Cove Manila: A Primer – What to know about the biggest entertainment space in Southeast Asia
While the bar scene in Manila is booming, what with new concepts popping up left and right, the party scene needs a good shot in the arm. If you’ve been looking for something exciting happening in the nightclub scene, you’ve probably heard about Cove Manila, the biggest entertainment venue on this side of the world. And they’re set to change things up and put the city on the global club party map.
The Complex
Cove Manila is located inside Okada Manila, the biggest integrated resort in the Philippines occupying 44 hectares of the booming “Entertainment City” in Parañaque. The $120M, 9,000-square-meter facility flaunts picturesque views of the world-famous Manila Bay horizon, luxurious amenities, and a vibrant atmosphere, all enclosed under a column-free, 30-meter, UV-protected and hermetically controlled glass dome. To give you an idea of how big it is, the area is the size of about 18 basketball courts (four times bigger than the Palace Pool Club) and the dome is almost as high as the Eifel Tower, and can accommodate 4,500 guests. And since the glass dome is UVA and UVB-protected, you can lounge around the pool and swim without getting sunburned or worrying about the weather.
Amenities and Features
More than just a nightclub, Cove Manila is an indoor beach club by day and a club destination by night. Cove has 29 cabanas on three floors that can accommodate 15 to 60 people, where you can have your own luxurious private party with a spectacular view of what’s going on in the dome. The Miami-inspired rooms are styled with comfortable, stylish furniture and features interesting art pieces. Each room is equipped with private Japanese toilet and rain shower stocked with Roberto Cavalli toiletries, media systems with huge LCD screens, and some free Cove Manila merch. For P300,000 per night, there are the 40-square-meter cabanas, which have a living room with a karaoke machine, a dining room, a private bar, a projector for projection mapping, and a hot tub. Furthermore, the Cove contains five bars: two that service both the nightclub and area, two in the arena area, and the swim-up bar by the pool.
The Nightclub Experience
The nightclub is an immersive experience and a feast for your senses. This includes the most advanced audio, video, and ambient lighting technologies—such as Tony Andrews’ Funktion-One high resolution sound system, designed to minimize ear fatigue and deliver incredibly crisp sound detail and quality. It also features a one-of-a-kind six-ring kinetic centrepiece that rotates and tilts and can produce up to 10,000 special effects, including choreographed LED video mapping. At 30 meters long and 18 meters high, it’s the largest screen in a nightclub in the world. It looks and sounds like what nightclubs are supposed to be: lush, with fantastic sounds that you feel in your bones, lights that take your breath away, performers that entertain, and a crowd that’s enjoying themselves.
The Grit and Glamour of Manila’s 90s Rave Culture
Beyond the modern scene, history shows that in the 90s, the decade brought the country its first raves. House and techno music, edgy and obscure fashion, and queer culture fueled the capital Manila’s underground parties in places like Verve Room, Insomnia, and Kemistry. Photographer Eddie Boy Escudero found himself in the middle of the parties, dancing in the crowd with his camera. “The ravers were just a minority in Philippine society, and despite the difficult times many of them may have experienced, they sure felt really free and happy during a rave,” he said. Techno was new at the time and everyone fell in love with its beats. Young and unknown fashion designers became rockstars at these parties, and even the bars’ parking lots would be full of sweat-drenched dancing ravers gripping water bottles.
Global Recognition: Manila’s Nightlife Ranking
ICYDK, Manila Has The World's Second Best City Nightlife! Time Out ranked Manila as the second-best city for nightlife worldwide and we are not even surprised. According to Time Out, Manila earned this spot not just because of trendy clubs or bars but because it provides world-class fun at a budget-friendly cost, making it easy to explore and try anything. This love for socializing and spreading joy reflects a deep-rooted aspect of Filipino culture: hospitality and enthusiasm. Poblacion and Bonifacio Global City (BGC) host a lively mix of bars and speakeasies, while late-night food markets like Divisoria highlight the affordability of nightlife in the city.
Top 13 Best Cities To Experience Nightlife (2024)
Time Out's 2024 rankings of the best nightlife cities worldwide were curated through surveys from thousands of locals. Out of 134 cities, these locations made the top list:
- Rio De Janeiro
- Manila
- Berlin
- Guadajara
- Austin, Texas
- Lagos
- Rotterdam
- Manchester
- Budapest
- Accra
- Buenos Aires
- Taipei
- Singapore
