Playa d'en Bossa - one of the two most popular resorts for clubbers in Ibiza - has been going through a transformation process for a while already and the evolution doesn't seem to stop... The very successful opening of Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel in 2011 has seemingly encouraged other local places to step up a gear and other businesses to set foot on Playa d'en Bossa.
Recently, there's been a lot of news regarding new bars in Playa d'en Bossa, so we thought we'd give you a nice overview of what's new and what's changed...
Bora Bora
Named after arguably one of the most beautiful island locations in the world near Tahiti in the Pacific Ocean, this is the definitive beach bar in Playa d'en Bossa, as they manage to find that fine balance between club, bar, and beach. Of course, Bora Bora is not new; it's actually one of those places that's been around long before Ushuaïa etc. Sundays are still the most popular of days to head to the venue, with a We Love… Space Sundays pre-party attitude about it. You can expect cool, underground vibes to be played out of the impressive VOID soundsystem (the same one you would find in the DC10 terrace) from residents Alex Miles and Heath Holme (see our interview with him here). 2012 Bora Bora steps up their game with inviting more and more big name guest DJs coming to play the venue. Drinks prices are affordable and the atmosphere is pretty relaxed with people allowed to dance on the tables, - hundreds of people turn up to dance, including of course the infamous spiderman! There is also a more chilled side to Bora Bora, with food available in the large beach-front seating area, and sports available to watch on the big TVs. Also, the JET Apartments, located right next to Bora Bora are still a big hit with the younger crowd.
Ibiza Rocks Bar
Another brand new bar in Playa d'en Bossa for 2012 - this time from the Ibiza Rocks brand as they cast their net further from their San Antonio base (excluding Mallorca Rocks of course!), where the Ibiza Rocks Hotel and the first Ibiza Rocks Bar (the former Bar M) are located. This bar is much on the same lines as the San Antonio bar in terms of styling, with a cool outdoor terrace area, and indoor seating area with a massive LED big screen TV that more or less takes up a whole wall – making the bar ideal to watch sport and the like. The food is fantastic with the typical selection of pitta bread and chicken based foods that you can find in the San An bar to accompany the fine selection of cocktails and other drinks served at the bar. A very very cool place to eat, drink and chillout.
Plastik Beach Club
San An's favourite bar near the Egg expandes over to Playa d'en Bossa and take over what was Restaurante Varadero, right on the beach and just a few steps away from Ushuaïa, Space and Bora Bora.
Plastik made bold moves this summer from their roots in San Antonio by opening a bar with an entirely different feel about it. The San An bar is entirely indoors, right on the road by the egg roundabout. Whereas the Plastik Beach Club is, well, on the beach! Plastik Beach Club lies right between Ushuaïa and Bora Bora and the venue benefits from an amazing location, with tables and sun loungers spilling out on the beautiful Playa d'en Bossa beach. Unlike many of the beach-front bars, the big 4 poster sun lounger beds are still free to use at the moment (providing you buy some drinks of course!). The indoor bar area is able to close itself off from the outside to account for the music being required to be turned down at midnight, with a great soundsystem, DJ booth and seating area. There's also a beautiful, white wooden terrace area, with plenty of seating to enjoy the food and drinks. So between the San An and Playa d'en Bossa bars, Plastik now have a fine representation on the island.
Tiare Ibiza
The team behind Bora Bora's neighbour bar (located on the beach just behind Bora Bora and Tahiti Bar) have big plans for this summer. This great little bar that opened in 2010 is located on the opposite side of Bora Bora to Delano's at the front of the Jet Apartments complex, and benefits from being right on the beach of course, but with a nice little pool to the side of it also. Some cool parties have been thrown here with music often provided by venue favourite Mettylectro with regular guests. A brand new soundsystem has also just been installed to ensure the music can be heard clearly over the noisy neighbours! Their intention is to bring back the vibe of old school Ibiza with the outdoor parties, keeping things funky, deep and inspiring – all whilst enjoying very reasonably priced drinks!
Sands
Not a new place and already well-known for its cuisine, Carl Cox' birthday party with legendary funk sets and DC-10's closing afterparty, Sands will this year go one step further... Sands has always enjoyed a positive representation amongst all that have stumbled across this small beachfront venue, with parties from the likes of mUmU and the aforementioned Carl Cox's funk and soul birthday party absolutely going off over the last few years! Towards the end of last season Lynn Cosgrave and her team at Safehouse Management, who manage Carl Cox and his Space parties amongst others, purchased this venue with a view of transforming it into an even better beach bar and restaurant with Michelin Star chefs flown in to put together amazing menus. The venue has been done up to freshen it up and there are great plans for parties over the course of the summer. More information can be found out HERE with our feature on the venue, with a mini interview with Lynn herself.
Tantra
Tantra - PdB's evergreen bar - just a few steps from Bora Bora - got a proper facelift with the indoor space now able to be a self-sufficient space on itself as the doors are closed, with a full license until 6am. The inside of Tantra is quite large for a bar, with plenty of seating area to chill and plenty of floor space to dance on. The front terrace seating area faces on to the main road through Playa d'en Bossa, with new LED screens for decoration and loads of chairs and tables to enjoy your drinks at whilst either listening to the music from the live DJs or watching sport on the big screen TVs and projectors. Whilst there is also a wooden decking area to the side of the venue for more space. This venue is always hugely popular due to it's setup and location on 100m from the entrance to Space, with Ushuaïa opposite.
La Plage
Formerly known as Ushuaïa before they moved to their own larger building just along the beach, La Plage still retains that luxurious but chilled out vibe of past years. In terms of design and decoration, La Plage is probably the best looking venue in Playa d'en Bossa with loads of indoor reception areas leading out to the vast outdoor beachfront space. Here you can find loads of large sun beds and sofas to relax on which stretch out from the decking terrace to just short of the sea, surrounded by sand dunes and grass. This year, the main restaurant is located on the first floor, from where you get an amazing sea view while enjoying your mediterranean food. Over the years the venue has hosted many amazing parties, which operate on a free or invite/guestlist basis (or at least you can hear the music from the beach anyway) with plenty of parties planned to go down this season, including no doubt some cool afterparties for the likes of Cocoon.
