I went to Croatia for two weeks last year and visited Dubrovnik, Hvar Island, and Petrcane (Zadar) for Garden Festival). I wouldn't say it's really an Ibiza alternative, it's nowhere near on the clubbing scale to Ibiza IMO.
There are loads of festivals all held in the small fishing village of Petrcane (nearest airport is Zadar which Ryanair fly to). We went to Garden festival which is in July. It was a really nice little festival, saw some good dj's (Henrik Schwarz, Ame & Dixon to name a few) and also caught some new bands we'd never heard before. It's only a tiny festival so don't expect to see any massive acts there.
Petrcane is a gorgeous village on the Adriatic coast with a few hotels and lots of private apartments options. If you plan on going to one of the festivals there's I'd recommend booking early as most places get booked up due to it being a small village.
Other festivals also held there are Electric Elephant, Soundwave (I think?). If you Google "festival Petrcane" you will see what is going on there for next year.
Zadar was a really pretty town where we stayed for 2 nights after the festival, it has an old town with pretty cobbled streets and nice restaurants. If you're going with a lady friend I'd recommend it for a bit of relaxation after a festival!
Hvar Island is known as quite a "playboy" hotspot for rich people and their yachts! It is a really beautiful island and the sea is like Evian to swim in. However it has that Ibiza feel about in in that it's uber-cool and they are all furnished Ibiza-style and have house music playing. We bought two cocktails in one of the busiest ones and it set us back about €22... so be prepared to pay Ibiza prices.
Dubrovnik was also really pretty, we stayed in the old town which is gorgeous to walk around and eat in the restaurants. There is a beach about 5mins away which is also pretty nice, expect to pay for the sun loungers though and I think most of the beach is owned by a beach bar (again pretty similar to Ibiza).
I dont think we saw many options for clubbing there, although we probably werent looking that hard as it was the start of our holiday. I would say Dubrovnik is probably not the place to go if you're looking for a clubbing experience, it's more of a holiday destination for couples and families IMO.
The island of Pag as someone has said before is supposed to be a "party island", but we didnt make it that far.
I don't think Croatia is going to rival Ibiza in the clubbing stakes yet, the club scene there is very much up and coming and nowhere near the scale of Ibiza. Plus it's more of a big p1ssup than anything else, if you get my drift
If you want a holiday in a beautiful country, and the oppurtunity of a bit of a dance catching some cool dj's, then definitely go to Croatia. If you're looking for big name dj's, big clubs and big nights out then I don't think you'll find it there.
Hope that helps!
