Night Life

There is a wide variety of night life available in the Subic Bay area. At the height of the US military presence in Subic, most Filipinos generally looked at Olongapo with disgust. They saw that it was there mostly to cater to the carnal needs of the American sailor. There was hundreds of clubs located outside the main gate, in Barrio Barretto, or in nearby Subic. When the Navy departed the Mayor of Olongapo started to clean up the image of the city. Faced with lack of customers and government pressure, the establishments that provided such services soon were gone from downtown Olongapo.

With the economic recovery of the area and a healthy population of young people, many of these places have reopened to meet the needs of the young Filipino. Filipino's love music and many are very talented. Every year thousands of Filipinos travel to other Asian countries as musicians and singers. In the navy days musicians looked upon Olongapo as almost a Mecca. The many clubs offered opportunities that were unmatched in any other part of the Philippines. If a band was lucky enough to get a gig at a club on the base and the sailors like them, they might get a contract to tour military clubs around Asia. Today a large number of Clubs in Olongapo offer live music. Live music is not just in the clubs some dinning facilities such as Sam's Pizza are also known for its live entertainment. There are some discos and Karaoke is extremely popular.

For the Gentleman traveling alone, some of the clubs have GRO's. A GRO (guest relation officer) is a young lady sort of an escort in the club. For the price of a drink or two, she will join you at your table for conversation. Generally, that is as far as it will go, however there are some clubs that are more like the old navy days. These are primarily in Barrio Barretto and Subic town with some along Gordon street near the SBFZ main gate. The clubs in Barrio Barretto are expanding with a number of new clubs. These clubs cater to the international male guest and local residents are discouraged to visit.

The Waterfront of the Subic Bay Freeport is also known as a center for night life. It has a number of restaurants, a casino and nightclubs such as Pier One shown above. Other venues are just a short walk away.