Where to go dancing salsa in San Juan? I realized it is not so easy for a tourist with salsa dancing passion to find the right place during a vacation in Puerto Rico. The reason is locals live their passion for dancing in a very different way compared with us, Caribbean people dance naturally, this activity is part of their life since they have born, most times they do not plan to go out to dance, they just start dancing during a night hanging out, often in bars or in the street till in the beach. I will tell you where you may really dance salsa in Puerto Rico.
For this reason it is necessary to be an “habitué”, a local, to know where to go. During my last vacation in Puerto Rico, I decided to make a kind of dancing tour: had my best time ever!
In San Juan, there are a couple of Bars that are well known and offer Live music almost every night: Rumba and Nuyorican Cafè. Once in Puerto Rico, look for the phone number and ask the style of music they are playing per night, some times they feature rock bands or life performance, interesting and professional but not apt to dance.
In Santurce, there is La Placita del Mercado, on Thursday night and early Sunday afternoon, most bars offer live music or DJ on night, salsa and bohemia (the classic local music) are displayed on Sunday, everybody dance outside in the street….you may be lucky to have the opportunity to see the mimicking of La Lupe, a famous latin singer from the Sixties. I celebrated my last birthday at the Placita and enjoyed the performance so much….you may not imagine it!!!
Last but not least, a wonderful place to dance salsa and enjoy the luxury atmosphere of great classic hotels, located in Isla Verde is the Hall of the San Juan Hotel and Resort. The ambience reminds old times at Tropicana (the famous place in La Havana where modern salsa dancing started), lots of lights, casino machines beeping, bars, singers and dancers, a unique experience. Life music is on stage mostly on weekends, Friday and Saturday night.
For the most adventorous and curious, I would suggest the area of Piñones, full of kioskos and bar on the sea. There, people from Dominican Republic get together on week ends to dance Bachata, their own style of bachata dancing. The atmosphere is informal but the quality of dancing is high, these people are professionals and have a real passion for dancing; a romantic bachata in front of a wonderful beach cooled by a nice breeze, stars and the moon… believe me, it is an uncommon setting for an unforgettable dance!
Check our featured itinerary Sunny Puerto Rico for more ideas. Link follows