Ibiza has reached a status of world fame among club-goers and party hoppers, but it doesn’t get nearly enough credit for its beautiful beaches. Sometimes it’s hard to remember Ibiza is, in fact, an island that has more to offer than just amazing clubs and incredible parties!

Ibiza has a population of only 140,000, but the small island gets around 2 million visitors per year. It has 56 beaches and the world’s largest nightclub (according to the Guinness Book of World Records, Privilege Nightclub can hold 10,000 people). About 1/4 of the people who live on Ibiza are year-round expats (they do have a program for native English speakers to teach English in Ibiza!)

We had an overnight layover from Athens to Málaga and decided to take that layover in Ibiza. Unfortunately, not much was open and we only had about 14 hours there. I highly recommend this beautiful island and wish we had more time to explore and report, but here is what I discovered during our short trip to Ibiza!

Playa d’en Bossa

Playa d’en Bossa is the clubbing area of Ibiza. World-renowned clubs like Space, Ushuaïa, Pacha, and DC10 are located in this area. Playa d’en Bossa is within 2km of the airport, and you can walk from the airport if you don’t have much luggage. There are plenty of hotels in this area as well, and many of the beach hotels have beach parties themselves for day parties. Jet, Usuaïa, Sands, and Hard Rock have famous pool parties.

James and I visited Ibiza in mid-May and stayed in Playa d’en Bossa. The photo above is from my walk down the beach in this part of the island. It’s incredible and beautiful and I would have loved to stay longer if this wasn’t just a layover visit. In mid-May, the clubs and pool parties aren’t open yet, but you can get a great deal on a big, nice suite. During off times such as New Years Eve and pre- and post-season, only Pacha is open and not very busy. (On a side note, there is a Pacha in NYC as well. Who knew Pacha was a chain club?!)

Ibiza Town

Ibiza downtown is about 15 minutes farther from the airport than Playa d’en Bossa. We never made it to this section of town, but the taxi driver recommended the downtown area for great restaurants and things that would be open in the off-season.

Other Neighborhoods of Ibiza

San Rafael, San Antonio, Ses Salinas are other neighborhoods of Ibiza. San Rafael is close to Playa d’en Bossa and is the home of two of Ibiza’s most famous nightclubs, Amnesia and Privilege. San Antonio is a larger area of Ibiza that includes the port area of Ibiza. Ses Salinas is very close to the airport but has some of the nicest beaches in Ibiza. At the airport, we overheard some locals saying that the northern part of Ibiza was one of the nicest areas of the island.

Transportation

Taxis are very expensive. From the airport, taxis are a minimum of 12€, even with the meter running. It’s fastest to walk if you’re staying in Playa d’en Bossa, or try to arrange transportation beforehand. It’s possible to share a cab. In addition, in summer there is a bus, but it’s a far walk from many hotels. Keep this in mind when booking a trip to Ibiza.