Betty - as pretty much everyone agrees, it's never too late to fall in love with Ibiza. Got to be honest though and say that going in August, it can be hard to see the best of it for the crowds at times and it's worthwhile planning a bit if you can to see more than just the main resorts.
Club-wise, my honest advice would be to go up to Aura one night and to stay on to closing (about 4am). Not sure about what's on this year yet - they had Nightmares of Wax, Ernesto Altes and Antz as regulars last year. It's a smaller intimate dancefloor, gets busier after dinner (round 1.30am) but is a much more authentic vibe with friendly people (more mature crowd) and good, real music, far more reminiscent of the 'old Ibiza' than most places.
Also, lots of the beach bars have pre- or after-parties with dancing on a wooden dancefloor on the sand or on the beach (Bora Bora is having a refit so we'll see what it's like this year but last 2 years in August it was pretty drink-fuelled and lacking in atmosphere). Sands and La Plage de l'Elephant in Playa d'en Bossa had the best parties last year (imho).
As far as the big clubs are concerned, in August it's going to be sardine-can time - and there is of course a considerably younger crowd on the island that time of year. I find it very tough to enjoy them now when they're so full (am still on the 'right' side of 40) ... but in fairness that's perhaps not so much an age thing as a long-standing aversion to dancefloors where there's no space to dance and mild claustrophobia. The big clubs are usually much 'better' (less packed) in June/early July or later in the Season. So you might need to stand back and use some imagination if your first exposure to them is a jam packed-out night at Amnesia or Space ! However, they still pack a real punch as far as making an impression.
My other advice would be to get away from Ibiza Town, Playa d'en Bossa and San Antonio in the daytime, and at the very least get out to a quieter beach or two on the West coast or in the North if you are happy to drive a car. If you can, walk a bit along the coast away from the main roads. Distances are not a problem (20-50 minutes to get most places). It's only by getting out to these parts that the sheer beauty of Ibiza really hits you.
Most people I've ever been with / taken to choice places in these areas, even devoted seasoned clubbers tempted from their daybed, reckon the impression / draw of those experiences is at least as strong as the nightlife and perhaps, in the long run, even more so. You simply feel you're in another world - one which gets you right in the heart. Despite all the coastal development there are still very beautiful and unspoiled parts of Ibiza with relatively few tourists even in August.
The smells and sounds of a Northern pine forest opening out onto amazing views of the sea on a hot Summer's day are so vivid they literally stop you in your tracks. I do still get excited by the amazing nightlife, music and dancing in Season - and inevitably end up partying every night in Summer till at least 4am - but it's the beauty of those other parts of the island in the daytime I take comfort in the thought of, and long for, on a grey Winter's day in Britain
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8) I hadn't read that before.
