An evening on the town in Puerto Vallarta begins with a great meal in one of the city's many fine restaurants. Musicians serenade as you sample the cuisine of world-class chefs or enjoy Mexican "home cooking." After your meal, relax with a drink on a romantic terrace by the sea or in the hills with a breathtaking view of city lights, boats on the bay and fireworks. Then it's time to move on to the real action of the evening. Music, dancing and live entertainment really get going after 11 pm. No need to dress up, just pick a restaurant-bar with your favorite kind of atmosphere. You will find sports bars, rowdy bars, refined and relaxed piano bars and everything in between. Several bars, discos and live music clubs offer rock 'n roll, Latin music, blues and jazz. At some of them, diehard dancers and late-starters are still kicking up their heels on the dance floor until five in the morning.
39 Vallarta Essentials: You cannot visit Paris, no matter how brief a stay, and miss the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre, or spend any time in San Francisco without succumbing to the temptation of crossing its majestic Golden Gate Bridge. Each popular world destination has its very own list of must-see/must-do items and Puerto Vallarta is no exception.
The Local Hangouts: Well-informed travel websites and books often provide accurate information about “must-see” spots and landmarks but can fall short on providing insight about the places where locals like to hang out.
Looking Ahead: Five Trends to Follow: What are some of the interesting trends, people or places to watch closely in the next few months? Nobody knows for sure. That said, here are some that have caught our attention.
An Endless Disco Night: Once you’ve put on your best disco duds and styled your hair, you just need a final check in the mirror before the fun begins.
Where is the Best Dining View in Puerto Vallarta?: When it comes to glorious Puerto Vallarta sunsets and spectacular dining views, we all have our own favorites.
Live Music Options in Puerto Vallarta: From colorful and lively performers bouncing from one city bus to another all day long, to sassy vocalists crooning jazz standards into the microphone at a local lounge, live music abounds in Puerto Vallarta.
Behind the Scenes at Rhythms of the Night: An accomplished pianist plays Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 as if it were the melody line of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, and a gifted chef prepares a perfect Grand Marnier soufflé as easily as you or I would take the lid off a container of ice cream and scoop some into a dish.
Jazz in Puerto Vallarta: A number of professional jazz musicians have found their way to our destination, some as tourists, others to work for a season or two, and then there are those who have chosen Puerto Vallarta as their permanent residence.
Mexican Pyrotechnics: From Gunpowder to the Marigalante: Spend enough evenings around downtown Puerto Vallarta and you'll find you no longer need a watch, especially around 9 pm, when the daily Marigalante pirate ship fireworks light up the night sky. Here in Mexico we need practically no excuse to set off fireworks.
The Viva Girls: A Dash of Class and a Lot of Marketing Savvy: Surprises happen in Vallarta when you least expect them, like when having dinner at a nice restaurant, say. And suddenly, four gorgeous women in capes glide in, appearing before you smiling broadly ...
Best Place for Free Mariachi Music: Tequila’s Cafe: By day, Tequila’s Café on the Malecon offers a panoramic view of Banderas Bay, complete with the spectacle of humpback whales cavorting in the crystalline waters during the winter months. By night, patrons can enjoy some of the best mariachi music around, ideally while dining on the restaurant’s romantic wraparound balcony perched one story above the street action, just opposite the seahorse sculpture.
Best Looking Female Impersonator: Ida Slapter: We met because of a tin-foil tiara. I was wearing it while celebrating something or other at the Red Cabbage five years ago, when in sauntered Shane Clabaugh with his entourage. As beautiful as any woman, eyes startlingly blue and the longest legs I’d ever seen, he took my breath away.
Best New Dance Craze: Tango: Whether you speak English, Spanish, Swahili or all three is irrelevant when it comes to learning tango, the hot, sensuous dance that originated in 19th-century Buenos Aires and has taken PV by storm since tango instructors Barbara and Al Garvey moved to town two years ago.
Best Musical Makeover: Los Bambinos: From travelling troubadours to overnight sensation, one of Puerto Vallarta's favorite musical groups, goes through a makeover. Check out one of their songs!
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Best Nightclub: Carlos O’brian’s: Having just celebrated 34 years in Puerto Vallarta, Carlos O’Brian’s, of the Anderson’s chain of restaurants, is without a doubt the best nightclub in town.
Five Musical Moods: When it comes to live music in Puerto Vallarta, there is something for just about every live-music lover to enjoy. Here are five musical options you won’t want to miss.
Fashionable New Wine Bars: Stylishly enhancing the options Puerto Vallarta offers, a fresh new trio of atmospheric wine bars is shaping the way people approach dining out and getting together with friends.
Jefferson Starship Rocks Vallarta: 10/11/05: The Marriott Casa Magna was the place to be October 8 and 9 when Jefferson Starship sparked lots of great memories during two concerts
A Bay Full of Music: It has happened almost without notice: Vallarta is emerging as a major destination for music lovers.
All the World's a Stage: While Vallarta has certainly known its share of drama, we didn't have much of an English-language theater scene until recently.
