Best Gay Bars & Clubs in Oaxaca

Oaxaca comes alive at night with sexy bars and bartenders everywhere! For our first gay bar, we decided to hit up Blue 69 in Centro. Actually, that’s not true. After our Mezcal tasting on our first full day here, we were feeling good and decided to walk a mile and half outside of Centro to La Costa, the best and only gay male strip club in Oaxaca.

It was a Sunday night and there was a quick pat down and no cover. We were escorted to a cocktail table and ordered a bucket of beers. As far as fellow patrons, there was actually a good mix of people, mostly gay, some with girlfriends, and also a straight couple or two. In terms of the entertainment itself, we loved that the dancers hit the stage in full costume (see featured image). It reminded us of back in the day at Swinging Richards in Atlanta, which is perhaps the best male strip club in the US. After the full monty at La Costa and unlike any strip club we’ve ever experienced, a drag performer comes out next for a number followed by fellow patrons dancing on the stage. When the next dancer was ready, everyone was ushered off the stage which became increasingly more difficult as the night progressed! Then the cycle repeats. Overall, we had a great time, and it was good fun!


Back in Centro, a great local place to begin your evening is the gay video bar called Blue 69. The bar occupies a small space with a dozen or so cocktail tables and a back bar with a few stools. It’s more of a place to have a date or chat with a friend before going out for the evening. For music and entertainment, there is a video jukebox which is loaded up by the drink server when the music stopped. On our visit, the crowd was a mix between single gay men, and gay and lesbian couples which felt super inclusive given the size of the space. To boot, the drink server was awesome and very attentive to make sure you would not have to wait long for your next drink! Overall, it was a welcoming vibe and worth a stop for a drink or two to get the night started.


Next up, we recommend heading to Club 502, for the original gay bar and club and the best gay nightlife in Oaxaca. On our visit on Saturday night, entry was 60 pesos and a beer was 40 pesos, so for both, it would set you back a reasonable 100 pesos or about $5 USD. Opening hours are listed on their Insta which is currently Wednesday to Saturday from 10:30p until the wee hours. On our visit, the vibe was super fun and pretty upscale actually. We saw lots of jeans and button downs, but it was super casual with lots of patrons immediately hitting the dance floor. We ended up ordering a bucket of beers and staying out way to late but had a blast!


It’s not gay but very gay-friendly, as are all of the best bars in restaurants in Oaxaca that you can check out in our YouTube video here, but definitely make a reservation for Selva. Selva is the best cocktail bar in Oaxaca, and we’ve been a few times for their creative cocktails and upscale crowd. On our first visit, the bar was exclusively gay for at least the first 30-minutes after opening. Also, if you like people watching, snag one of the two balcony tables and watch the party below. On both of our two Saturday night visits, we saw amazing wedding parties making their way down the street past the main church and Selva. There are costumes, balloons, live music and dancing, so you definitely don’t want to miss the amazing energy on a Saturday night in Centro. It’s also when we found the LGBT community comes out in force!