Cali Nightlife

In Cali, you can find information about party, events, live music, ... in this website: www.comoespahoy.com.co
Bars and clubs publish directly there, day by day, so you won't miss anything when visiting.

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One evening Clara and Manku picked me up in Café Tostaky to join them to a reggae bar where their friend was supposed to play. But when we got there we found there were no live music that evening. What a pity! The place was quite nice so we decided to have a drink anyway, before moving to another place. The idea was to find a good salsa club, one that was not as far as the famous salsa district Juanchito.

Clara suggested Zaperoco, one of the best salsa dancing clubs with salsa, son cubano and pachanga music. I liked the ambience of the place, decorated with fine details, like old photographs, paintings and posters of old salsa legends. DJ successfully created the atmosphere. The place got quite crowded (but not too crowded). Caleños come here to dance, have fun and enjoy la rumba (a Spanish word that means 'party') of northern Cali. On Thursdays there is live music.

Zaperoco is open Thurs-Sat 8pm-3am.

Cali is noted for its nightlife and salsa is king. Clubs abound and if so inclined you'll find NYC is not the only city that never sleeps. This does not fit our normal sleeping patterns and while intriguing, it never really crossed our minds to check it out despite Vinz from our hostel imploring us that it should be if we wanted to see the real Cali. This was fine for us and thankfully Cali not only has a steamy nightlife but a varied one. Well, what many would probably consider pre-nightlife. We enjoyed having a beer at Cafe Tostaky and also hanging out at Parque del Acueducto right in the heart of San Antonia where we were staying. Locals come to enjoy the cooler temperatures of the evening. Vendors sell local snacks like papas, empanadas, and papas rellenos generally for around 1000 COP (50 cents) so well worth trying. You can grab a beer like Club Colombian for 19000 (a little less than a buck) from park side stores and bring them to the park to consume, bringing the bottles back from your deposit when you are done. I'm sure many would venture out after this prelude but for us, it was a nice way to end our night and make the short walk back to our hostel, safe and sound for the night.

Dress Code: In warm Cali, you'll rarely need more than a light jacket and if you go to bed early enough, you won't even need that!

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Bustling Avenida Sexta is Cali's party street with numerous bars, restaurants and salsa clubs, this is where to head for a night. Whatever your taste is, just take a stroll along Avenida Sexta and look for the music that puts you in the mood - Latin dance, hip-hop or disco, and there's a string of salsa clubs for which Cali is very famous. Caleños love to go out, and partying here means dancing - so put on your dancing shoes!

Together with lovely Colombian-German couple, Andres and Natalie, we decided to check out some of the salsa clubs and then chose one that we liked best. Estadero Momentos is not particularly large compared to some other salsa clubs in the area. It has a set-up consisted of small and big circle couches with small tables to hold drinks, and a dance floor.

We spent our time dancing and admiring the excellent Colombian dancers, while sipping some of the best Colombian rum, Ron Viejo de Caldas (a 350 ml bottle was 35.000 COP). It was served with slices of lemon and ice, and a bowl of popcorn. As soon as we run out of anything, the waiter brought a new portion for free. Needless to say, we had a very good fun!

A wonderful and fun place. I am glad I came. At 11 starts a really good band.

There are many, many beautiful women who come here.

To get a table you have to order a bottle of liquor, and for a seat at a bar you have to purchase half a bottle. So it is best to come in a group.

There is no dancefloor, and everyone is dancing on and between tables.

Dress Code: Colombians generally dress very nice, but don't wear a suit. Just dress nice.