Wildly amusing, this offshoot of a popular Cancún club dazzles the senses with Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga impersonators strutting onstage amid whirling acrobats and mimes on stilts. Once the crowd is thoroughly stimulated, the dancing begins—on tables, the floor, wherever a free space appears.—Maribeth Mellin

Open daily from 10:30 pm.

Spicy Mexican-Asian tapas (tempura calamari, tuna tostadas) fire up the taste buds while DJs spin an increasingly intense hip-hop beat beneath this peaked palapa bar. Locals casually dressed in camis and shorts sink into wicker chairs to chat and dine or congregate around the bar sipping cool mojitos. Serious dancers move on to La Santanera after midnight.

Open daily 1 pm to 3 am.

As the name suggests, this beach bar and restaurant presents everything from fire shows to belly dancing to bossa nova bands. Similar action takes place all along Playa's beaches, but Fusion has a casual, amiable ambience that attracts locals as well as tourists. The music oscillates between reggae, jazz, and blues, but thankfully you can still find quiet spots at the red lantern–lit tables far from the bar. Should hunger strike after one too many margaritas, the cooks make a mean burger.—Maribeth Mellin

Open daily 5 pm to midnight.

Kitschy lucha-libre posters, calaveras (skeletons) and masks hang from the thatched roof above the second-story bar at this outrageously popular club. Partiers arrive en masse after midnight and dance until dawn beneath spotlights and mirrored disco balls on the main first-story dance floor. Expect a mix of international house music with a Latin bent, and a mixed crowd of locals and in-the-know tourists. However, since this is still the Riviera Maya, you don't have to worry about the interminable lines and grumpy bouncers that usually come with such a club.