When some people think of “nightlife”, their minds immediately revert to a city like Las Vegas. Known for its abundance of nightclubs and venues that close way into the wee hours of the evening, Las Vegas has earned its right as a predominant nightlife city. There are, though, locations elsewhere that could easily give Sin City a run for its money. With an energy that rivals that of Las Vegas’, Costa Rica has rather rapidly become a well known hot spot for nightlife, throwing some of the hottest parties the world will ever see.

The Costa Rican nightlife is hefty in several places, but the most pliable is within the comfort of a rented mansion or villa. Within these expansive living quarters, you and your fellow guests can throw your own bachelor party – complete with your own music, alcoholic tastes, and guests. You won’t have to deal with anyone you’re not comfortable with. Most mansions and villas come with an outdoor space perfect for enjoying the fresh Costa Rican air. A private pool simply accentuates the party, offering a place to cool down when things get a little too “hot”. Enjoy the view of a beachfront mansion or the seclusion of a rainforest villa – no matter where you’re at, the Costa Rica bachelor party will be large.

Beyond the more personalized bachelor party, Costa Rica is home to an assortment of hot bars and nightclubs. Tropical beverages, fresh ocean air, and the sound of the nearby ocean make a party in Costa Rica all the more exotic. Party at Beatle Bar or Clarita’s Bar, or dance the night away at the centralized Plankton Club. Feast on some local delicacies at Los Amigos Jaco as you’re sucked into the local atmosphere, making it so you’ll have no choice but to party. As with any club in any location, spend a little extra and find yourself as a VIP of the venue. Enjoy special treatment without having to lift so much as a finger to earn it.

For the ultimate of the Costa Rican nightlife, you can find yourself partying with the locals ocean side at one of the country’s exotic, sandy beaches. Let the fresh air revitalize you throughout the night as you dance with some of the gorgeous locals and get to know and understand some of Costa Rica’s hidden traditions. Take a dip in the refreshing water when things get too hot without having to separate yourself from the enjoyable evening party. Unlike some coastal beaches in the United States, a Costa Rican beach is all sand, turning the coastal land into a natural dance floor.

Costa Rica is the perfect place for the destination bachelor/bachelorette party. Aside from its exciting daily activities, the country’s nightlife is one to behold. The music, the energy, the food, the beverages and everything mingles together to create an experience that can only be described as “once in a lifetime”.

Bachelor parties are a time to get rowdy and have fun. Said rowdiness is usually limited to the groom and his buddies. However, that wasn’t the case over the weekend when 61-year-old James Alonzo Hines took his frustration out on the bachelor party group that happened to be be playing ahead of him on Jacksonville’s Beach Municipal Golf Course. Hines claims that the partygoers were horsing around and taking too much time between shots. To teach them a lesson, he decided to drive his golf cart right into the group at full speed (seems logical). Various members of the bachelor party group suffered injuries ranging from small cuts to leg bruises. Read the original report from the Florida-Times Union.

Regardless of what the best man may think, it’s the groom who gets final say on what style of bachelor party he’ll have. If the man of the hour isn’t feeling the bar or strip club scene, don’t fret. There are countless other opportunities for fun and debauchery. Here are 25 of our favorite:

1. Shooting range
2. Camping/fishing trip
3. Action movie marathon
4. Rent a classic convertible and drive up California’s Pacific Coast Highway
5. Ultimate Frisbee/Disc Golf
6. Scavenger hunt
7. Flag football tournament
8. Wine/beer/whiskey tasting
9. White water rafting trip
10. Concert of a favorite band
11. ATV rental
12. Sporting event
13. Golf outing or Top Golf party
14. Video game marathon
15. NASCAR experience
16. Grilling or culinary class
17. Group trip to the barbershop, classic shaves for everyone
18. Paintball
19. Man vs. Food tour of your city or state
20. Ski/snowboarding trip
21. Wiffle ball!
22. Casino night
23. Learn how to play Rugby
24. Rodeo School
25. Spontaneous road trip: just get in the car and drive with no destination in mind

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Let’s grow this list. Make your addition by leaving a comment below.

Today brings a brand new guest post from one of the hottest groom bloggers on da block. Straight from the mean streets of the Emerald City, here’s Ian from A Groom’s Diary. Pay close attention Seattleites, this one’s for you.

The Hangover changed bachelor parties forever. While unrealistic and completely insane, it shed light on a world that women had always looked at with a crooked eye, wondering whether or not they were getting the whole story. So in a way, it raised the bar for anyone planning a bachelor party. Not only do you have to put together a weekend that makes guys salivate, you have to do it in a place that can be guised as a cultural, wholesome vacation so you don’t get a veto from the bride (read: NOT LAS VEGAS!)

Fortunately for men on the West Coast, there are a variety of options.

There are the “spas and sunshine” of LA and Scottsdale. TRANSLATION: “Silicone, clubs, and golf.”

There is the “harbor-city charm and unmatched cuisine” of San Diego and San Francisco. TRANSLATION: “Lululemon pants and bars that encourage shots before 10:00 AM.”

There is the “craft beer and international menus” of Portland and Vancouver, BC. TRANSLATION: “LOTS of craft beer and strip clubs that make Charlie Sheen blush.”

And of course there is the “coffee shops and progressive charm” of Seattle. TRANSLATION: “Uh…why are we going to Seattle?”.

Well there are two possible answers: A) like me, you live here and chose an uninspired Best Man or B) like me, you’re deathly afraid of your fiancée.

But let’s say you do wind up in the Emerald City. It’s a bachelor party! It can’t be all-bad, right? The where sucks, but won’t the Who, What, When, How and Why make up for it? Let’s investigate…

WHO: Every bachelor party has the same characters. The further you get from home, the smaller your group gets, but the more-pronounced the characters become. You’ll need at least one of each of the following:
Nervous Best Man: His wife trusts him and he’s a great guy, but his credit card is down on all of the weekend’s activities and he is frightened. (With good reason.)
Married Guy who Clearly Wants to get Divorced: Shots? “Two please.” Strip clubs? “Can we rent the whole place to ourselves?” Chasing college-aged girls around town and making another guy stay up with him at their place until 6 AM? We don’t even want to know…
Guy Married to one of the Bridesmaids who you Like but Don’t Completely Trust: Yes, he tells his wife about every trip to the restroom, but believe me, he’s not going to sell you out. In fact—by the end of the weekend, he and your Best Man may be the only two people you are speaking to.
And of course…
The Friend Who Disappears for the Entire Weekend: He’ll lose his cell phone in the cab from the airport, so make sure he’s carrying traveler’s checks…

WHEN: First off, don’t be the guy who has his bachelor party the week of his wedding. Even a pastor’s bachelor party requires two months of downtime before the bride is speaking to you again, so make sure you’re well in advance of the big day.

As far as Seattle goes, the summer normally stretches from the first weekend in August through the second weekend in August…so I’d aim for something in that range.

Who needs stripppers when you can throw fish?

WHAT: Seattle has all kinds of places for us to spend time. … … Right? The Space Needle: I know. A restaurant/bar shaped like a spaceship that sits above the ocean and spins sounds like a cocktail of awesome, right? Well it’s great, but with a clientele that includes exactly no one between the ages of six and forty-six and a spin-rate that leaves vertigo patients asking them to “crank it up!” it has the bachelor-party-desirability of the Oxygen Network.

Throwing Fish at Pike Place Market: You’ve seen it on the Today Show and every time there is a major sporting event in the Seattle-area, and yes—it is hilarious, fun and unique. But if you come home from your bachelor party and your fiancée asks you what you did and you respond, “It was awesome. I caught a flying salmon at the Public Market!” go ahead and consider the wedding cancelled. Do not pass GO. Do not collect a wedding band. Even though you’re telling the truth, she will not buy it for a second, and you really can’t fault her for that.

Starbucks: You’re not really going to Starbucks because you’re in Seattle, are you? I love Starbucks. I go there 2-3 times a day. BUT SO DO YOU! There are eleven locations within two blocks of your home! If you want Starbucks, get it! But really? You’re making a pilgrimage to a store that looks exactly like the one you visit every morning??

And in case you’re wondering, no. I do not work for the Seattle Tourism Board.

HOW: Unlike Lake Havasu or South Lake Tahoe, Seattle is a major city with a major airport. Alaska Airlines offers flights from anywhere in the west and many national hubs. If you’re cooler than me, Virgin American and Jet Blue can offer a hip, high-service flights into Sea-Tac. But most of you will fly Southwest, because you’re cheap, tasteless, bus-riders who enjoy Southwest’s communist seating policies.

WHY: God, I don’t know.

Felix Hernandez

I mean you only get one bachelor party and you chose Seattle? You must not have very good self-esteem.

Of course…you could make it tolerable by staying at the freaking awesome Arctic Club Hotel downtown, head to one of the biggest/best microbreweries in the country (Pyramid), right outside the greatest ballpark in the world (Safeco Field) and see the greatest pitcher in the world (Felix Hernandez) throwing in the mid-90s. Then grab a party-bus (from British Motor Coach) to Ballard for a dive-bar pub crawl with about 10,000 University of Washington sorority girls…

And then stumble to one of Portage Bay Café’s locations for the best waffle bar on this planet or any other. Maybe jump the pond to the eastside and rent a ski boat or two on Lake Washington to soak up the views of two mountain-ranges and more than a few bikinis in the country’s fittest city.

If you’ve got the energy, finish off the weekend with a night of high-class shuffleboard and soft-pretzels (oh—and a buttload of beer) at The Bravehorse. Or if you want to class it up a bit, arrange a private tasting at Seattle Caviar or the Fat Cork.

And if you really want to make it an event, time it during Seafair, the world’s greatest fleet-week, combining the fun of the Blue Angels with hydroplane-racing, an absolutely perfect summer climate and alcohol. (Oh—and…um… “girls who are trying to earn beads.”…)

You know…if you’re into that kind of thing…

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Ian is the author of “A Groom’s Diary”, his journal chronicling the hilarity of the wedding-planning process…from the groom’s point of view. You can read the blog at http://agroomsdiary.blogspot.com Follow him on Twitter @agroomsdiary or Facebook!

It is normally the best man’s job to throw the bachelor party for the groom. And it is his job to ensure the night is both memorable and original – something that can feel like a tall order. However, why not consider throwing a poker party! At first glance it may seem that a guy’s night out playing poker is not necessarily original, despite being huge fun. However, there are a lot of great ways to turn a night of poker playing into a bachelor party that the groom and your friends will never forget. With the growing popularity of online poker, parties like this are happening a lot more. Pokersites United States has lots of access to the best sites to hone your game at.

When to Throw a Poker Themed Bachelor Party

We’ve all heard the stories of the bachelor parties thrown the night before the “big day” and a hung over groom. It’s much smarter for everyone concerned to hold a bachelor party of any kind a week or so before the big event. That lets the groom have plenty of time to recover and be at his very best for the wedding day.

Choosing a Location

The first thing you have to consider when throwing a poker party is where you are going to have it. For smaller parties, a large basement will work, but if you are going to have more than ten people, you’ll probably want to find a hall.

If the bride and groom are getting married in a church, you might find out if you can rent out their basement for a small fee. Some may frown on gambling so you would have to limit the poker fun to non-money prizes, but those are the most fun anyway.

Your local hotel or motel may have an available conference room where you could have a great poker bachelor party for a low cost. Or, you could go all out and hire a limo, limo-bus or van and go to a local casino to play for real. The biggest drawback of going to a casino for the bachelor party is that it isn’t a private party. However, there is the added advantage of all types of casino games being available, and casinos often offer drinks on the house while you are playing.

Dressing for the Event

Casual attire is okay, but for a real “event,” you should consider a theme. You could make it a black-tie affair like something out of “Casino Royale”, or a roaring 1920’s theme with spats and zoot-suits. For a slightly simpler “costume” you could throw an “Oceans 11” poker party and dress up in 1960s suits. The best thing about the theme parties is that they really create atmosphere and bring a party to life.

What you Need

If you choose to hold your bachelor party at a real live casino you won’t need much but the participants. However, if you are throwing a themed party in a basement, room or hall you’ll need to supply all the typical poker accompaniments

You can throw your poker party with regular card tables if you need to, or find a party supply store, or gaming store and rent real poker tables for an official feel. The number of people you can have at each table will depend on the size and style of the table. Figure on anywhere from 4 to 8 per table.

You’ll also need several new, crisp decks of poker cards and enough chips for the number of tables you plan to have.

What Games to Play

The easiest game for new players who might be at your poker bachelor party is 5-card stud. You can have different games at different tables to let more experienced players choose for themselves, or make it 5-card all around. Texas Hold’em is also hugely popular and most people know the rules of that game from watching it on TV. Any poker games that you find at land-based or online poker sites are a great choice for your bachelor poker party.

Should You Play for Money?

Whether or not you should play for money depends a lot on your personal outlook and, perhaps more importantly, on the outlook of the groom. The bottom line is it is his party, and you should always respect his wishes. Taking money out of the equation can make a big difference in how much fun people have, and a game is less stressful when you are not playing for money.

Foods to Serve for a Bachelor Poker Party

Whatever you do, don’t forget the food. Keep it simple and easy. Finger foods are best and let people eat while they play. Fix or buy deli sandwiches and have plenty of chips and a variety of  drinks available to keep the party on its toes.
Most of all have fun and enjoy the event. Don’t forget to take a lot of pictures so the groom to be can have plenty of memories of the great poker night you made for him.