Club La Vela Night Club in Panama City Beach
The Gulf Coast nightclub that promoted itself as the largest in the United States, photographed before its closure after Hurricane Michael in 2018
December 6, 2009 - February 27, 2011 — Club La Vela — Panama City Beach, FL
Club La Vela was a beachfront nightclub in Panama City Beach, Florida, that promoted itself as the largest nightclub in the United States. For much of the 1990s and 2000s it was a central fixture of the city's spring break tourism economy along the Gulf Coast.
The venue occupied a sprawling complex that included a main club building, an outdoor pool deck, and elevated walkways. Its billboard along the beach corridor advertised the club's scale, and an MTV Tower sign at the entrance reflected the degree to which the venue had become embedded in the broader spring break culture of that era.
Hurricane Michael made landfall in October 2018 as one of the strongest storms ever to strike the Florida Panhandle, and Club La Vela sustained severe damage. The club did not reopen after the storm.
