Cabarete Nightlife

To my surprise the beach bars in Cabarete are like South Beach, trendy and overpriced(for the area), they have big bamboo beds and pillows on the beach to lounge around and drink on, more white people than Nebraska.

I choose to go across the street to the pool hall and play fooseball and drink rum and cervezas with the locals, drinks over 1/2 the price, the Dominicans looooove to dance, good times.

Dress Code: I'm sure you needed pants on

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After walking around and looking at the various beach bars, we decided to sit down and start the party at this place. It had the biggest crowd and the best music.

We were a group of 8 and we sat on some sofas and chairs made of wood with a design I would call "rustic" and "timber like" and I sat on one of those big sacks hehe. The menu had a good selection of beer, spirits and cocktails and at good prices too.

In this place I talked to some people from Europe that were there on vacation while one of the members of my group decided to a dance show on the sand lol.

Dress Code: Come as you are.

After returning from a trip to Cabarete with some friends from feb 7-12 2008, we discovered that the nightlife was dead. Apparently it was too much of a good thing and the local law enforcement has required the local bars/restaurants to close early and keep the noise and partying to a minimum. As we walked the cabarete beach at night all we saw were families ending their dinners, stray dogs and locals trying to sell us fake cigars. Most locals recommended we go into puerto plata at night. The party is over for now so stay away.

After returning from a trip to Cabarete with some friends from feb 7-12 2008, we discovered that the nightlife was dead. Apparently it was too much of a good thing and the local law enforcement has required the local bars/restaurants to close early and keep the noise and partying to a minimum. As we walked the cabarete beach at night all we saw were families ending their dinners, stray dogs and locals trying to sell us fake cigars. Most locals recommended we go into puerto plata at night. The party is over for now so stay away.

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If you're looking to go out while in cabarete just head to where the restaurants are. Since they all overlook the beach the party is right on the sand. Onno and Bambu are the places to go. There is no cover, and each restaurant's close proximity to one another makes it easy to walk from one place to the next.

Since we were there during the kitebeach competion were were lucky and happened to see a live concert (free). Moreno Negron is a popular meregue band...They were OFF THE HOOK. I liked the concert so much I bought their CD from some kids on the street.

Dress Code: No dress code....

all four of these places were resturants by day and nightclubs by evening. we had no trouble getting food as late as nine and ten in the evening. i think i noticed other people eating later.

the scene was the same all over and not just at night. meat-market and cliquish. roves of travelers and locals, sticking amongst themselves. i did meet a friendly people though, mostly locals and pseudo locals (europeans staying for months and years).

also, the crowd was very young. twenties to thirties. very few middle ages people were out. though i imagine i won't be frequenting night clubs much longer either. if there was something else to do in cabarete in the evenings, i don't know what it was. sleep? or maybe the casino down the way.

ideally, plan get up early, grab breakfast, do water sports, eat a late lunch, beach or shop, have dinner, listen to a little music, go to bed, and do it all over again. while i went out every night, maybe it's just my age. maybe i'm a club snob, as i'm from chicago. however, the night life was much better here than in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico or Negril, Jamaica, by comparision. i wasn't disappointed at all.

most places closed at 2, but were open later the easter weekend. nightlife easter weekend did not start until midnight.

Dress Code: dress was more put together than during the days, but still, no flash. open, airy, cool is what i'd aim for.

no polo shirt and kackis. no jean shorts. nothing that only american's wear. think european. you care what you look like. you don't have to be dressy. just not dumpy.

many people wore jeans or capris out at night. skirt and a top. be casual. many guys wore t-shirts, slim cut, surfer style. locals were a little more dressed than the tourists. their style is interesting here and i wondered where they could shop to buy these "normal" clothes.

still thongs/flip-flops/sandles. what ever you don't mind walking in while they're full of sand. locals would even where gyms shoes with socks. i don't know about that though.

also, as i noticed in europe, very few chubby people around.

though this is not a dance club, this place was the most likely to have DJ's accompanied by live drums and guitars. more creative, funky, ecletic music, which i like very much. the DJ's used turn tables. it inside was all wood, wooden furniture, bamoo ceiling. the ceiling had a line of those large Grape Leaves? (the giant leaves that look like what you'd wave at someone as someone else fed them grapes), that waved back and forth like fans along the length of the bar. the staff wore t-shirts with LAX on them. t-shirts were for sale. i'm guessing american owned. 90 pesos for a presidente. plenty of covered and outdoor seating. everything changed for the easter weekend. they set up a bar on the beach end of their outdoor seating and i saw someone juggling fire. also, they set up metal trelacces ? overhead, so the DJ Was above the crowd through a glass floor. pretty cool. this is where the crowd started. i remember the throbbing mob of singing out loud, dancing dominicans. at point there was a dance circle/battle (like i remember having on the play ground as little kids). sure enough i got out there with some guy and danced my ass off as the crowd cheered. good times. good times. LAX closed earlier than the other places down the way. maybe midnight. my local friend, who tried to teach me to dance later at a different place, told me the pizza was good here.

this place had a DJ and a dance floor. a bar with stools and plentiful out door seating. i think it might have been a restaurant by day like everywhere else, but i never ate here. this place played more current club music, along with some older whatever else the DJ felt like throwing in. no mixing though, just a DJ playing the tracks. 70 to 90 pesos for a presidente (depending on the night? who's working? i'm not sure.) there were two bars. i liked this place the best for late night dancing.