The strip of bars running along the Malecón is the most reliable place to find an evening drink in Puerto Plata, and it functions as an informal social club for much of the city. From around six in the evening, when the daytime heat begins to ease and the sea breeze picks up off the Atlantic, the open-fronted bars fill with people who seem in no hurry to be anywhere else. Music — merengue and bachata are the defaults, with occasional salsa — comes from speakers of varying quality, and the competition between adjacent bars for volume is ongoing.
Most bars here serve the same things: Brugal rum by the glass or bottle, Presidente beer, and a short list of mixed drinks. Prices are low by Caribbean resort standards. The atmosphere is more rowdy on Friday and Saturday evenings when it can get genuinely loud; mid-week it is calmer. You don't need to pick a particular bar — walk the strip until you find a table with a good view of the sea and sit down. The bar life here is an authentic part of Puerto Plata's daily rhythm, not a tourist construction, and it shows.