th - Erick Morillo
Awoke on wednesday feeling pretty pleased that we d smashed the island once and for all and did not think it was possible to top the carl cox night. Everyone was pretty spent out and it looked like we d just chill on the last night but by the time it got to 8pm that went out the window - its ibiza let smash it one last time. It was never gonna be carl cox but no visit to ibiza is complete without a trip to pacha. Following spain's world cup semi win the atmosphere was electric in pacha huge grins everywhere and that constant euphoric feeling. It was a great night to finish on chilling on the terrace and listening to erick's blend of banging tracks and a few more commercial favourites on the floor. We left feeling pleased with our decision to do pacha and had one last trip to the beach before flying out at 10am.
All in all a perfect trip and i can t believe anyone can seriously say ibiza is over. I know after hours are gone and its expensive but i also know there is nowhere else in the world i d of had this much fun and met so many wicked people. Get back out there people 2010 is a great year for ibiza!!!!!
We decided to do pretty much 2 weeks on the island and split the time up between playa d'en bossa and san antonio - I pondered a 1 night on 1 night off strategy at first but ended up just smashing it every night - no regrets eh!
Friday 25th - Hush
Landed at around 1:30am and took a taxi over to San An staying at the Poniente Playa around the bay past mambo etc by kanya beach. This place is a great budget option was bout £14 a night each between 4 sharing in an apartment for 6 v tidy and would recommend to anyone. After dumping our gear it was a short walk into the West End to check out a few old haunts. My worker pal from last year suggested viva for some cheap drinks but got stung at €20 for 3 normal sized vodka red bulls and the atmosphere was not that great. So onward to the tried and tested tropicana for a full pint of vodka red bull for €6 and the usual banging tunes at this time. We ventured over to Hush at about 2:30am the only place I d really want to be spending a late night in the west end and it did not disappoint. The place still has a casual workers vibe (must be over 50% workers in there) drinks are reasonable €3 water €5 vodka mixer but the tunes are banging every night and I challenge anyone to find a better bar in the west end. Hearing Swedish House Mafia 'One' dropped twice in 3 hrs was enough to drive me crazy along with the usual blend of classics with new and underground tracks. I was not too keen on their tactic of playing Amy Winehouse at 6am to ensure the punters left promptly but otherwise pleased with the night. The usual walk back round the bay ended with the typical view of skinny dippers who did not realise the sun was going to come up getting caught out and failing miserably to try and keep their dignity!
Saturday 26th - Zoo & Eden
Managed to get zoo tickets for €30 which included free entry to eden so all set for a good 12hr session. Zoo project was busier than I remember last year again with a strong workers vibe but still a great atmosphere. Some of the music was a bit too tribal and minimal for my taste but with all the dressing up and a busy seal pit the night rocked. Loads of places to chill out and definitely worth checking out if you have not been to the venue before. After a good 5 hrs we jumped on the free bus to san an got changed and headed down to Eden. It was Mondo loco and Retro a decent night with some good techno in the main room and classics and housey tracks in the back room. It was pretty busy and they had €6 vodka mixers so it made for a pretty good night so we pushed on til around 5ish.
Sunday 27th - Judgement Sunday
Watched the England Germany game at the golden gate in the middle of the west end, a great atmosphere til it started to go wrong. It did not get ugly but was not worth hanging around so we headed down to the bay bar round the bay towards the east end an old favourite with great mojitos €8 and a great place to chill out for a few hours. After getting over the misery of the result we decided to hit Judgement Sunday purely for the presence of Eddie Halliwell and he did not disappoint. Eden was a different world compared to the previous night packed out and eddie played a great set. The atmosphere was electric with loads of production, dancers etc until the judge came on at about 4:30 and spoilt his own night but I ll give the guy a break he is still a legend. We just moved into the back room and ended the night dancing with guys in inflatable suits to the man with the red face.
Monday 28th - Tiesto
We hit the sunset strip on Monday night and had a few cartons of Don Simon sangria on the rocks always a great way to save some cash and the sugar in the sangria always gets you nicely pissed! All feeling merry on the don Simon we hit tropicana again to throw some serious shapes before shipping out to tiesto that was somehow cheaper than judgement sunday at €35. Entering Priv was awesome seeing the huge crowd below a must for anyone and we soon pushed our way to the front. Tiesto is not really my style normally but he smashed out an excellent set for 3 hrs and i did not step off the dancefloor. The atmosphere was truly electric and its great to see priv at its best a real great club when its full. €9 for water was a bit steep but well worth it for an excellent night. Everyone should do this once even if you don't like tiesto!
Tuesday 29th - Sander Van Doorn/Roger Sanchez/Markus Schultz
This was both the most amazing and disappointing night of the 13. I love amnesia and it is probably my favourite club but I was shocked to find the terrace almost empty all night. Roger was playing some great tracks but for some reason (I guess people over did it at cocoon/tiesto on monday) it was really quiet. The main room was still banging though and sander van doorn played the best set of the 2 weeks. I pretty much floated through it with my hands in the air before Markus Schultz came on and smashed it to equal measure. I only wonder what might of been if you would have taken all the people from tiesto and put them in amnesia for this night it truly could of been one of the best ever. It was €35 to get in drinks at €12 a vodka mixer and still a top night worth re-visiting in peak season when the numbers are better then I think it could be right up there.
Wednesday 30th - Kekahuma/Warung
On wednesday it was time to ship out of San Antonio and head over to playa d'en bossa. Now the fun was really going to start. We stayed at the ebano bout 5min walk to bora bora and space with a really nice pool again would recommend at about £18 per person per night for a room between 4 people. We went straight to Bora Bora and soon had free entry to both space and priv for the night. Our friend was flying in at 2am so we decided to do space 11pm-2am and warung 3am-6am. After the trance fest of the last few days I was really looking forward to the techno at space but unfortunately the night failed to get going whilst we were there and the music left us frustrated prob just there too early sure it would of been banging by 3-4am. So we met our friend did 4 tequila shots each and headed to warung. It was a cool party with lots of production they had a space man, a massive temple in the middle of the club but the music was again not quite there. It seemed like a popular party though esp with the spanish and Italians but just seemed like something was missing. Would like to try kekahuma again 2-6am.
Thursday 1st - Cream
It was the usual messy one in cream and I was actually very grateful to get back to the trance after the average techno and out of sorts latin beats of the previous night. Now this is what amnesia is all about packed out (even though I d prefer the more continental mix cocoon provides) I was just glad to see it full after Tuesday. I think above and beyond must have played all night as I pretty much did not move from my spot in the main room from 1:30am til 6am and did not see anyone else. At €16 the vodka mixers were particularly pricey but that did not stop me enjoying a few and smashing it all the way through to some banging tunes. Shame the guys were only doing one show this summer cos they were awesome and got a great response from the crowd. Definitely still one of the best nights on the island - the vibe at cream is hard to beat.
Friday 2nd/Sat 3rd - Hush and Zoo
Some more friends had flown into san an so friday gave us the opportunity to slow it down a bit for a night and mess about in san an so we did the annual crazy golf competition and pool competition in the ship and met our pals for a night out in Hush. Even after the great music of the last few nights the music in hush was second to none and even though I heard shm's one 3 times in the night I only went more mental the more I heard it - definitely became the tune of the holiday!! We partied on in hush then the after party continued at our pals and carried on through to the zoo project on sat. Things get a little hazy at this point as I had been on it far too long and I sadly crashed out after the zoo at 12pm for sleeps even though others went on to Eden - my one regret I missed 3hrs partying here I think lol need to work on the stamina!
Sun 4th - We love space
Another day another pal flies in. I eventually make it back over to playa den bossa at about 6pm and we hit bora bora beach club for some more don simon. We hit up tantra on the way down to we love (€50 ouch) and were in good spirits. Don t forget if there are 4 of you you can get a taxi receipt refunded when you go into space on sunday this can get you €30 back if you come from san an or just keep an old receipt and use that you just hand it in at the door. We love was a fantastic night as always great variation between the rooms plenty to keep you interested and loads of places to chill etc. The highlight was definitely hearing simian drop we are your friends and going totally bezerk. Another afterparty followed at our apartment and sleep was beginning to become a thing of the past!
Mon 5th - Cocoon
Last year cocoon was my favourite night although now I put that down to Joris Voorn's amazing set but although we were definitely spoilt music wise for the weeks we were here you have to say Sven was very poor tonight. He really played quite a slow dull set and never really got the crowd going. On the terrace it was much better Nick Curly was superb but the sound on the terrace still has not been sorted out - come on if your paying €43 to get in and €12 a drink the sound quality has got to be better although I do love the room so much its almost forgivable. It was again surprisingly quiet for amnesia esp cocoon maybe everyone was at tiesto which in fairness was a better night (I never saw myself saying that) but the 'party animals' were sneaking out by 5am I left at 6ish and got a giant pizza in bossa a strange but memorably weird highlight.
Tues 6th - Carl Cox
€20 to get in before 12pm to see carl cox, umek, dubfire and nic fanculli you are having me on?? no ok then!!! This is the best night on the island by a mile. It was opening night so it might of made it a bit special but oh my god for €20 prob almost the cheapest night you can get you got those dj's and an amazing atmosphere! Cox was awesome on the sunset terrace as was fancuilli in the terrace, umek also rocked it although dubfire was a bore. At 3.30am I hit the main room - an absolute sweatbox barely recognisable from sunday night and it was like an old school rave shirts off all going crazy! 3 more hours of banging music followed and this was truly the best night I have had in Ibiza. I would pay €60 but at €20 it is the one party you cannot miss. Hit this one people!
Wed 7th - Erick Morillo
Awoke on wednesday feeling pretty pleased that we d smashed the island once and for all and did not think it was possible to top the carl cox night. Everyone was pretty spent out and it looked like we d just chill on the last night but by the time it got to 8pm that went out the window - its ibiza let smash it one last time. It was never gonna be carl cox but no visit to ibiza is complete without a trip to pacha. Following spain's world cup semi win the atmosphere was electric in pacha huge grins everywhere and that constant euphoric feeling. It was a great night to finish on chilling on the terrace and listening to erick's blend of banging tracks and a few more commercial favourites on the floor. We left feeling pleased with our decision to do pacha and had one last trip to the beach before flying out at 10am.
All in all a perfect trip and i can t believe anyone can seriously say ibiza is over. I know after hours are gone and its expensive but i also know there is nowhere else in the world i d of had this much fun and met so many wicked people. Get back out there people 2010 is a great year for ibiza!!!!!
