Nightlife

San Juan nightlife comes in all varieties. From the vibrant performing-arts scene to street-level salsa and the casinos, discos, and bars, there's plenty of entertainment available almost any evening.

As in a Spanish city, nightlife begins very late, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. Hang out until the late, late afternoon on the beach, have dinner around 8pm (9 would be even more fashionable), and then the night is yours. The true party animal will rock until the broad daylight. Many bars and nightclubs are open until 2am during the week, and 4 am on weekends. Many clubs and some bars are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

¡Qué Pasa!, the official visitor's guide to Puerto Rico, lists cultural events, including music, dance, theater, film, and art exhibits. It's distributed free by the tourist office. The English-language newspaper San Juan Star publishes a weekend guide to entertainment every Thursday that gives a pretty complete guide to entertainment throughout the whole week. Spanish newspapers El Vocero, El Nuevo Día, and Primera Hora also have concert and cultural listings published on Fridays.

Romantic Sunsets -- There is no better place on a Sunday night from 5:30 to 7pm to watch the sun set over Old San Juan than at Paseo de la Princesa. In this evocative colonial setting, you can hear local trios serenade you as the sun goes down. After such a romantic interlude, the night is yours. Of course, you should take along a lover.

Barhopping

More than any other place in the Caribbean, San Juan has a nightlife that successfully combines New York hip with Latino zest and the music of the Spanish Tropics.

A good place to start your night is the bright and enchanting El Picoteo in the El Convento Hotel, Calle del Cristo 100 (tel. 787/723-9020). Get warmed up with some tapas and a fine sangria as you sit at one of the tables on a terrace overlooking Cristo Street and the hotel's interior courtyard. It's a good hangout for late-night dialogues. At the bar inside, you can often hear live jazz. Older locals mingle with hotel guests, the patronage mainly in the post-35 age group.

Afterwards, head for a pair of holes in the wall across the street from the El Convento Hotel. El Batey, Calle del Cristo 101 (no phone), and Don Pablo, Calle del Cristo 103 (no phone), are battered, side-by-side hangouts with a clientele of locals, expatriates, and occasional visitors. (In the 1980s, a Hollywood director selected these spots as the set for a Central American drug den, much to the amusement of the regular clientele.) Whereas El Batey's music remains firmly grounded in the rock-'n'-roll classics of the 1970s, with a scattering of Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra hits, Don Pablo prides itself on cutting-edge music that's continually analyzed by the counterculture aficionados who hang out here. El Batey is open daily from 2pm to 6am; Don Pablo, daily from 8pm to 4am.

You'll next want to head up the hill to San Sebastián Street, a place where Puerto Ricans have been partying for years. There is a line of restaurants and bars, running from Calle Cristo along this street down to Calle Cruz. On weekend evenings, the area is packed with fashionable crowds out for fun. Nono's (San Sebastion 100 at the corner of Cristo; tel. 787/579-5851), is a great spot to watch the action out on Plaza San José. El Patio de Sam has been a favorite watering hole for locals and tourists since the 1950s. Candela (100 Calle San Sebastián; tel. 787/977-4305) is a late night avant-garde club that plays eclectic lounge music until the earlier morning hours. There are often festivals of experimental music and art held here. Any of the bars along this strip is worth a look; many have pool tables and jukeboxes with great selections of classic salsa. A must-stop, however, is Rumba (tel. 787/977-4305; San Sebastián 152), where you will find live salsa and other tropical music. Your final stop will likely be Aqui Se Puede (corner of San Justo, 50 Calle San Justo; tel. 787/579-5851), which has great music, either live or on the jukebox, plus frequent special events like performances and art shows.

If you need sustenance after all that drinking, head to Tantra, Calle Fortaleza 356 (tel. 787/977-8141), which has the best late-night menu in town, as well as a creative martini menu, including versions with mango, passion fruit, and a personal favorite, a version with cinnamon and clove. Live belly dancers amuse the crowd on Friday and Saturday nights, and any night of the week you can rent, for $20, a Mogul-style hookah pipe for every member of your dining table if the idea of playing pasha for a night appeals to you.

The Bar Scene -- Unless otherwise stated, there is no cover charge at the bars in the listings.

Hot Nights in Gay San Juan -- Straight folks are generally welcome in each of these gay venues, and many local couples show up for the hot music and dancing. Local straight boys who show up to cause trouble are generally ushered out quickly. Unless otherwise stated, there is no cover.

La Rumba Party Cruise -- The trouble with most nightlife venues in San Juan is that the real parties in conventional nightclubs begin at hours so impossibly late that the average visitor will tend to be deep asleep by the time the first dancers begin to rock 'n' roll. So if you love to salsa and merengue, but if you maintain relatively conservative ideas about your bedtime, consider the La Rumba Party Cruise as a viable option. It all takes place aboard a neon-lit two-level minicruiser that's moored most of the time to a point near Old San Juan's cruise pier no. 1 (Plaza Darsenas). Schedules vary according to business, but cruises tend to last 120 minutes each, and depart every Friday and Saturday at 10:30pm, 12:30am, and 2:30am; and every Sunday at 7:30, 9:30, and 11:30pm. And if you show up about an hour prior to a scheduled departure, you can fit in up to an extra hour's worth of shaking your booty to Latino music as the boat sits in port, music blaring, waiting for other clients. Cruises cost $15 per person (tax included), with children's rates $7.50 and seniors $11. There's a cash bar on board selling beer for between $4 and $6 each, depending on the brand. There's a sightseeing benefit to the experience as well: En route, as it chugs out to sea, participants garner sea-fronting views of both of San Juan's 18th-century forts and the coastline of Isla Verde. For reservations and more information, call tel. 787/375-5211.

Casinos

Many visitors come to Puerto Rico on package deals and stay at one of the posh hotels at the Condado or Isla Verde just to gamble.

Nearly all the large hotels in San Juan/Condado/Isla Verde offer casinos, and there are other large casinos at some of the bigger resorts outside the metropolitan area. The atmosphere in the casinos is casual, but still you shouldn't show up in bathing suits or shorts. Most of the casinos open around noon and close at 2, 3, or 4am. Guest patrons must be at least 18 years old to enter.

The casino generating all the excitement today is the 18,500-square-foot (1,719-sq.-m) Ritz-Carlton Casino, Avenue of Governors, Isla Verde (tel. 787/253-1700), the largest casino in Puerto Rico. It combines the elegant decor of the 1940s with tropical fabrics and patterns. This is one of the plushest and most exclusive entertainment complexes in the Caribbean. You almost expect to see Joan Crawford -- beautifully frocked, of course -- arrive on the arm of Clark Gable. It features traditional games such as blackjack, roulette, baccarat, craps, and slot machines.

One of the splashiest of San Juan's casinos is at the Old San Juan Hotel & Casino, Calle Brumbaugh 100 (tel. 787/721-5100), where five-card stud competes with some 240 slot machines and roulette tables. You can also try your luck at the El San Juan Hotel & Casino (one of the most grand), Av. Isla Verde 6063 (tel. 787/791-1000), or the Condado Plaza Hotel & Casino, Av. Ashford 999 (tel. 787/721-1000). You do not have to flash passports or pay any admission fees.

Cockfights

A brutal sport not to everyone's taste, cockfights are legal in Puerto Rico. The most authentic are in Salinas, a town on the southern coast with a southwestern ethos, which has galleras, or rings, for cockfighting. But you don't have to go all the way there to see a match. About three fights per week take place at the Coliseo Gallistico, Av. Isla Verde 6600, Av. Isla Verde, esquina Los Gobernadores. Call tel. 787/791-6005 for the schedule and to order tickets, which cost $10, $12, $20, or $35, depending on the seat. The best time to attend cockfights is from January to May, as more fights are scheduled at that time. Hours are Tuesday or Thursday 4 to 10pm and Saturday 2 to 9pm.