Some bars on Ibiza are as famous as the clubs, the comfortable temperature and long summer nights making outdoor drinking a relaxing way to pass the days and evenings before heading for the nightlong madness of the clubs. With many of the bars official pre-club venues for the major parties on the island, visitors are warmed up for the evening by the resident DJ's from the clubs. With a range of bars from relaxing seas side ambience to banging party tunes there's something to suit every mood, every drinking mood that is.

The West End, a small area packed with every kind of drinking establishment known to man, is probably the main drinking area on the island for tourists. From Club like venues to Irish bars if you're up for a night of drinking this is definitely the place to head to. Drinks are available for reasonable prices if you're prepared to haggle with the PR's that line the streets outside the bars and as long as you come with the right attitude a good time can be had. However the trendy and clubbing types usually head a few hundred meters west to the coast where you can find Sunset Strip or over to the hipper Bar M, a more sophisticated drinking hole owned by the Manumission crew.

A must do on every Ibiza visitors itinerary is to catch a sunset at one of the bars here while watching the beautiful Balearic sunset. The oldest bar on this strip is synonymous with Ibiza, Cafe Del Mar, origin of what seems like an endless stream of ambient compilation albums is celebrating its 25th birthday this year. Owned by Ibiza's most famous musician Jose Padilla it's a great place to sip a cocktail and watch the sun go down.

Both sides of Cafe del Mar are 2 venues that have capitalized on the success of the bar and took the concept in a different and more commercial direction. On one side is Cafe Mambo. Playing the same ambient tracks until sunset after which harder beats generally kick in it's the pre-club bar for most major parties on the island. On the other side is Savannah, a bar/restaurant owned by the same people as Cafe Mambo that adds a culinary dimension to the sunset experience serving up a range of dishes to much on while the sun goes down. Just round the headland from these three bars is a small eatery called Kasbah that has long had a reputation on the island for the quality of its food. So much so that Judge Jules has bought the place and its now the pre-club bar for his judgement Sundays events. Another beautiful place to watch the sun go down with much better food than on offer at Savannah.

Attacting a much more sophisticated and international crowd, Ibiza town is home to 2 of the biggest clubs on the island and so has a whole heap of bars to ease clubbers into the night. Most of the action takes place around a square just off the road next to the Portside, here a number of Bars like Base, K-ube (the offical pre-club bar for the Underwater party) and Limelight you'll find an eclectic and mixed nationality crowd. Drinks don't come cheap around here though, expect to pay at least 8-10 Euros per drink.

The otherwise unremarkable resort of Playa den Bossa is home to Space and so to support this burgeoning Ibiza institution, not to mention the casualties that fall out from its hectic dancefloors needing somewhere to chill out, a number of Bars have opened up along the seafront. Most are pretty characterless places but Bora Bora, located just a few hundred meters from Space's entrance is the ideal place to relax, get sunburnt and down a few cocktails. Beautiful people, a reasonable beach and a funky mix of house and electro you'll find customers dancing into the early hours.

Text and Photo by Matt Cheetham (HigherFrequency)