Amnesia: To Party in Ibiza

I was supposed to fly to Palermo after Rome to meet with Michele, an Italian friend who lived in the Philippines. But 5 days before, he wrote that he’s been invited by his friend to party in Ibiza. He wanted to see me he said, but also wants to party to Ibiza. I’m invited to come along if I want to.

I know of Ibiza– a tiny island off the coast of Spain.  It’s known for being an island paradise because of the beaches but more famous for the legendary summer parties. I never thought of going there before, but then I’ve never had invitation to go there. Since I’ve not booked my flight to Palermo yet… why not? So nice to have no fixed itinerary, no?

Ibiza Old Town

IBIZA old town

Michele came to the airport to fetch me with David, our host. We did a small tour of the old town and its port which is a Unesco World Heritage site.  It was lovely with painted white houses with blue water backdrop. However, we were also being fried to death by the scorching sun. Let me mention that I’ve had sun since the day I started my trip as if it’s following me around. Whenever I get somewhere, I’ll be greeted with “you’re so lucky because we have good weather this weekend” or various variation of it.

Ibiza Port – Unesco world heritage site

On my first night, Michele and I went to check out San Antonio’s supposed thriving night life. But turned out to be quite a dissappointment for us. The place looks like a cross between Bangkok’s Khao San Road and Burgos Street in Makati. But the drinks were cheap.

I wanted to experience the club scene Ibiza is known for. I know it’s going to be expensive, but hey, we don’t come all the way to Ibiza to not go to the clubs? The club paties are practically the only reason why people come to Ibiza, at least during summer. And it is the famous Ibiza closing party season!

The boys went to Pacha’s closing party the night before I came. Pacha is one of the famous Ibiza clubs, and the only one open during off season. It was dj’d by David Guetta entitled F**k me I’m famous. They each ate 70euro worth of food at the restaurant and got in for free. Steep!

David and Rodrigo who owns an Ibiza vacation house for rent were our great hosts. They took us to the beach and some nice places. I especially love the the vibe of Blue Marlin. We went for a drink one afternoon and I pleaded with the boys that we go back for the closing party. It’s free to go in as it’s a restaurant-bar, but for guaranteed spending of 10,000 euros, you can secure a table reservation. We thought about it for 1 second but unfortunately, it’s all booked out!!!  We did come back for the closing party but we were too late as they’ve stopped letting people in at 7.30pm. We end up going to a nice place called KM5 but the music wasn’t so hot.

Replay for Blue Marlin IBIZA

Blue Marlin Ibiza

the boys

KM5 in Ibiza

Amnesia is another famous club in Ibiza and is the next one to have a closing party. Early bird tickets, meaning before 1:00 am, cost 40euros and after is 70euros. There was a bit of a drama but finally Michele and I went. And this drama costs us 70euro because it was 1:01am when we got to the ticket counter. Seriously, the guy before us paid 40! We tried to appeal but they were so obnoxious and strict! They probably get a hard on with that much POWER. What were we to do, right? We paid 70 and quickly put it out of our minds. Hard to do because the drinks inside were so expensive! 25cl mineral water costs 10euros and rum coke were 20euros!

Ibiza parties are wild. It goes on and on. Michele and I were proud that we lasted 11 hours (yes, you read it right) in Amnesia fueled only by the music. The music was amazing! It’s so energizing that it pumps life into your body. You could be tired one minute and then the music change and water falls and fireworks explodes and you’re up and alive again.  It could probably be use to wake people in coma.

But anyway, some, well most use different means to keep awake. 95% of the people were on coke(caine). At first discreetly going into the toilet all the time. The queue for the toilet is longer than the bar. But later they just sniff them right at the dance floor. The club parties are simultaneous, and people move from one club to the next the whole week.  When we came out of Amnesia at noon, there were people just going into it. I think they said it goes until 6pm and then Space or another club starts their closing party.

It’s out of this world, coming to Ibiza parties. I don’t regret at all despite the cost. Ibiza is not a typical destination for budget traveler, but it will be a once in a lifetime experience. If you are traveling with a group of friends, which would be more fun in party island, you could rent out a whole apartment and make the most out of your party vacation.

Never say never, but most likely this is my first and last time there. Unless somehow I’ll get into Prince Harry’s famous guest list.