im what i would class as Young and Lively, and i always stay in the bay. There are many great bars in the bay, you may find families around early evening, but by the time i tend to go out they are usually tucked up in bed.
some of the Lively places i visit are Pink Panther, Bucaneros, BN3, Sgt Peppers2, Mari Pins. You can check out the bars own websites.

http://www.digitalibiza.com/bn3/
http://www.digitalibiza.com/maripins/
http://www.digitalibiza.com/bucaneros/
http://www.digitalibiza.com/peppers2/
http://www.digitalibiza.com/pinkpanther/

The water taxi doesnt run through the night it usually stops about 11pm i think. You can get a taxi into San An pretty easily and depending on where you are in the bay can work out fairly cheap.

The bay is a much nicer place to stay than the town even if your young and lively - at least you can get to slep for a couple of hours if you want to. There is plenty of nightlife in the bay especially later in the evening. The water taxis do stop at night but you could be close enough to walk to town. If not there are plenty of taxis. Since the peseta changed to the euro Ibiza in general has got more expensive ,but so has everywhere else. You will get ripped off in nightclubs. Your best bet is to have a few drinks in a pub at the start of the night and ease off when you get to the clubs. One tip - when your in the town at night stick with at least one friend.

thanks,is it expensive in places such as peppers??do they do themed nights?what is the price of food like?as much information as possible is welcome!!

Have to add my two penneth in hear.....the town is great if you like that busy city centre on a weekend feel, packed rowdy but full of fun. In all the ten years that ive been visiting san an ive never seen any trouble yet just high spirits so dont worry,

the Bay is tended to be full of families although young and lively do use the accomodation as its cheaper the further away from the town you get so choose your accomodation wisely, some hotels wont tolerate any kind of noise, music etc at night so best look for cheap 2 star accomodation when you wont have any trouble. As others have said taxis run into the town at around 6 to 8 euros, buses around 1.5 euros but depending on where you are, you can also walk it. There are a few young and lively pubs in the bay area but to be honest I would get into the town for anything decent., but thats just my opinion.

As for food, its as cheap or as expensive as you want, you can pick up a cheap meal for around £4 or theres plenty of takeaways including pizza, mcdonalds, kebabs etc for around UK prices

Where about are you staying?

Themed nights erm not too sure what your looking for here, bucaneros used to have a beach party and other dress up nights. pink panther have quizzes to win cocktails or prizes and pool comps, most have Karaoke.

I find the drinks are much cheaper in the Bay than over in the westend. The locally produced sprits and beer are obviously cheaper than the well-known brands. Most of the bars will have offers on drinks, pints of vodka red bull and cocktails; pink panther cocktails are the mutt's nuts. You can also get hold of club tickets in most of the bars, so it's worth asking around for the best prices.

I would say the price of food is cheaper than it is back home. Yorkshire Man does a fantastic breakie, full English with coffee/tea/juice I think it was 4.50euros last year baguettes were 3.50 I think. There are cheaper places but sometimes the quality isn't all that good. My tip is the busier the place the better the food will be. Yorkshire man also does nice evening meals. I would avoid Chunky Steve's over the road name often changes because of the bad reports. Can Grao next door to pink panther is very cheap and really nice; get lots of the locals in there as the food is lovely! You can get a lasagne for around 4euros.
Liberty's, Amsterdam, Jackie Browns, and a few other places do offers for a starter, main, dessert and a drink for 10 - 15 euros. Best Steak on the island is at Java up a side street near the Klippe hotel.

Hope all this helps

ohhh and im not knocking the town as i also go over there, but i have met some great friends over the last 6 yrs that work in the bay, so thats my first choice.