La Cueva (The Cave) is a gem. It’s situated on the second floor with a gay flag, a Canadian flag, an American flag, and a bear flag. It always looks like a great time. Each time I eat across the street I think, next time I’m heading up for a few drinks.
On New Year’s eve, I ventured inside the cave. After eating a nice dinner across the street and wondering what it was like up there, my partner and I, walked across the street and entered La Cueva.
It’s pretty much a gay dive bar but its absolutely glorious.
La Cueva, located on Olas Altas road, one of the neighborhood’s main drag, doubles as a restaurant. However, since Olas Altas is shut for street parties on New Year’s Eve, every place was expecting a giant stampede of people. Today, La Cueva cleared most of its tables to make room for the midnight crowd.
We arrive on the scene after dinner, early enough to grab several drinks, take in the scene and head out to count the New Year from wherever we please.
La Cueva
Update: La Cueva recently changed locations and it no longer looks like the pictures I have on here. Their new address is: Francisca Rodríguez 165, Zona Romántica, Emiliano Zapata, 48380 Puerto Vallarta, Jal., Mexico
Considering, La Cueva is on the second floor, the entrance is a small doorway with a set of stairs going up. The walls have a giant mural and there are rocks on the floor.
At this point, I had no idea it was called “The Cave,” so the rocks were a bit odd to me.
They have a great patio, which spans the entire length of the bar. We quickly grab a couple of seats on the patio and I head to the bar to grab two Cuba Libre’s or as they call them in English, Rum and Coke’s.
The place is nearly empty. There are a few people seated next to us and a couple of stragglers at the bar itself. However, the music was thumping.
As we sip our drink I take a look around. The place is a typical cantina. The decor is minimal.
It’s very rustic but the drinks are good. The bartenders are very attentive as they continually come over to ask us if we need more beverages. We order more drinks and decide this place is chill enough to hang until we decide our next move.
Since the place is pretty empty I can’t really tell you anything about the clientele. However, I can tell you that the people watching from the balcony is spectacular.
You can see all walks of life. At one point we saw a single lady on the street drinking by herself dancing away the night away. We looked and thought “You go, girl. You don’t need no man to have a good time.”
I thought it was great fun and to be honest, I was glad she was having a good time as well. We all deserve it.
To top it off, the drinks are very inexpensive.
I looked up some information but they don’t seem to have a website. It looks like they’re only open on weekends starting Thursday to Mondays with their busiest day on Saturdays. Next time I’m in Puerto Vallarta I’ll have to come on their busy night and update this article for a better, well-rounded report on what this bar is like when it’s hopping.
As it got closer to midnight, closer to another year we decided to head back to our hotel. We walked by the street parties. We saw the large crowds heading out. For us, well we had something a little more simple planned on this New Year celebration.
Let Me Break It Down For You
- Opened from Thursday to Monday.
- Drinks are cheap.
- Busiest on Saturday nights after midnight.
- They open from 3PM to 2AM
- It was very chill when I was there. Not so many people but it was early. It was around 10 or 11ish.
- It doesn’t seem like a club-type of place.
Do I recommend it? I like chill. I can sit and talk forever. This is a place to come and have a few drinks and just soak up your surroundings. If you’re looking for chill, come here and have a couple Cuba Libre’s.