Really expensive cover, but it was free during the day and they did have the Cataracts at night which was included in the cover so that was pretty kewl. I'd definitely go for the experience if you've never been. The club is HUGE and was really fun to explore. It has a pool that's open during the day and accessible from the beach. I went down for spring break with 2 of my friends and we had a pretty good time here.
Review Source:If I could recklessly transfer a curable yet pesky STD to an establishment, it would be La Vela. This place made me want to noose myself.
It's divided into about eight clubs or something - it's hard to tell - all packed to the gills with people I want nothing to do with.
Never again.
Though there is a pool inside the club. An extra star for that.
Ah La Vela...many memories had here.
This place probably has the most amazing bass setup I have ever experienced..literally an entire wall of bass which I would sometimes dance near/post up against...my hearing was never the same after 2011.
Drinks are alright, since I am from Cali I cannot say they are overpriced but sometimes you could get some good deals if you bought your drinks before 10PM. I mainly went here during the summertime and never got a chance to go during Spring Break season so I cannot speak for that.
The only reason I rate it 3 stars is because there are a lot of trashy people that go here and ain't nobody wanna look at that. Also the admission price is rediculous during the summertime...really? 20-25+ dollars?
My friend would always keep dragging me here on a Friday or Saturday night but it was a fun place for the most part to get out and dance and socialize. Plus the Go-Go Dancer that danced on weekends, Benilda, was beautiful and had the most amazing booty to look at...oh sweet jesus lawd! Her moves would seriously entrance me...Benilda if you read this...holla atacha boy!!!!
People working in the club are extremely rude, but that's to be expected, especially during Spring Break. Basically they let people who are way too drunk to be there inside the club, take their money, only to kick them out a few minutes later. Literally everyone I met on spring break told me they "got banned" from La Vela for some reason or the other. My group "got banned" because my friend was throwing up in the bathroom. Understandable.
But beyond all that, what I could not get over was how barbarically rude they were. Tempers flared when they started being rude to us, even though we already agreed to leave the club. I was a 20 year old college student when I went and one of the club managers or bouncers (not sure what he was) tried to physically attack me WHEN I WAS LEAVING, almost out the door, because I was holding a water bottle that I paid for in the club (which they told me I could take with me). ??? One of my friend's actually had to push him back. Little did he know I would have pepper sprayed his a$$ with the quickness haha. j/k But who does that?! And then a group of about 3 or 4 of them, at least one was a younger girl, followed us in the parking lot and told us we couldn't sit on the nearby benches to wait for a cab. Mind you, we're quite far from the club at this point and it's kind of in the middle of nowhere so there weren't many options, especially since one of our friend's wasn't feeling well. Some expletives may have been exchanged but honestly they were just terrible people on a pathetic power trip.
Moral of the story: experience was absolutely horrible to say the least and I'd never in my life go back. (If you go during Spring Break, I guess don't be surprised if you "get banned") It's kind of a scam.
Holy awesome. Definitely one of the best club nights I have ever experienced.
While visiting Panama City Beach, I was eager to experience some of the nightlife. Club La Vela was my first and only stop. First off, this place is the size of a super walmart. The lines were insane but girls were free so my sister and I suffered through the wait and got hammered in the parking lot like champs.
Immediately upon walking in there's a huge swimming pool, score. We had just missed the foam party but the set up was amazing. It's broken into like 8 or 9 separate clubs... each with their own vibe, bars and dance floor.
My favorite was the rockerish club. It was set up almost like a SoCal dive bar and they had a live cover band. Drinks were cheap and it was packed. As soon as I was tired of having my face melted off by the guitar solos and jagermeister/margaritas chasers - we moved on to a different 'club.' All in the same building. Seriously an awesome concept!!! No need for an actual bar crawl just stagger your drunk ass to the next room. They have top 40 dance club with killer lighting and multi level bars in almost every dance section. The bartenders were on point. Heavy pours and super friendly. After blowing away the crowd with my signature sprinkler dance (don't judge) I moved to the "gangster club," they were not so blown away by my incomparable dance moves and rhythm - so I stuck to the top 40 dance section and rock.bar. back and forth until 3am.
Best part of the night... Our cabbie smoked my sister and friends out as he drove us to our hotel. (Not an admission of guilt). Best cabbie ever.
Only downside to the whole night was what appeared to be little 16 and 17 year olds running around in bikinis and acting wasted off parking lot beer.
Wonderful time! Got there at 10. Things started picking up at 10.30 on Sunday night! There were 2 rooms open! It was sooo much fun! I am 18 but we were dancing right along with 30 year olds and men with grey hair! There were all ages there! Good music and a place to sit down and relax if you get tired!
Review Source:I have been here more than a few times... when I was 17-18 years old for Spring Break, back at 25, and now that I am 30. Nothing much has changed. At 25, I went during Spring Break, and felt I was "too old for this shit"... Drunk kids puking everywhere, screaming and yelling, 30-minute drive to get 1 mile down the road. Â Estimate dates for high school and college Spring Break, and DO NOT GO THEN. Â La Vela is always packed on the weekends, except for during the off-season, which they only have the "rock band" room and dance room open, and of course the poolside bar and pizza joint outside.
Now, as far as prices go....
During the summer months, expect at least a $10 cover, if they don't have a national act playing, in which case it will be much more. Since we've been here in October, they've had $5 cover on Saturday, and ladies free and guys $10 on Friday. Since we've been here, they have had cover bands in the rock room doing 90s-current rock songs. Â Both bands I saw were good.
The restrooms by the pool are disgusting... Â don't do it, ladies!! Â None of the stalls close and there is water all over the floor.
The drinks...
If you drink greyhounds or salty dogs, forget about it.  They don't have grapefruit juice.  If you order a shot, you are getting exactly 1 oz... not a drop more.  They use the medicine cups, which end up being a little less than half full.  It looks pitiful, but I couldn't complain, because 1-1 1/2 oz. is the standard pour.  BUT, I have been used to Ms. Newby's and the tiki bar at The Summit's shot pours which were like 2-3 times that for the same price.  They have a happy hour from 9-11pm in which well drinks are $2, after that, they are $4.50.  I asked how much the Jager bombs were, and the server told me $10, but "you get the rest of the can of Red Bull", I guess trying to imply that was a good deal.  Uhhh, no.  They have a cup that you can buy in the gift shop that you can buy for $15 in which you can get draft beer all night in for free until 1 am... but, you would have to drink at least 6 before you're actually getting a free one.  IF YOU WANT TO START A TAB THEY HAVE TO PRE-AUTH YOUR CARD FOR $100.  SO BRING CASH!!  Otherwise, they will have to run  your card every time.
Overall, it's a fun place to go for dancing, but have your drinks before you go.
This place IS the reason I worked out a lot in college.
This place IS the reason college kids drive over a thousand miles from the freezing northeast down to Florida.
This place IS the reason college chicks throw up after each meal.
This place IS the blueprint for the Vegas pool "lounges".
This place IS the reason they created those off-the-shelf pregnancy self-tests.
Pure hedonistic activities...that would make Caligula proud.
If you've never been to a foam party, then you haven't lived.
The mixed drinks are expensive and watered-down but the name of the game is QUANTITY.
When you think about one of the best nights you've ever had in your life...kickin it at Club La Vela during spring break will definitely make the cut.
Don't hate the player, hate the game-changer.
I was recently at this place in September 2011 and it was a bomb! Not the bomb! lol Opposed to what everyone else has said about it. There was only 3 clubs open out of the 5 or 6. Its sort of a mega club with diff. rooms labeled clubs that play diff. genres of music... Many youthful hiphoppers bouncin around. Was a bit dry, lacked spice, a lil lame, and corny.. Gosh when i am mean i hold no strings. And that why i yelp! lol I come from the fort lauderdale/miami area and we know how to party, SORRY Club La Vela does not make the cut. I would go back to give it a 2nd chance but It gets 2 stars for now.. The security was very nice, even more than the bartenders, you know how bartenders can at times be stuck up like ur bothering them for a drink. The clubbers seemed to be wearing beachwear sandals and hollister shell bead chokers, so the dress is beyond casual.. The club wasnt packed first of all, I saw a lot of whiteboys getting she-ca-ca-faced, like they just got out of highschool. call it how i see it.  I left at 130. I really wanna give this club the benfit of the doubt but its would be against my true desire. lol big pool. maybe we should have waited till someone drunk jumped in..  Anyhow.. Cool lighting in the place will give it that.. And, the club had its own  pizzeria called 3 brothers in there with some great looking pizza! cash only and prices were 3 4 and 5.. cheese/pep/ pep and sauasage
Review Source:Well, we did it. Finally, We finally went to La Vela....For some reason, we (my wife) just didn't fit in. Why? I don't know.
Me and my wife came home from a 3 liter night a the Hofbrau and decided that would recapture our youth....So,,,I put on my leisure suit, platform shoes, gold chain and slapped on some Jade East after shave. My wife put on her mini skirt, white go-go boots, teased her ear hair up real high, put on her baby blue eye shadow and was fit to kill.
Now, grant it, my leisure suit was 4,,well, maybe 5 sizes too small and my wife's mini skirt was busting at the seams. But, still we were were looking really "hip", or so I thought.
We went in and ordered a Rob Roy and it kinda went down hill from there. We got out on the "disco floor" and started doing the Monkey, The Funkey Chicken and The Jerk. People looked at us like we were a damn fool. I thought we were cutting a rug out there flapping around and were the stars of the daince floor. The DJ refused to play any Bee Gee's or ABBA, so, we said to hell with it and got a booth and had a PBR, caught our breath, went to the bathroom, then went home and soaked our feet.
Oh Well, so it goes.
I am watching a show on the travel channel right now doing a bit on La Vela...it has been quite a long time since I have been there, back in my spring break days...
I loved this club, as it is indoors, outdoors, and has 10 separate clubs wrapped up into one. Â
Drove 24 hours in a van with 8 girls to roll into Panama City Beach at 11PM. Â Everyone was beat, and wanted to crash. Â JK and I were the only ones that thought, hell's no! Â It's our first night in PCB! Â Let's head to the bar next door! Â Lucky for us, it was La Vela...
....JK and I get in there...INSTANTLY lose each other for what would be the rest of the night. Â The place is huge...come to later find out, it is the largest club in the U.S. Â Don't blink or you will instantly lose your friends! Â In the time I spent doing shots/making new friends/half-ass looking for JK I came across a trance room, a mosh pit, a foam party, a drunk girl floating in a pool, a hip-hop room, a live band...and multiple other rooms I vaguely remember.
I get back to the hotel at 4. Â Where's JK? Â Oh well *pass out*
11 AM...again...Where's JK? Â She then walks in the door...
Me: What the hell happened to you?
JK: You have NO idea. Â I woke up in a bed with a bunny comforter and flower wallpaper. Â I walk out to the kitchen to a 65 year old woman fixing me breakfast, asking me if I'm alright. Â I ask what happened. Â She tells me she felt bad for me because I was crying, drunk, sitting in a puddle. Â Crying, because I lost my shoes. Â I think I drank a bit too much at La Vela last night. Â Good times.
And that was day 1.
So...as I said...it's been quite a while since I have been there...but from what I saw on the travel channel, it hasn't changed much. Â Needed to share the story, since it's too good not to :)
LaVela is what it is. Ive been there so many times (just because it used to be free for ladys on friday night before 12) and yea... i had a good time... sometimes. But i would not go if it wasnt free, not worth my money. Sometimes it would be $20+ to get it. They rave about it being the bigest night club in America, i really dont see how, even with all the rooms open (which is only during spring break and some summer) Its definitely good for spring breakers, but thats about all its good for.
Review Source:This is a great place for spring break. Â In fact, all of Panama City is a great place for spring break and not much else. Â If you are 18-20 you will definitely have a good time. Â This club has so many separate areas: dance rooms, bars, foam parties, barefoot sand, etc. Â I would never go there now, like I said anyone over 21 will surely have much different tastes than what will be found at club la vela, or anywhere in panama city really.
Review Source:I thought these people in PCB were nice and quiet, small town folk. UNTIL Friday May 14th, 2010.
It was ladies' night thanks to a tip from a Carrabba's waitress so my girls and i decided to see if these people up north really knew how to party. Â we got in free but our male friend had to pay $15. (TIP: gentlemen, the price goes up every hour so get there early!) we went straight to the bar and of course i did my usual bar no-no and didn't have cash on me. Â if i had used my card, there would've been a $25 minimum....holy crap! the bartender then said if we used the ATM and kept the receipt, we'd be able to get any drink worth $5.50 at the bar. Â so we went to the machine and now knew why they took the ATM receipts....there was a $7 ATM usage fee! so we went to the bar and got our tequila & cranberries. i also bought a bottomless beer cup for $10 with free refills of draft until 1AM. the only part that sucked about this was the fact that the bars were quickly out of draft beer and instead of doing substitutes, you had to go around the place looking for a bar that still had beer...and this place is ginormous.
we spent most of the time in the pussy kat lounge that played hip hop and trance. it seemed like the main room what with the gogo dancers, strobe lights, and synchronized lighting fixtures. but the club also housed a rock and roll room, country western patio, outdoor pool area, and a hip hop basement.
it was a fun time had by all. i plan on visiting during spring break for the annual "wet t-shirt contest" ....but just to watch....
really!!
Far to club-ish for my tastes, especially since we went with the fresh-21 mindset of "I don't go to clubs anymore, I go to pubs/bars/taverns". Go if you want to dance with the 18+ crowd, which many venturing to PCB are. They attracted Lil' Wayne and some other hip-hop acts for the same reason, not sure if it says a lot, but it says something. Cover is also far too much to ever be worth venturing back.
Review Source:Party with thousands....thousands of douchebags and lames! Â I went to La Vela over the weekend to see Snoop. Â That is the only reason this place even has 3 stars.
Snoop represented. Â However....not enough people showed up to the show, so therefore the club is kinda wack. Â The only room open was the hip hop room and they managed to mess that up! Â I didnt dance one time. Â
LA VELA'S SAVING GRACE ISSSSS....WAIT FOR IT......WAIT FOR IT....
THEIR BARTENDERS!!!!!!!!! Â If it wasnt for them getting you nice and intoxicated, I doubt this club would make any money. Â People say the drinks are expensive but after going to Vegas, these drinks are priced pretty well. Â I really want to take a star off for false advertising. Â But, Snoop saved the rating. Â
LA Vela is one star away from being a waste of the earth's resources. Â LMAO!!
I am a HUGE club-goer...and I really think this place misses the mark. Yeah its massively huge, and has different rooms with different music....but it really all seemed to be sub-par. I would much rather go to a small club with one DJ that is really good then this huge place with a bunch of mediocrity.
I have heard alot good things about this place during the day, but I stuck to the beach parties then.
Minimum Age: 18+
Cost: $20 Thursday, $25 Friday
Crowd: College crowd/Caucasian, slightly mixed
Dress Code: Casual
Date Attended: 3/5/09, Thursday, 3/6/09, Friday
This is the place to be in Panama City Beach, FL. Â Located right in front of the beach, you will find that everybody flocks to this location, from daytime to nightlife. Â They pride themselves in letting you know that they are the largest nightclub in the USA. Â With about 5 different rooms and a pool, this place has it all. Â I went during Spring Break time so I'm sure it's probably different at other times of the year.
Pros: Large club with many different rooms. Â Variety of music, from hip-hop to a live rock band to drums & bass to trance. Â Cheap drinks compared to other big city clubs.
Cons: $20 cover for Thursday, $25 cover for Friday.  They wouldn't let my friend into the trance room because he was wearing a hoodie and they said that there were too many guys inside, keep in mind it was empty in there...  O_o  The hip-hop room gets pretty jammed pack in comparison to the other rooms.  Don't expect to be dancing too much.  The black stamps that they mark you with is typical of the nightlife in the Panama City Beach area, but is terrible all the same, especially if you're 21+.  With all the people flowing through, I understand that it's more cost effective to stamp people than to give them a wrist band.
I am writing a review from a Spring Break thats two years ago. Pardon me if I miss any details. I have to say this was the hot spot during the week or so I spent in PCB for my spring break. I came here the year after MTV did their shoots here, and it was still popping.
I did try other spots like Spinnakers, and couple other random bars around town. For some odd reason I always ended up being here. Free beer hours, wet t-shirt contests, Young Joc concert.. you name it, they got it all here. This includes a club with 5 different dance floors? Not to mention the bouncers don't really sweat anyone that is there for a good time. Only saw a handful of fights after spending 5-6 nights here. That is fairly good! Drink prices are cheap in comparison to most bars around So-cal. Â Since Spring Break is coming up again, I can't help but recommend this place for all your party central needs off the beach in PCB. Did I mention that the back side of this club leads to the beach? La Vela has it all!
This is party central.
When I visited here, they had over 2,000 people in line outside alone!! not to mention all the thousands that were packed inside the pleasure palace... you call it a meat market, i call it opportunity baby!
MTV has done at least one "spring break" party from this location that I know of, possibly more.
The best of the best in PCB are at Club La Vela. well worth it to check it out. Â the DJ's spinning are usually top notch, so you won't be disappointed. Â I never was. Â :)
5 stars.
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