If you’re looking for music, dancing, people watching and a good time, you can find all of them in Playa del Carmen.  Playa is not Cancun.  The wild spring break nightlife is generally not found here, but there are plenty of fun places to spend the evening. 

As with most things in Playa del Carmen, nightlife centers either on or near Fifth Avenue or on the beach.  Here are some of the highlights:

Fifth Avenue:

There are plenty of great places to get a drink on Fifth Avenue.  In the north end, you will find Feliz Hora (Happy Hour) between Calles 26 and 28 and Cabalova (a sports bar featuring TV screens with American sports many nights), between Calles 28 and 30. 

Heading south on Fifth Avenue, you’ll find the Deseo rooftop bar between Calles 12 and 10.  Ultramodern and hip, it features a totally alfresco bar.  In addition to chairs, they offer double beds for lounging with friends, many with flowing white linen curtains.  You can also take a dip in the rooftop pool, all the while watching 20’s and 30’s silent movies projected onto the adjacent wall.  Cool is the operative term here.  On the same block is the legendary Tequila Barrel.  Sit out front on the street-side lounge and watch the Fifth Avenue nightly promenade.  Or move to the interior and watch American sports on the TVs.  If you really want to get adventuresome, move into the back where the dance floor features a pole normally found in locales with exotic dancers. 

Continuing south, you’ll find the Fah bar between Calle 10 and 8, located in the Siesta Fiesta hotel.  Again, an outdoor sidewalk venue, Fah features live music most nights, usually bands covering American rock/pop tunes.  On the next block and across the street, you’ll find Bourbon Street between Calle 6 and 8, a bar featuring live blues and rock music.   

All the way at the end of Fifth Avenue, in the Paseo del Carmen shopping area, you’ll find Carlos & Charlie’s, the Mexican “it’s always spring break” chain.  In the same area, you’ll also find Bodeguita del Medio, which is owned by the same people who run its namesake restaurant in Havana, Cuba.  The bar is large, noisy and fun.  The restaurant features a dance floor where incredible salsa dancers practice their stuff in front of a live Cuban band every night.  Salsa lessons are offered early in the evenings. 

Near Fifth Avenue:

Santanera on Calle 12, between Fifth and Tenth Avenues, is an extremely cool bar/club featuring DJ music.  This is the club for the young and beautiful or those who want to be.  Cover charge.  Right across the street you’ll find Playa’s newest dance club, Bali.  Opened in the spring of 2006, it is known locally for outrageous cover charges (up to $25 per person) and a very hip atmosphere.  On Calle 12 heading towards the beach, you’ll find Om.  Hookah water pipes, flowing linens, oriental rugs and a European crowd. 

La Ranita, on Calle 10 between Fifth and Tenth Avenues, is a quiet neighborhood bar and a hangout for expatriate American locals.  Across the street is the more raucous but equally loved Sharkey’s Beer Bucket Caribbean Shack (aka the Beer Bucket).  Two floors and two bars, it attracts an interesting mix of locals, expatriates and tourists in the know.  It’s nothing special—just a great bar.  The Tequila Barrel, Beer Bucket, La Ranita crawl is a local tradition.  Also on Calle 10 between Fifth and Tenth Avenues is Básico Lounge.  One of the only elevators in Playa takes you to the rooftop bar.  New and stylish.

On Calle 6 between Fifth and Tenth Avenues, you’ll find the Mambo Café, which is not a café but in fact a large, cavernous dance club featuring both live and recorded music.  It attracts a younger crowd, but regardless of age, don’t be afraid to go in and “bust a move.”  It generally gets going late in the evening and continues until early in the morning. 

On Calle 4 between Fifth Avenue and the beach is Bliss, an indoor dance club with an outdoor balcony.  Live rock music on the weekends, with recorded 70s and 80s music on Sunday nights.

On the Beach: 

Coco Maya is located on the beach between Calles 12 and 14, just north of the Blue Parrot Hotel, and features DJ or live music most evenings until 3 am.  No cover charge. 

Just south of Coco Maya, at the end of Calle 12, is the entrance to the Blue Parrot Hotel, which houses the infamous Dragon Bar, self-proclaimed the “Sexiest Bar in Playa del Carmen.”  On the beach, it features DJ/techno/house/’thump thump’ music, a dance floor, and a giant circular bar upon which female patrons are known to dance.  Playa’s oldest and most established party place, it attracts a young crowd and stays open until the wee hours. 

Next door to the south of the Dragon Bar you will find the El Pirata housed in the Costa Maya hotel.  Also on the beach, it bills itself as a reggae bar.  A small dance floor, recorded music, lots of tables and good service, it is a quieter alternative to its more hip neighbor.  Here you can drink and hear your companions talk. 

On the beach between Calles 4 and 2 is the Bad Boys Beach Club, sometimes called Captain Dave’s on the Beach, since it has the same owners as the now closed Captain Dave’s bar on Tenth Avenue.  Look for the Jolly Roger (skull and crossbones) flag flying out front.  The BBBC is a standard beach club which, in addition to food and drink, offers live blues music between 3 and 7 pm most days.   A pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

Next to the ferry dock at the end of Fifth Avenue on Calle 1 Sur and the beach, you’ll find Señor Frog’s.  Music, food, drinks, dancing, frivolity.  Part of the chain you will find in Cancun, Cabo and other places.  Close to the Playacar community, it attracts a mixed age group intent on having fun. 

Good to Know:

The beach bars are safe at night.  However, don’t go walking the dark beach by yourself.  Boat lines, holes dug in the beach by the waves, rocks and the occasionally unpleasant person make this a bad idea. 

Fifth Avenue and the surrounding area are generally very safe.  Tourist police patrol on a regular basis.  High spirits and a bit of alcoholic based revelry are generally within the limits.  Public urination, fighting, or causing a scene will get you an unwanted pass to a Mexican jail.  Regardless of the ongoing changes in Mexico’s drug laws, the beat cops are still in charge of law in Mexico.  Offers of drugs on Fifth Avenue should be rebuffed or ignored for safety’s sake. 

Most of the bars on Fifth Avenue are after-dinner places and close early.  By 11 pm or midnight at the latest, Fifth Avenue is pretty deserted.

The dance clubs and beach bars mentioned above generally don’t start getting crowded until 11 pm or midnight (about the time Fifth Avenue closes down) and will often stay open until dawn. 

The drinking age in Playa is 18.

This is not meant to be a comprehensive list.  Bars, clubs and restaurants come and go in a resort area like Playa del Carmen.  As you stroll Fifth Avenue you’ll receive flyers,  brochures and free newspapers advertising the latest additions to the nightlife scene.  After a long day working or sightseeing, you will enjoy sitting in one of the many Fifth Avenue cafes or restaurants having a quiet drink or cup of coffee and watching the world stroll by.  Give it a try.  Whatever your preference for nightlife entertainment, have a good time.