San Juan Nightlife Tips by tomhoward

Nightlife Spot: General

Wasn't here long enough to get the low-down on how the nightlife works. Like many tourist spots though, Old San Juan only really comes alive around the weekend, so expect a Tuesday night to be radically different from Friday. Nightlife seems pretty irregular, with clubs / bars closing down or changing names frequently. The places that do exist will barely be noticeable by day, with peeling wooden shop fronts and perhaps a small sign. Later that evening the same street is crowded with 20 something's and a heavy police presence (not that its ever probably required). My best advice is not to bother finding out about specific venues, rather wander the streets and find places by following thumping Latino beats or the recommendations of the bar workers and cocktail shakers you'll come across. Old San Juan is that small that you could easily cover all the main roads in an hour or so - if you start on the east end of Calle Fortaleza, you shouldn't be looking long.

Music is a big part of Puerto Rican life and most bars and clubs (as well as restaurants) have live music on the busier nights. Annoyingly, those Puerto Ricans who aren't excellent musicians, can dance like Patrick Swayze on E, leaving tourists (even drunk ones like us) to sensibly watch from the sidelines.

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Theme: Dancing
Dress Code: Back in the San Juan hotels, the evening entertainment is geared towards affluent middle aged tourists, so expect piano lounges, cocktail bars & casinos to rule. For the younger crowd, The Water Club and its nightly dance parties are probably the best bet. Liquid, which I presume is the small bar at the back of the restaurant Tangerine, is the more refined of the two, attracting an older, more sophisticated crowd. Upstairs, Wet Bar is party central but with two drinks costing us $18 up, we didn't spend long at either.

From Thursday to Saturday, the best conventional nightclub is Babylon inside the Wyndham El San Juan Hotel on Isla Verde. This surprisingly well equipped and designed nightclub would be a total cheese fest back in the UK with RnB on the lower (main) dance floor, and house on the balcony, but works well here even if it does have a $15 cover. Bouncers enforce a strict dress code though. Reached via the fantastic mahogany & chandelier lined Palm Court bar.

Other clubs I'd heard about:

Olio - Recinto Sur 305 (787/977-1082)

Rumba - Calle San Sebasti'n 152

Club Lazer - 251 Calle del Cruz, San Juan (787-725-7581) Near the corner of Calle Fortaleza

Zabo - 14 Calle Candina Entrance is via an alleyway on Av. Ashford out of Old San Juan (787/725-9494)