For part 5 of the season preview series, we change it up a little. Instead of highlighting only one venue as we did in all the previous parts (1, 2, 3 and 4), with this fifth chapter, we will give you the low-down on anything that happens in and around San Antonio this coming summer.
Let's start with the basics and round up a few of the latest developments in the popular holiday resort that is San An.
Generally, from a clubbing point of view, San Antonio has many club events on offer both day and night this summer. If you want to party round the clock (well, until the early hours), San Antonio is a great and great value destination.
What's up with the West End and closing times?
As you may have heard, the West End (for any Ibiza virgin reading, the West End is an area filled with bars in the centre of San Antonio) has to shut earlier this year: 3:00 am curfew it is. Without getting too tangled up in this subject since a whole book could be written about it, here are a few thoughts on it.
The town of San Antonio wants to move past its reputation of being a 'drunk tourism only' place. The fact is that, after years of venues in the district not playing by the rules, the town hall has had enough. This change applies both to San Antonio town as well as places further away, such as San Rafael, which is still within the San Antonio borough.
As a result, the super-clubs will no longer receive special permits to close later. (The Amnesia opening last Saturday, for example, closed at 7:00 on the dot, the earliest closing time for any Amnesia opening I can remember). The bars in the West End have to close at 3:00 now. Whether the approach to close the places earlier is the right solution remains to be seen.
As sad as it might be for some of the old school West End bars, it's time to accept that the winds of change are blowing. The whole idea behind the West End undeniably has to change over the course of the next few years: away from rowdy bars and towards a more cleaned up image. The same can be seen on our sister island Mallorca by the way, where similar resorts are facing the same changes.
I personally do not think that people will not return to San An this summer just because the West End has to shut two hours earlier because there is so much more on offer than there was.
Now let's have a detailed look at what is in store this summer in San Antonio.
DAYTIME CLUBBING
Home to The Zoo Project (and famous because of it), this beautiful outdoor venue only a short taxi/bus ride away from San Antonio, has opened up a little in terms of events and hosts three weekly parties this summer.
The Zoo Project - Still one of the island's biggest weekly outdoor events, this party has moved from Saturdays to Sundays this season. A good move, I think since, let's be frank, a lot of its potential clientele just wants to do ANTS on the other side of the island on Saturday. With this move, both parties can easily be done.
Originally famous for lots of bodypainting or fancy dresses, The Zoo Project has made a bit of an evolution during the last two or so years and is now a much more rounded event where everyone feels comfy. Superb decoration, great music everywhere, a fun mix of people and lots to explore, The Zoo Project is a must visit for everyone who is here on a Sunday this summer.
Then, new for this year, the Capadi Rebels - who originally ran boat parties in Playa d'en Bossa and lately also hosted Rebels Cave at Sankeys - are exiting the cavern and now celebrating RebelsLand outdoors in Benimussa Park on Tuesdays. A new addition surely worth considering... the line-ups have actually just landed and look pretty sweet!
As the third weekly event, there will still be a party on Saturdays at Benimussa Park as there is now the Ibiza Pool Party happening. Also, this party will be opening up to a wider spectrum of sounds. Rather than focusing only on electronic dance music, it will also include Latin and urban music, as well as chartbreakers.
Apart from those residencies, there are a few one-offs happening too at Benimussa Park this summer:
Clockwork Orange do their annual anniversary weekend in July, from 20 to 23, and on Friday, they invade Benimussa Park
For trance lovers, Captured Festival is also back for their yearly stint, this year on Sunday 9th September, with the pre-party by In Trance We Trust on Friday 7th September.
There is one more pretty big one-off to be announced soon too so stay tuned...
This is a sector we definitely need to mention as well. As San Antonio is located on the sunset side of the island and not far from fantastic spots such as the island of Es Vedrà or the coastlines of Cala Conta and Punta Galera, not doing a boat party when on holiday here would be a capital sin.
Longstanding promoters such as Pukka Up (running three times a week), Float Your Boat (twice a week, with some packages hard to beat) and Lost in ibiza (still the only boat party that also gets you into DC10!) cover pretty much all genres and tastes. Plus there's The Zoo Project's own boat party Noah's Ark which makes for a great boat into zoo combo, and if you want something not necessarily electronic, try the Reverb boat party.
New for this year and with a different more upmarket concept, Oceanbeat (well known for boat parties over in Playa d'en Bossa) is offering a new type of boat party/excursion in San Antonio this summer. Looking for sunset cruises on a luxury catamaran, with excellent food and a groovy, Balearic musical vibe? Well, the Oceanbeat Sunset Catamaran might be exactly what you are looking for...
Certainly the place with the biggest transformation over the course of the last two seasons, Ibiza Rocks Hotel has turned its back on evening-into-night parties and big live bands. It has now shifted its events into big afternoon shindigs around the pool.
The reasons for the move are manifold. Ibiza Rocks is located smack bang in a residential area and it is no secret the neighbours of the hotel were not amused about the loud music coming out of the venue late in the evening. Ibiza Rocks added noise-insulating walls on top of the buildings to solve it, but it simply wasn't enough.
On the other hand, to be completely honest again, the few really big bands that used to play every summer in many cases simply did not bring in the masses, which is a shame. On top of that, band logistics are also ridiculously expensive compared to DJs.
So for now it's bye-bye to live rock in San Antonio and hello to massive pool party offerings at Ibiza Rocks, covering myriad different genres. Here is a round-up on Ibiza Rocks and its events that came out last week. But in short... huge names: Craig David, Rudimental, MK and Stormzy among others. Ibiza Rocks is another must visit for an Ibiza holiday.
Also part of the Ibiza Rocks group is Pikes, the uber-Balearic countryside hotel outside of San Antonio. I hesitated whether or not to quickly mention this venue here because I personally feel it gets mentioned in too many places lately and has thus become almost a bit too famous and popular for its size. But, as your trusted Ibiza source, I still feel it is our duty to just briefly tell you this place does exist. And that is all you get!
The place that really brought daytime clubbing back into San Antonio has been thriving for a good few years now. Already in February, we published a round-up about their event programme for 2018 (if all the venues were that well-organised we would have these season previews out by March and you all would have booked earlier, too, but that is another discussion for another day).
Covering house in all its facets, as well as dance classics and urban sounds, plus being very sensible with admission fees, Ocean Beach Ibiza is understandably on the menu for most of San An visitors.
A short walk away from the centre and the bay area, the seaside venue is open every day of the week. Ocean Beach Ibiza has it all: the sun, pool parties, fun music and crowd. It's a great place to mingle and meet people. It's obvious why this place works so well.
NIGHTTIME CLUBBING
While the two big clubs in San Antonio are not new, this year's situation is a different one. With the aforementioned earlier closing time for West End bars, the two local super-clubs should really be able to benefit. And I truly hope they do.
Refurbished a few years ago and since then a very modern club with an exceptional sound system, Eden is a great venue and has improved its programme year on year now. This is their 2018 menu featuring many new parties:
Mondays - Moments of Ibiza. A new party that will include some pretty exciting label takeovers, but I am afraid we can't jump the gun here. Stay tuned - info to follow very soon.
Tuesdays - Bongo's Bingo. Born in the UK and very successful in Amsterdam, too, this fun concept has now also hit the Balearics.
Wednesdays - to be announced very soon...
Thursdays - HOT. A new night in Eden, covering house, electro and progressive sounds. We genuinely don't know any more about this just yet!
Fridays - Religion. Another new night and musically a very credible one. Religion has Terry Francis on the island as weekly resident and with him, guests such as Tiefschwarz, Kenny Dope, Tobi Neumann and many more. Watch out for the four Fac51 takeovers that will bring Haçienda vibes into Eden!
Saturdays - Pukka Up Tropical Wonderland. Second season for Pukka Up's Saturday nighter. The party is not only for those who want to continue after the boat but open to anyone and everyone. Saturday night, house music, what else do you want?
Sundays - Defected In The House. Eden's week ends with what has turned into San Antonio's busiest club night lately. Defected fits perfectly in Eden and is a straight winner. The line-ups for the first half of the season are out and tickets are flying.
Still one of the most beautiful and unique clubs here on the island, Es Paradis has quite a few novelties in their programme for summer 2018.
Mondays - What the Funk. 90's Ibiza DJ legend Brandon Block is back on the island and with new weekly residency. WTF unites some of Blocko's mates with the island's finest resident DJs.
Tuesdays - No club night planned. Instead, in 2017 Es Paradis has started to use the venue for private parties and Tuesday nights this summer is when Es Paradis could turn into your own club. Coming with a big group? Think about it! Contact us if you want some help with this.
Wednesdays - Bangers & Mashed Up. A new night for the club, it will combine current chart toppers with club classics.
Thursdays - Back to 95. The third and last of the new parties at Es Paradis this summer, Back to 95. As the name says, the night takes us back two decades and into a music mix that was popular back then: jungle, garage and r'n'b. A proper trip down memory lane!
Fridays - Fiesta del Agua. By now the island's oldest club night still going, the water party is simply an Ibiza classic. House music, a fun atmosphere and the ability to transform into an indoor pool - this is the only indoor club night that suddenly turns into a pool party. There is a reason this night still exists: it is just pure fun.
Saturdays - GLOW Neon Paint Party. Another fun night that was born a few years ago and has since turned into a fixture in Es Paradis. If you don't want to get THAT wet at the water party, you could do GLOW instead and get neon-ised. It is a similar approach musically: upfront house music but more colourful than Fridays.
Sundays - event to be announced very soon!
Conclusion
Despite the news regarding the West End bar closing times, I genuinely think San An's clubbing offer has actually improved. With multiple daytime parties happening every day of the week as well as the two super-clubs, you will definitely not get bored in San Antonio.
Plus, let's of course not forget about the sunset strip. Yes, it does get very busy on there in peak season, but hey it is what makes San Antonio unique on this island. Every summer, thousands and thousands of people travel over the island to experience the sunset at Café del Mar, Café Mambo, Savannah or further out in the bay at the lovely Kumharas.
While it's no secret that a few years ago, it felt like Playa d'en Bossa would completely take over the tourism for the young (and night owls in general), I personally think San Antonio has taken up the challenge.
From daytime pool party action over to sunset experiences (on boats or on the sunset strip) on to bars and then to club nights, San Antonio nowadays offers a really rounded package which has something for everyone.
Plus, another point that is often forgotten - I think we can all agree that the centre of San Antonio isn't exactly a feast for the eyes (neither is Playa d'en Bossa if you think about it). Once you leave town and very close by, you will find beautiful landscapes and beaches ready to be discovered.
The greater San Antonio area has some wonderful beaches and spots. You just need to get active and go explore.
