Miami's nightlife is still unsurpassed. Drinking tends to take second place to eating and partying, but a number of friendly local bars double as very good live music venues. Reggae is particularly strong; Miami has a sizable Jamaican population, and local as well as flown-in acts appear regularly. Miami's clubs - especially those specializing in salsa or merengue and hosted by Spanish-speaking DJs - are among the hippest in the world, with most of the action at South Beach. Door policies are notoriously obnoxious at current in-spots; the places listed below include laid-back local haunts and some of the hotter bars.

Friday's Miami Herald carries full weekend entertainment listings ; the free weekly New Times has reliable information on cafés and clubs, while the free TWN ( The Weekly News ) is the key source of gay and lesbian info .

If you want to try out the local sports scene, the Marlins pro baseball team, who won the World Series in 1997 in only their fourth season, and the Dolphins , Miami's pro football team, play at the Pro Player Stadium, sixteen miles northwest of downtown at 2269 Dan Marino Boulevard (box office Mon-Fri 10am-6pm; tel 305/620-2578).

Bars and live music

The Abbey Brewing Company 1115 16th St, South Beach tel 305/538-8110. The small yet homey spot is South Beach's only microbrewery. (Try the creamy Oatmeal Stout - their best and most popular brew.) Happy hour Mon-Fri 1-7pm.

Churchill's Hideaway 5501 NE 2nd Ave, Little Haiti tel 305/757-1807. A British enclave within Little Haiti with soccer and rugby matches on video and UK beers on tap.

Club Deuce 222 W 14th St, South Beach tel 305/531-6200. This grimy, noisy grunge bar is a remnant from pre-fabulous South Beach. Drinks are cheap, and there's a dartboard, pool table and an alternative crowd.

Delano Pool Bar   Delano Hotel , 1685 Collins Ave, South Beach tel 305/672-2000. An antidote to the super-exclusivity of the hotel, this poolside bar offers reasonably priced drinks for anyone who knows it's back there. It's still a good place for celebrity-spotting, too.

Hungry Sailor 3426 Main Hwy, Coconut Grove tel 305/444-9359. The unpretentious, male-dominated bar features a nautical theme and occasional live reggae.

Lost Weekend 218 Espanola Way, South Beach tel 305/672-1707. The preppy clientele plays pool and enjoys a great happy hour and the ladies' night drink specials.

Pearl Restaurant and Champagne Lounge above Nikki Beach at 1 Ocean Drive, South Beach tel 305/538-1231. Swathed in orange lights, this neo-Space Age all-white bar has a champagne bar in the center of the main room. Drinks are pricey, so stay for one glass, then head elsewhere for the rest of the evening.

Rumi 330 Lincoln Road, South Beach tel 305/672-4353. The undisputed bar of the moment has a strict door policy and a huge crowd clamoring to get in most nights. It morphs into a mini-nightclub around 11pm, when the music gets louder and funkier.

Tobacco Road 626 S Miami Ave, downtown tel 305/374-1198. The friendly bar - Miami's oldest - is a favorite with locals for its exceptional live blues, jazz and R&B.

Wet Willie's 760 Ocean Drive, South Beach tel 305/532-5650. From this welcome antidote to the chic scene in Miami Beach, customers take the bargain $5 jumbo frozen drinks back to the beach.

Clubs

B.E.D. 929 Washington Ave, Miami Beach tel 305/532-9070. This restaurant serves its meals on curtained beds where everyone lounges, Roman-style, to try the so-called FrancoFloribbeAsian food: get there early to snag one of the beds. B.E.D. stands for Beverage.Entertainment.Dining - and so this restaurant becomes a club come midnight, with Wednesdays the hippest night.

Club Tropigala   Fontainebleu Hotel , 4441 Collins Ave, South Beach tel 305/538-2000. This superb, popular Latin supper club features live acts and an orchestra, with shows Wed-Sat 8.30pm and Sun 8pm ($20). Dress up to the nines and salsa the night away with a friendly, varied crowd amid a fabulously camp decor.

Crobar 1445 Washington Ave, South Beach tel 305/531-8225. At this superclub, hardcore dancers and a loved-up crowd get started around 4am.

N Nightclub 743 Washington Ave, South Beach tel 305/695-9299. It's most famous as a former investment of Madonna's and also for the story that the actress Jennifer Lopez came in to party one New Year's Eve - only to have the owners ask her to leave.

Nikki Beach Club One Ocean Drive, South Beach tel 305/538-1231. The place to be on Sunday nights, an outdoor club right on the sand of the beach, it features tiki torches and VIP tepees you can reserve for a little privacy.

Opium 136 Collins Ave, South Beach tel 305/695-4204. At this giant open-air club, a tent covers the dance floor and multilevel spaces are accessed from the main bar.