Due to local regulations, no business selling alcohol may open beyond 11:30 PM on weekdays and Sundays, and until 02:00 AM on Fridays and Saturdays. This applies to both restaurants and liquor shops. So, if you're planning to drink the night away, then be sure to stock up beforehand! There's a couple of illegal places to buy alcohol later at night, but the prices are outrageous.
While no discos or actual pubs can be found in San Pedro, the closest to the latter are Café Adobe, Café Export, and 6º Grado. Sometimes, illegal parties called "clandestinos" or "fiestas clandestinas" are thrown in the houses of locals, empty lots, and even Valle de la Muerte. To find out if and where the action will take place, your best bet is to hang out at any of the aforementioned places. Usually, even the waiters can tell you whatever clandestinos will be open that night. They usually start at the time the restaurants close. Drinks in them are expensive, though! And of course, you're barred from bringing your own booze, as the parties are thrown for profit. If you decide to go, be prepared for hordes of drunk locals, frosty outside air, and unreliable conditions-power almost always comes from a gas-run generator, and drinks are brought beforehand by the organizing people; both are susceptible to running out, which normally kills the party. Also, the cops might rear their ugly heads, which can bring the event to a premature end.
There are also legal parties, thrown by the City Hall or other organizations, called informally "mambos". These are, however, mostly frequented by the indigenous people "atacameños" and are to be avoided. The indigenous men are known for drinking in excess, and staging bar fights, which sometimes evolve into riots. Foreigners and other chileans are much disliked by the atacameños; it's not uncommon for them to be assaulted by gangs of drunken indians, and given a sound beating. Of course, not all of them are this way, and it's perfectly possible to visit such parties without harm. If you're absolutely convinced that you must attend a mambo, then the following advice will save you lots of trouble: Get there early, don't bother with the drunken fistfights, stay away from the indigenous women, and leave early. If provoked into a fight, leave! There might be just a lousy drunkard in front of you, but as soon as a fight breaks out, all of his friends will come to the rescue.
