Ushuaia | Travels, Adventures, and Leisure

Slept in until 1pm, but still had a super productive day.

Started off the day at the resort’s buffet for a quick lunch and sparkling wine. Then got a taxi to the part of the Platja d’en Bossa where I would get my ticket for the Oceanbeat boat party (they said to meet at a place called BXXCH Club Ibiza for tix, but it ended up being just a stand that was near the boat dock).

The boat ride itself was actually pretty chill, with melodic house being played for the first half, then deep house on the ride back. The route stayed to the east side of the island. We stopped for 40 minutes for people to jump in. FYI, the only drinks that was included beer and sangria. A shot is whisky was 20 euros (I got two for free since they didn’t give me the correct change when I paid for the remainder of my ticket). Next time I would do the VIP package, since you get shade, a bottle of champagne, and also the people in the VIP section seemed really chill. Also on the boat ride I met some people from California that were staying in the bungalow part of Ushaia. I would say half of the boat was Americans, and half were heading to Tomorrowland after.

After the boat ride, walked through the town back to the hotel (not to be confused with Ibiza Towne). There were some restaurants and bars I would check out. They also had KFC and Burger King. I stopped by a Supermarket (that’s what they call grocery stores here) to get Ballentines and water.

When I got back to the hotel, we had reservations at a restaurant called Portofino. You can read about it here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2023/07/25/portofino/

FYI, at all inclusive, you need to always should prioritize reserving restaurants when you land.

After dinner, took a Power Nap, then pregamed for Eric Prydz. Left the hotel at 1:30am to Hi Ibiza. We were able to catch Christoph before Prydz. For Prydz, I felt the set up was a bit backwards from the regular shows. I thought the 3D ness was inward, as opposed to outward (compared to hide regular Holo shows). After Prydz, caught a bit of Adam Beyer, then went to the side room where they were playing some chill tech house.

We concluded the night by going back to the only restaurant open 24/7 in the resort, the Sports bar.

I will say all the popular tourist spots have taxis available, so I see why Ubers are. It a thing on the island (but available mainland).

Original plan was to leave SF at 3pm on a Saturday, then arrive aim Ibiza on Sunday 4pm (in time to catch Swedish house mafia), connecting through AMS. Plan was solid until my flight leaving SF was delayed 3 hours! Within those 3 hours tried to see if there was any other reasonable solution (ie not paying thousands) to get to IBZ at the same time. Was about to take a United flight to London Heathrow instead (several direct flights to IBZ from there), but then it got cancelled! Also tried to figure out a new flight to IBZ. Unfortunately had to get a non direct flight (stopping by Barcelona). Getting me there 4.5 hrs later.

Flight went by reasonably fast (was in Exonomy Plus with no one at the middle seat, and watched Suits for most of it, then got maybe 1 hour of sleep).

Arriving at AMS, taxiing to the gate was probably a good 15 minutes. When entering the airport, the walk to passport control was around 8 minutes. Then waited in line for 35 minutes (although they were actively asking if people had flights to catch within 30 minutes of the current time). After passport control, no re-entering security. Went to the aspire lounge aka Lounge 26 (covered by priority pass). The lounge was just meh (comparing to centurion). Only hot food was soup, and alcohol was self serve (only whisky was Red label).

On the positive side, sorta learning how to adapt to unexpected travel hiccups. Hopefully this is the only one on this trip!

FYI, vueling and posting the gates on google of the worst. Had to go to the airport website to find the gate info.

The flight to BCN (stop over) was around 2 hours. Vueling doesn’t have seats that recline, but alcohol they sell is cheap. When I got to BCN, my gate we landed to was at A12. The gate I needed to reach was B43. I basically sprinted for a good 10 minutes to make my connection. Super glad I made it.

Arriving at IBZ, got a taxi, where they accept cc. Arriving at the hotel, The Grand Palladium White Island, quickly checked in, then made my way to Ushuaia for Swedish house Mafia. Only caught an our, but it was truly satisfying.

After, went to the Ushuaia rooftop. Great view, but it’s just meh unless you go during the music (aka before 11pm) (great view of the stage).

The last place we stopped by this night was Elvissa (aka Ibiza Town). We had stopped by Calle de La Virgin (the Castro street of Ibiza). Because it was a Sunday, it wasn’t super happening, but I can see how it could be busy got G area. We had a drink at Cenote, where the vibe is mainly jungle themed. Had a Mojito Pina Colad (basically a Mojito wit a hint on Pina). Was pretty good.

We also did walk around the Ibiza Marina (Avinguda Andanes). Reminded me of Split, Croatia.