Ibiza Trance Event 2025

[tclubber]

I spent 9 night in Ibiza in September. Booked an Ibiza Trance Event package consisting of a hotel stay and a wristband giving access to many parties.

Saturday, September 20

I landed around 16:00, got my rental car from Autos Mari, drove to the Tropical hotel in San Antonio, checked in. Then went to Cala Tarida for a swim and a sunset. Went to bed early due to the lack of sleep the previous night (spent in an airplane).



Had a meal at an Italian place (17 Food & Drink) in Cala Tarida - a gourmet pizza. Filling, but I simply do not understand the concept of gourmet pizzas - to me, the perfect topping is still cheese, mushrooms, salami and ham



Sunday, September 21

My plan was to spend a relaxed day on a beach, in preparation for lots of Ibiza Trance Event parties the next week. I went to Cala San Vicente. The weather was cloudy, even with a bit of rain early afternoon. I went to Boat House for a late lunch while it rained. The water was a bit murky due to waves, it was not the best beach day.



I visited the ITE pre-party at the Es Paradis bar in the evening, mainly to set myself into the "party" mood. Had a few drinks, left after an hour.

 

[tclubber]

Monday, September 22

I was at sa Trinxa until late afternoon. Surprisingly, chillout music was playing, although it was pre-recorded and not from a live DJ. That was a great beach day in Salinas, with crystal clear water, sun, snorkeling and some underwater photography.



ITE welcome party at the Ibiza Rocks bar - collected my ITE wristband and listened to a couple of ITE DJs playing. Ibiza Trance Event is not only about superclubs, but it also includes parties at smaller venues with "living room DJs" ITE promoters bring to the island. I love these parties too - they have a family atmosphere, are not crowded, and you often hear better sets than what the likes of PvD are playing, because they do not have to appeal to the masses.



Had a dinner at Sanan Thai (fried rice "Sanan Thai").



ITE opening party at Eden (room 2). Some banging sets there from ITE DJs. Clubland with cheesy 90s music was in the main room. Stayed there for 3 hours. Since I am no longer 20, my key to surviving a party marathon is to get 8 hours of sleep every day and to always leave a party if I no longer enjoy the music.

 

[tclubber]

Tuesday, September 23

I was at sa Trinxa until late afternoon. Another perfect beach day. Then had an early dinner at sa Caleta.



Kevin and Perry at Amnesia. I arrived early at 10pm in order to listen to friends playing the Amnesia main room. I had an ITE wristband and also a separate balcony ticket I got from Spotlight. I learned from the ITE crew that Amnesia was offering last minute balcony upgrades for €50 at the door, but decided not to cancel the Spotlight ticket. This way, I got to leave Amnesia, drink a bottle of water in my car and re-enter using the balcony ticket LOL. I have no problem buying overpriced drinks for joy, but I hate buying overpriced water for wellbeing and avoid it whenever possible. Amnesia didn't even have bar menus anymore, you had to ask about prices which is awkward in a loud club.

Heart & Hawk started the night with a progressive set, Nick the Kid played a rather melodic set afterwards. The main room started to get really full for Chicane, so I switched to the balcony... and discovered that the balcony had a much worse sound than the main room below. The last time I was on the balcony was in 2012, the VIP table area must have grown three times since then, you can no longer look directly down into the main room from the balcony.

Chicane's set was so-so overall, but I was there just to celebrate the man and his music. I went down into the sardine can aka main room for better sound quality. He did play "Saltwater" in the middle of his set and dropped "Offshore" at the very end. Listening to "Offshore" at Amnesia played by the guy who wrote it was my happiest moment of this Ibiza trip.



I wanted to get back onto the balcony, but there was a problem. The balcony entrance is from the terrace, but Amnesia security guys were no longer letting people walk between the rooms. I think they were simply overwhelmed by overcrowding. Somehow I made my way past them when they weren't looking and escaped the sardine can back to the balcony. Enjoyed Seb Fontaine's set, then Paul Oakenfold started playing. But what was he playing??? Cheesy commercial crap mostly from the 2010s. Kevin and Perry were married with kids by then! The guy had no clue about the party he was headlining , and even taking that into account, it was a disgusting set - by far the worst one I got to listen to on this Ibiza trip

I went to the terrace side, and there was a nice surprise here. Sash! were playing a MUCH better set than back in 2023. They played all of their big hits apart from "In my own eyes", announcing release years, really giving us a tour of their history. And played finest trance sounds from the 1990s between their own tracks. Their set was the highlight of this year's "Kevin and Perry" for me.

Then I listened to Lange, hoping he would play the sunset dub of "Drifting Away", one of my favorite trance tunes. He once said in an interview he always played the sunset dub in clubs. But he played the cheesy vocal version at Amnesia this time

I left around 5am. Compared to the first party back in 2022, with the huge anticipation, with movie clips running inside the club, with the feeling of having traveled 20 years back in a time machine, "Kevin and Perry" totally lost its magic. Now it's just a yearly trance classics party at Amnesia. It has mostly the same lineup every year. It's so packed that one needs a balcony ticket or a VIP table in order to enjoy it. But as long as there is a trance party at Amnesia, I will be there

 

[tclubber]

Wednesday, September 24

This was a party bonanza day. No beach time - I had to get my 8 hours of sleep. At 3pm, I headed to the ITE boat pre-party upstairs at Itaca. Some nice uplifting tunes there.



ITE sunset boat party at 5pm. Every DJ played a banging, energetic set, which wasn't what I wanted to hear - I was expecting a tad more relaxed music, to better fit with the sun, the sea and the breeze. There were quite some waves rocking our boat. we sailed to southwest of the Conillera island and stayed there, shielded by the island from the waves - and met two other party boats there! Our three boats came close to each other, people waved at each other, it was a funny moment. Don't know what the other two parties were, I suppose one was the Kevin and Perry boat party?



ITE boat afterparty upstairs at Itaca at 8pm. More uplifting sets from ITE DJs. Then I had to make the toughest choice of my entire clubbing career. Our ITE wristbands allowed access both to Our House @Es Paradis and to Markus Schulz @Eden. Both were must-visit for me. I know beggars cannot be choosers, but such scheduling just sucks



I decided to go to Eden - wanted to have something different from the 90s trance. The party started at midnight, but I was unable to leave Itaca - because Lisa D'Lottie was playing a terrific set. Energetic, with many tracks new to me, the kind that makes you move, makes your ears enjoy the music, and also gets into your head and fills you with happiness, all at the same time. The best set of this Ibiza trip. I stayed until she finished at 00:45, then had to run to Eden to make the 1am cutoff time for ITE wristbands.

Markus Schulz all night long @Eden. He played to an empty club, 200 people at most - seems about everyone else went to Es Paradis instead. I absolutely loved his set - dark, perfect, one that slowly builds up your mood, so different to the trance of the 90s the night before when every DJ was doing his thing. I know I missed an amazing party at Es Paradis, but it was the right decision to go to Eden.

 

[tclubber]

Thursday, September 25

I had yet another perfect beach day at sa Trinxa.



SHINE @528 at 6pm. I arrived early to explore the venue, since I had never been to 528 or its predecessor Benimussa Park before. SHINE started with nice slightly chilled atmospheric sets by Ryan Murray and Nathanial Sim, perfect for starting an outdoors party. The still small crowd was sitting around in the amphitheater. Then came John "00" Fleming and got his hammer out and us on our feet. I was asking myself if it was his choice to produce such a banging set, or maybe he was "asked" to play this way in order to do a proper warm up for Paul van Dyk...




PvD played a typical PvD trance set, nice, uplifting, no flirting with other music styles. I have listened to him so many times that he can no longer surprise me with anything, his sets are more a trip down the memory lane for me. As always, he played "For an Angel" which I love, and as always, he played "Time of our lives" which I hate. Seriously, no one would be listening to that mediocre piece of pop music if it wasn't from PvD.



When PvD finished at 11pm, it was time to go indoors - and somehow I felt the club was being transformed into a jail. Security people no longer let anyone walk around the grounds or use outdoor toilets. Soon a fence got erected separating us from most of the outdoor area including the amphitheater. The only way to go was to join a huge queue to go indoors, which wasn't inviting at all. Inside, I found myself inside a cramped area with low ceiling filled with what felt like thousands of clubbers. Listened to nice energetic sets by Amy Wiles and Aly & Fila. I loved the music, but hated being shoved around in a sardine can, so I left around 1:30am. Later I was told the crowd dispersed soon after I left and it became quite enjoyable inside.



Outside the club, I saw a disgustingly long taxi queue with barely any taxis coming in. Since I had a rental car, I offered a free ride to San Antonio to random strangers from the queue. They were a French couple in late 20s on their 4th trip to Ibiza, and they asked me if I had been to prick's. I was ashamed to say I knew no such club. They kept telling me what a wonderful place prick's was, about the parties, about the strict door policy, and how excited they were to finally go there. And I kept thinking, what kind of a sick venue name prick's is. Turned out it was a French pronunciation of Pikes . Hmmm, given recent changes to the worse at Pikes, maybe prick's is a more fitting name now...

 

[tclubber]

Friday, September 26

I had some beach time at Punta Galera with snorkeling until 6pm.



ITE bonus party @Ibiza Rocks bar at 4pm-midnight. More trance sets, and an ITE group photo. By now, I felt kinda tired from so much great music the whole week.



Went to Sanan Thai for dinner in between.



Reboot closing party @Eden. At midnight, I walked back to the hotel, only to get a new message in the ITE WhatsApp chat: our wristbands get us into Eden tonight. It was such a guilty pleasure to just pop into a superclub for free with the magic ITE wristband! House music was being played, and I was not in the mood for that, so I went back to the hotel after half an hour.

 

[tclubber]

Saturday, September 27

I had a license-free boat reserved in Portinatx for 3pm. Drove to Portinatx at noon planning to spend 2 hours on the beach first. Upon arrival, I got a message from Portinatx Charter: boat canceled due to high winds and waves I rebooked the boat to Sunday and went to the Playa Portinatx beach. It's a great beach for non-swimmers and for children, with shallow crystal clear water. But the walk to deeper water is a bit too long. One funny feature is that most sunloungers are facing away from the water, because the sun shines from behind on this beach.



Went for a meal to Jardin del Mar, tried their "recommended" lobster canneloni. Lots of yummy cheese, some lobster taste, and maybe 2-3 tiny pieces of lobster hidden inside, but for €18, you cannot really complain. Then I visited my 7th and final pirate watch tower on Ibiza, the one near Portinatx, overlooking the Six Senses luxury resort.





Back in San Antonio, I made a stop at Mercadona and bought some bottled gaspacho and other yummy stuff to take home.

ITE pre-party for Godskitchen @Es Paradis bar at 9pm. Beer is twice cheaper than Diet Coke here . It was time to say goodbye to the ITE crew. ITE always provided buses for us to go to clubs outside of San Antonio, but I always preferred to drive myself.



Godskitchen @Amnesia. Got there around 11pm, with a balcony ticket from Ibiza Spotlight. Listened to another set by John "00" Fleming and yet another set by PvD. Nothing to be excited about, but I think I was just saturated with music impressions from the previous 12 parties Fergie played something very different, not sure how to describe, some fast paced techno/rave sounds. I have never been to the original Godskitchen, so it was new to me. I left after Fergie's set.

 

[tclubber]

Sunday, September 28

Went to Hiper Centro to shop for more Spanish food. The plan was to go to sa Trinxa if my boat ride got canceled again, or to go to Portinatx if the boat ride was happening. I ended up in Portinatx, and after a brief instruction, I was steering a rib through the Portinatx port and out onto the open sea. I had two hours. I cruised to Benirras, took some photos.




Cala Benirras from the sea

I then turned around, cruised to the Es Canaret bay, dropped the anchor, did some swimming around the boat, took silly photos from the water. The northern coastline is stunning!





Then it was time to cruise back to Portinatx and return the boat. I started the engine and slightly advanced the throttle, carefully got past other moored boats, proud of my boating skills. Then I advanced the throttle to full, giving me a whole 6.5 knots of speed. I again marveled at the coastline, then something hit me: where was the anchor?? I forgot to raise it . Did it get ripped away? I knew from my Dad who did sailboat racing in his youth that nothing is more shameful in boating than losing the anchor. I quickly stopped the boat, the anchor was still there, hanging under the boat. I quickly raised it hoping no one saw my blunder!

 

[tclubber]

After returning the boat, I went to Cala San Vicente for the final swim. Even without waves, the water was murky until about half way to the buoys. Not sure what happened here - it used to be crystal clear in the past years. Maybe new sand got dumped onto the beach and spoiled the water - I understand the beach above the water is artificial with sand brought from elsewhere...



I had a craving for a nice hotel buffet (not the one at Tropical). I phoned around and found out Torre del Mar in PdB would welcome a paying non-guest at their buffet, so I went there and enjoyed a nice buffet dinner. I used to be a regular at that hotel, but at one point decided I no longer wanted to pay so much just to watch the sunrise from the hotel room balcony.



The final order of the day was to go up to Dalt Vila. It was a wonderful warm September evening, unlike the previous chilly evenings the whole week. I wanted to drive up Cami de Calvari to the free parking lot right beneath the cathedral, as usual, but the road was closed for renovation. Walked up from the Reina Sofia park instead. It's still magical up there and the Parador is still not finished LOL.



Monday, September 29

A wake up at 5am and a morning flight home brought another wonderful Ibiza vacation to an end

 

[tclubber]

Thanks for reading. I'll come back to Ibiza in 2026 for sure. Undecided whether I'll want to do the trance week again the next year, or skip it and explore other party destinations like Malta.

 

[fhmsparkle]

That’s one of the best reviews I’ve read in a long time! Our paths must have crossed at several of those parties. Glad you had a great time

 

[tclubber]

That’s one of the best reviews I’ve read in a long time! Our paths must have crossed at several of those parties. Glad you had a great time

I too noticed we yet again failed to meet and say hello to each other! Maybe next year

 

[Browny]

Wish i had your energy to do all of that!

 

[Sheffrb]

Agree with @fhmsparkle on this being a great review. Enjoyed reading all of that.

That’s how you do Ibiza! Looks like you had a great time and it looks like you were stood close to me on the balcony at Amnesia for K&P.

 

[Sheffrb]

Sunday, September 28

Went to Hiper Centro to shop for more Spanish food. The plan was to go to sa Trinxa if my boat ride got canceled again, or to go to Portinatx if the boat ride was happening. I ended up in Portinatx, and after a brief instruction, I was steering a rib through the Portinatx port and out onto the open sea. I had two hours. I cruised to Benirras, took some photos.

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Cala Benirras from the sea

I then turned around, cruised to the Es Canaret bay, dropped the anchor, did some swimming around the boat, took silly photos from the water. The northern coastline is stunning!

View attachment 19975 View attachment 19976 View attachment 19977 View attachment 19978

View attachment 19969

Then it was time to cruise back to Portinatx and return the boat. I started the engine and slightly advanced the throttle, carefully got past other moored boats, proud of my boating skills. Then I advanced the throttle to full, giving me a whole 6.5 knots of speed. I again marveled at the coastline, then something hit me: where was the anchor?? I forgot to raise it . Did it get ripped away? I knew from my Dad who did sailboat racing in his youth that nothing is more shameful in boating than losing the anchor. I quickly stopped the boat, the anchor was still there, hanging under the boat. I quickly raised it hoping no one saw my blunder!

@tclubber - Did you need a licence for the Rib you hired? It just says basic on their website. It does say you don’t need one for the Venus 420. Would that be suitable for a few hours and get me far down the coast?

 

[tclubber]

@tclubber - Did you need a licence for the Rib you hired? It just says basic on their website. It does say you don’t need one for the Venus 420. Would that be suitable for a few hours and get me far down the coast?

I had the license free Venus 420 and didn't need a license. Note however that it may require a license starting from 2026 - apparently, there are changes in law, but they are being protested, as it would wipe out many boat rental businesses. It would be known for sure at the end of the year

The 420 is suitable for a few hours. Its speed was 12 km/h on full throttle. It took me about 45 minutes to reach Benirras from Portinatx. The boat owner didn't place any restrictions on where I could go (apart from coming back in time and suggesting going west, not east). You can just use the distance measurement tool on Google Maps to see how far you can realistically go.

"5 seats" mentioned on the website are an exaggeration though - the boat would be comfortable for two, maybe three people at most.

 

[Sheffrb]

I had the license free Venus 420 and didn't need a license. Note however that it may require a license starting from 2026 - apparently, there are changes in law, but they are being protested, as it would wipe out many boat rental businesses. It would be known for sure at the end of the year

The 420 is suitable for a few hours. Its speed was 12 km/h on full throttle. It took me about 45 minutes to reach Benirras from Portinatx. The boat owner didn't place any restrictions on where I could go (apart from coming back in time and suggesting going west, not east). You can just use the distance measurement tool on Google Maps to see how far you can realistically go.

"5 seats" mentioned on the website are an exaggeration though - the boat would be comfortable for two, maybe three people at most.

Thanks for the reply. I’ll keep an eye to see whether the licence comes in or not.