I will be in San Jose at the end of the month and my friend and I want to go to some discos. On our last trip we went to Friends and Planet Mall. Any other suggestions?

Go to Infinito and Coco Loco in El Pueblo.
You`ll love it!!

Can you give us detailed info on Planet Mall, Infinito and Coco Loco such as type of crowd, average age of crowd, local or tourist crowd, pro or non pro babes, etc....
Going this monday so any info would be helpful to get off the usual path.

Thanks.

I have been to each of those places and can contribute my $0.02 worth. My favorite of those places is Infinito in El Pueblo. It is a discotheque with three rooms, each playing a variety of music. You'll hear everything from hip-hop to salsa to cumbia to reggae there. I've seen working girls in there, but a customer that they acquire elsewhere has usually brought them there. In fact, one of the strangest things I've ever seen was these two well-aged gringos trying to dance with two very voluptuous and dark-skinned Dominican girls from the Blue Marlin. Those ladies were emphatically dancing around and enjoying the music while the two gringos were practically standing still on the floor, looking confused and overwhelmed. I'd say the crowd there is probably 75% local and 25% tourist, and most of the people there are in their 20's. Infinito is great on Sunday nights and decent on Monday - Wednesday, when most other places frequented by locals are either very slow or closed. I find that by being courteous and polite, it is very easy to make friends with local women there and acquire (at the least) dance partners for the evening. I suppose it also helps to speak decent Spanish and enjoy dancing, which I do.

The one time I went to Coco Loco was fun, but I think it was generally a younger crowd. I met and danced with a very beautiful girl there, but she was only 16 and I really had no intentions of doing something stupid with a girl that age. I am in my mid 20's and felt a bit too old to be there, so I never returned.

Planet Mall has a club that is very, very large and, even though there were a decent amount of people there each of the three times I went, it still felt empty to me because of the size of the place. I found it also to be a bit more pretentious and unfriendly than the places in El Pueblo. Actually, the only time I ever went there and struck up a nice conversation with a local girl was the one time that I went there with a "date." I went to the bar to get a couple of drinks and started talking to a girl that I'd seen dancing, but that only lasted for 2 minutes as I had to return to my friend that I'd brought with me. Oh well. Anyway, the crowd there was probably also about 75-80% local, and also mostly in their 20's.

Just like clubs in the US or probably anywhere else in the world, the experience you'll have is dependent on many factors including how you look, how you dance, how you treat people, how charming you are, etc. Costa Rica is a nation with a stable political climate and decent quality of life, so it's not like one can go to meet girls around bars who are gringo-hunting and would just die for the chance to hook up with an obnoxious person for the chance to get out of their country. My experience in talking to non-working Ticas tells me that they are very friendly and very grounded people who will be nice to other guys in general. I also know that a lot of gringos get used to the idea that no matter how they look or what their breath smells like, girls in other countries will fall all over them. I've been to Nicaragua and Colombia and can say that this tends to be truer in those countries, but not Costa Rica. So although this is more than what was asked for, my advice to anyone thinking of trying to mix it up with local girls is to be nice, present yourself well and get off of the high-and-mighty gringo pulpit. Have a great time and good luck!

La Muerte

Brotha, no high and mighty gringo pulpit here. I am a regular guy, hate obnoxious dudes that treat women badly, and I do speak Spanish very well. Thanks for the info, I will be in San Jose tomorrow, planning to go to infinito sometime in the week just to get off the trail.

I was at Infinito over a year ago and partied my ass off. I speak some Spanish which helped, but let me tell you, the crowd is ULTRA friendly. My Tica friend (a working girl who I hit it off with and just went out together without paying her fee - although I covered all her expenses that night) ran into a bunch of people she knew and introduced me around. I have no idea how much we drank or how long we danced but it was a FANTASTIC experience. So yes, be friendly, present yourself as you would in any club in the States and you're guaranteed to have a great time at Infinito. Also, be willing to try and salsa - the girls will be more than happy to try and teach you.

I went to Infinito from 1 am to 4 am and it was a Thursday night. The place was hoppin and I was just crowd watching with my beer. All of a sudden I am rushed by chicas and the next thing I know I am doing the dirty booty dance on the dance floor. I noticed that some chicas were tourists, some were locals, and some were working girls. I also talked to some dudes there and the chicas there wanted 50 bucks to go back to the hotel, which tells me they are there to party and I guess it is a different situation than the Blue Marlin where I feel lots of girls are pressured to start off at 100, I guess. The chicas were so so but for dancing and then an after party, it sounds like a good deal. The entrance to infinito was 600 colones, which entitles you to a beer. This is cheap since some bars in San Jose charge 700 for a beer, so actually the cover was free.
Thanks to all the people that contributed in this thread I decided to go and had a GREAT time and partyed my ass off and got off the gringo trail.
I strongly recommend Infinito if ya wanna dance and if you know some Spanish this will ensure an even better time. I went to sleep at 5 am and the sun was coming up, woke up at 3 pm!! My sense of time is all screwed up, but who cares
Later peeps.

Glad to hear you are having a good time down there. If you run into Gitano tell him Rodetrip is going to Nuevo Laredo/Boystown this weekend for some fun. 3 months is a long time away from NL for me.

rodetrip

I have noticed some Blue Marlin girls go to Infinito at around 1 AM. This is especially true if they dont pick up at the bar. I am pretty sure you can pick them up after dancing and maybe the price will be better who knows, but the problem is that you have regular local tica girls there and you really dont know who is a working girl and who is a normal girl, but hey, that is a good thing since I prefer working chicas to look like regular girls.
On weekends, the cover is 800 and does not entitle you to a drink.

If you are into dancing and having a good time and then a little after party then check out this strategy:

Hang out at the Blue Marlin. Ask a chica if she would like to go dancing. This strategy will weed out the clock watching agressive girls and will help you discover more of a girlfriend type.

I asked a chica and she said no, another said maybe later, and finally one said yes right off the bat! Later on in a complete trip report I will give you all the great details. One chica that turned me down ended up at Infinito by herself and she didnt pick up at the Blue Marlin. Maybe she didnt know that I was interested in an after party, but hey, that is better since the girl that said yes just wanted to have a good time and then whatever I wanted later was up to me...no pressure....this strategy will help ensure a better time. And sign up for Spanish 101!
I definately ended up going with the chica that said YES immediately. Guess what, after dancing she hung out at my hotel room for 2 hours after I did it with her...my strategy worked, no rush, and less business like. She didnt even ask for the money upfront, I gave it to her at the end of the 2 hour conversation.

I will post a complete report later. Hasta luego amigos!
:P

Once again I am back. I have been away for 2 months because as a beginner in this hobby, I become easily involved emotionally, and didnt want to talk about any experiences for 2 months since this chica messed me up a little..but thats old news.....
Just got into San Jose and Tuesday night, Infinito was rockin. It´s like Saturday night every night in Costa Rica. People love to party here. If you are into clubbin, once again I suggest to you to hop into a taxi and tell him "pueblo por favor" and then go into infinito.

Note: The party starts late down here, like midnight to 4 am. If you walk in at 10 pm it will be dead, just get an imperial beer, wait till the dance floor gets packed and dance your ass off.