?'s for those who've been to Ibiza

[broiler]

Hey guys and gals-

I'll be going to Ibiza for the first time this July. I have a few questions;

what is the predominant age group there? I'm 27 and wondering if I'll be an old man there.

Do most people speak English?

Any tips for a first timer?

Thanks everyone.

[prplhz]

From what I hear you will definitely not be the minority. I am going in July as well, 25yr and believe me you will have no problems.

[india22]

I'm also planning to go to ibiza for the first time. There have been other questions about this on this board - try a do a search, but I also found a great online diary of Ibiza from someone who went in 2001:

http://dancemusic.about.com/library/weekly/aa091800.htm

Other good webistes:

www.ibizaholidays.com

www.ibiza-spotlight.com

[broiler]

prplhz,

I'm from Boston, too. When are you going?? I'm leaving July 5 and going with bring it on. And you?

[prplhz]

Hey Broiler, what part of Boston are you from? Do you ever post on the Boston board? If you are going to S&D this weekend, we are having a meet-up at 9 on the stage.

But to answer your question, I am going to Europe July 23rd, going to Paris for two days, then to Venice Italy, then to Rome, then taking the Euro to Barcelona/Valencia(haven't decided) then taking the ferry to Ibiza. We are thinking more of going to Valenica because they have a high speed ferry to Ibiza. But actually in Ibiza will be July 30th - August 4th. I wanted to be there for PVD on the 1st.

I booked everything myself actually, because we wanted to do other things before actually hitting Ibiza up!

[dialectics]

1) you will NOT be the minority. different class of people party there - you could be 40 and nobody would give a shit. everyone is there to have a good time and that's it.

2) most people speak english. it is not the language of love, but it is the language of tourist dollars. good luck with the rest of spain though... especially if you hit the smaller towns in the south. most of my conversations took place in "pointing".

3) tips for first timers:

- the prices for club tickets are negotiable, but not by much. flyers save you 1000 pts ($5) at the door, tickets bought the day of will save you 2000 pts ($10). sometimes the promoter will throw in 2 for 1 drinks at the bar s/he works out of.

- know which parties you want to go to beforehand (i used sites which india22 pointed out) but keep an open mind. there are always gems to be found.

- it doesn't really matter what hotel you stay at as long as your bags are secured. don't expect to do much sleeping. avoid san antonio like the plague - unless you like rioting brits. if you are not renting a car, try and be somewhere either in ibiza town or a ferry ride away. the buses are terrible if you are DIRECTLY on the main stops (ibiza town, san raphael, san antonio or RIGHT AT salinas). there are people who stayed a stop away from salinas and watched for hours as buses rolled by completely full. if you are renting, none of this means anything to you - but don't keep anything of value in your car (just ask beverage10 what happened to her on her last night).

- things you must see as an ibiza first timer: cafe del mar (and other sunset cafes like savannah, coastline, mambo, etc), in san antonio, salinas beach in the south (aka heaven on earth), DC-10 and space for afterhours. sundays at space was an experience not to be missed - i don't know if they will have them this year.

- everybody works either for a club, a group of clubs or a party night at a club. bars have their allegiance to privilege or pacha or something like that. a record store only sells cds recorded at amnesia. mention eden in ibiza town and everyone will look at you like you're nuts. our hotel was associated with el divino and the ferry to ibiza town included a stop there while the club was open. i did the math and about $1.5 million gets spent on admission prices alone every night in ibiza, so it is to their benefit to make sure you have a good time - and to form alliances.

- the food is the best in all of spain, IMHO. people from all over the world go to ibiza and fall in love with it. aside from becoming a flyer-girl, club promoter or dj, starting a resturant is a great way to stay there - and also it gives expats a taste of home. walking along playa d'en bossa you can have paella or a traditional english breakfast or some yum italian pasta.

- don't waste your time with the ferry from barcelona to ibiza - it takes 7 hours, leaves infrequently and a 1.5 hour shuttle flight by iberia (air nostrum) is about the same price.

- everyone is there to party. leave your inhibitions behind and enjoy a week (or two or three) of feasts for the senses. everyone and everything there is to help you enjoy your holiday. expect your life to change... mine did

peaz,

rob

[dialectics]

Originally posted by prplhz

We are thinking more of going to Valenica because they have a high speed ferry to Ibiza.

barcelona is one of my favorite cities in the world and there is soooo much to do there... but from what i've heard valencia is simply paradise. either way you play it, you'll have fun

rob

[india22]

Originally posted by dialectics

- it doesn't really matter what hotel you stay at as long as your bags are secured. don't expect to do much sleeping. avoid san antonio like the plague - unless you like rioting brits. if you are not renting a car, try and be somewhere either in ibiza town or a ferry ride away. the buses are terrible if you are DIRECTLY on the main stops (ibiza town, san raphael, san antonio or RIGHT AT salinas). there are people who stayed a stop away from salinas and watched for hours as buses rolled by completely full. if you are renting, none of this means anything to you - but don't keep anything of value in your car (just ask beverage10 what happened to her on her last night).

peaz,

rob

Rob,

What hotel did you stay at? & Which tour operator did you use? I'm thinking about using Liberty Travel

[iamjake69]

I went 4 years in a row now and I am 28....You will have nothing to worry about as far as age.....

Definately do

-Manumission on Monday then straight to Space for afterhours (during space go to bora bora across the street for a few hours and then back to space)

-A beach called Salinas (the most beautiful beach in Ibiza)

-don't go out until late (3-4am) things don't get good until then

-Good Pizza at a place called "el pirate" at the port of Ibiza (Italian owned)

Avoid

-stay away from the foam party at Amnesia...the bubbles they use are so strong you will feel sick, plus they play 80's music while shooting the foam (buzz kill)

-Getting cabs are going to be a pain in the ass (from the clubs)

-You will be hounded to have a drink when you go to the port of ibiza (I usually make up a language and they leave me alone)

[dialectics]

Originally posted by india22

Rob,

What hotel did you stay at? & Which tour operator did you use? I'm thinking about using Liberty Travel

hi,

i stayed at a small hotel in talamanca called rocamar. i picked it from ibiza-spotlight.com - they were very friendly (except when asking for more towels) and helped us orient ourselves around the island. also, the lady who worked the reception was dutch and that made my day. certainly not luxury resort but i didn't go for amenities... it was cheap, available and close by. there was a ferry leaving every 15-20 minutes which took you to ibiza city for about $2 roundtrip. they gave you free breakfast in the morning, and fresh squeezed oj is sooooo nice after 12 hours of clubbing. there was a married couple there who had no idea about the parties - we saw them leaving every morning for typical island paradise stuff as we were coming home covered in sand, sweat, and drinks i didn't order.

lucifer (they are changing the name this year) was right next door and was a little more party-friendly (they had a disco and a pool) with the same proximity to the ferry.

we didn't bother using a tour operator - planned everything out using: statravel (in person) for long-haul flights (JFK-madrid, ibiza to amsterdam, AMS-newark), expedia.com and iberia.es (for iberia short-haul flights: madrid-barcelona, barcelona-ibiza), ibiza-spotlight.com for our hotel reservation and club listings, etc.

i would suggest a tour group only if you are going alone and want to have a group of party-buddies before you arrive. it ended up costing about the same with or without the operator and its impossible NOT to have an amazing time in ibiza.

in response to jake's comments:

- manumission is a trip. we showed up too late to enjoy it though - it was carl cox's birthday so after his set, sven vath played him a special encore set. bora bora was cool but not quite my scene - space and dc-10 are where its @ for afterhours.

- salinas is paradise on earth. you have not lived if you haven't been there.

- things don't get good until 3-4am, true, but we showed up at around 1-2 because i was on a strict dj schedule. nobody tells you when anyone will go on (because they don't know). the clubs are pretty damn packed at 1am, and we still managed to stay out until 10. our schedule was to wake up on salinas in late afternoon, go to the san an (on the west side of the island) for a trip down the sunset cafes (cafe del mar for the firetwirlers, savannah for the food with house music, mambo for the "shopping"), and back to our hotel at around 10pm. buy our tix and soak up the local booze *ahem* i mean atmosphere in ibiza city, and then head to our clubbing destination by around 1. party face there, and then afterhours, and then we find ourselves on salinas again.... (dc-10 is right by salinas). damn, i miss ibiza.

- skip the foam party, though beverage10 and latroya seemed to like it.

- cabs from clubs suck. buses are even worse. drivers are insane, especially on the highway b/w ibiza city, san raphael (where amnesia and privilege are) and san antonio. expect to move around the island but its not that bad except during the mass exoduses too and from the clubs.

- can't confirm the pizza but he's probably right. good food in ibiza.

- avoid the people haggling over drinks by thinking they are haggling over ticket prices.

[renaud from Par]

only 2 days in Paris? ? ?

[msoprano]

yo what up guys...sound like u peeps had a fucking blast..im going this summer as well from aug14-24th.....im staying in los molinos...any have any info for me on that...i heard its about a 15-20 min walk from space....perfect for me if thats the case

[cinderella22]

msoprano- los molinos is a nice hotel its conveniently located in figuerettas which is in the middle of playa d'en bossa and ibiza town so its a short walk from ibiza town and space. i stayed there last year.

its clean and ppl are nice. and the staff can call to get you a cab to go to the clubs.

[eak]

my friend and i are planning to go from aug. 7-15, wow, i've been reading about it every day at work, seems like a dream island

[granflaco]

Hi broiler:

I'm from Madrid, Spain. I'm sorry but I don't speak english as well i'll like.

Ibiza is great, and people of any age are welcome in the islad. Don't worry for the language. The body language is the one wich everyones understand. In any case, natives form Ibiza will thanks you if you learn some words in spanish.

Don't worry for your age. ¿27?, perfect, ¿21? perfect, ¿50?, perfect, ¿65?, perfect... the age, it doesn't matter. All ages are welcome, all races, all nationalities.

The land of mestizage, diversion, clubbing and sex. That's Ibiza.

[dialectics]

Originally posted by granflaco

The land of mestizage, diversion, clubbing and sex. That's Ibiza.

Yeah that's what I like!!!!!!!!!!!!

[granflaco]

Hi dialectics:

One thing: what do you want to say with "it is the language of tourist dollars"???, we don't need your dollars man. We don't speak english for a few dollars, we don't stoop for that. Because we don't accept dollars (that's no Cuba, guy). And you must know that peseta has disappeared. Now we have "Euros", the new european money that you can use in countries of CEE.

And yes, the food is the best in all of spain. But for having a paella go out of the island to Valencia. No doubt: the best. The food is very good in Ibiza, but much better in the Peninsula. An if you go to Spain, eat spanish food, not italian or others...

[dialectics]

No offence meant over there buddy - hear me out.

In the cities I visited in mainland Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Toledo) most people did not speak english. My Spanish is terrible - I have not studied or spoken for five years - but I got better with it as my trip went on. My friends and I also tried to talk to each other in spanish to practice. On the AVE train to meet my friends in Sevilla, I spent 2.5 hours talking to a really nice family from the south of Spain on holiday in Madrid - we ended up buying each other beers and talking about culture and history and cost of living and how things are different in our respective countries. That was a great introduction to my experience in Spain. They spoke slowly and I could only speak slowly, but hey, it worked.

When I said English was the language of tourist dollars I should have clarified two things:

1) I meant Euros, not "american" dollars. Call it habit, no offense meant. It was pts when I was there

2) I was talking about Ibiza, not mainland Spain. Ibiza is an island for people seeking paradise, AKA tourists. The non-native residents are people who discovered the beauty of the island and found a way to live there - usually by involving themselves in the party, beach or entertainment industry. There is a huge concentration of Brits who travel there (and some who go overboard) and americans and aussies are coming in full force now. Many cultures teach english as a second language because somehow it became a common second language. In Israel, for example, road signs are in hebrew, english and arabic. Ibiza attracts people from all over the world - and one of the beautiful things about it is to be waiting for a bus and hear 5 languages being spoken within 5 feet of you (english, spanish, russian, italian and UK english, hehe). But people spoke english in ibiza. spain is a living, breathing economy and tourism is just one industry - so fluency in different langauges is not super-imperative. in ibiza tourism is huge and the wise people know to speak a language that many tourists have implicitly chosen as a language to have some familiarity with.

and besides, there are times when being a "tourist" isn't that bad - ie in the dutch coffeeshops. the ones for the dutch are meant for people to buy their grass and go home, and the ones for the tourists are meant to provide a safe, social and entertaining atmosphere for smoking (especially for newbies who discover that white widow is not quite like the brick we get back home).

as for the food, perhaps i am spoiled for living in new york - within 3 blocks of my house we have mexican, greek, french, thai, korean, italian and indian resturants, as well as two diners. diversity is just something i've taken as fact. in spain proper we found our best meals for rediculously cheap and loved it... spanish food is quite nice... especially with a few pitchers of sangria.

in ibiza we had a different attitude - rather than doing our best to immerse ourself in as much spanish culture as possible in a week, we wanted to taste everything that the island of paradise has to offer. One of my fondest memories of Ibiza was sitting on the boardwalk of playa d'en bossa for hours, drinking cheap beer and eating paella, pretending to be participating in a conversation and really watching half-naked beauties walk by. a huge part of the balearic experience is the residents - those that loved the island and decided to stick around. they want you to love the island as they do. the shops and stores that they have set up are part of the experience. and the italian girls are always cute

besides, who the hell wants to go to barcelona to eat at mcdonalds???????

peaz,

rob

[granflaco]

Ok, I rectify. Indeed, most of spanish people don't speak english, or they do it so bad (I'm the perfect example;) ).

I see that you like our culture. I have misinterpreted your words, I'm sorry for that (only one thing: you said "The non-native residents are people who discovered the beauty of the island", you want to say "re discovered", you don't?, we discovered it first!, perhaps I'm misinterpreting another time).

I think you can perfect your spanish with my aid and I can learn english (or UK english:) ) with yours.

And remember that you have a friend and a guide in Madrid.

¿Te parece buena idea eso de perfeccionar idiomas?, desde luego, a mi esto me puede ayudar mucho. Y por supuesto que va en serio. Aquí en Madrid estoy para cuando decidas venir a vernos y a comer tan bien, jeje. Aunque sólo sea cuando vayas a Ibiza, podremos tomarnos un cafe cuando hagas escala en el aeropuerto de Barajas (aunque la comida del aeropuerto es una basura)

¿Saludos y mis disculpas!

[broiler]

Thanks for the replies everyone! You guys have put my mind at ease and I'm really looking forward to going!

Prplhz- I'm from Brighton, and you?

[prplhz]

Boston, Massachusetts