Half Moone Cruise Terminal (Norfolk’s downtown cruise embarkation building) is the building referenced throughout this page.
Last updated: May 2026. Independent guide. Not affiliated with any cruise line or with the venues listed. Hours and operating status change — call ahead.
Norfolk’s gay bar and club scene is real, but it is not within walking distance of the Half Moone Cruise Terminal, and the venues are mostly evening operations. For a typical daytime port stop with a late-afternoon all-aboard, the bars are not a realistic plan. This page is written for the other case: cruisers with an overnight stop, a pre-cruise night in Norfolk, a post-cruise night, or a non-cruise Norfolk visit that happens to be researched through a cruise-port guide.
If you are looking for the daytime port-day plan, see the Friends of Dorothy in Norfolk hub instead. For visible queer-friendly daytime spots, see Queer-Owned and Gay-Friendly Businesses Near Half Moone.
The Short Version
- MJ’s Tavern — longtime neighborhood bar. Lunch, dinner, weekend brunch. Mixed clientele. Community fixture. The most cruise-friendly of the active venues because it operates during daytime hours.
- The Wave — late-night gay dance club on Colley Avenue. Long history. Evenings.
- 37th and Zen — eclectic venue with drag, karaoke, and themed nights. Mixed crowd.
- Rainbow Cactus Company — popular gay dance club in Virginia Beach. Longer drive; not realistic from Half Moone for a single evening.
MJ’s Tavern
A neighborhood bar with a long track record in the Norfolk gay community. The most useful detail for a cruiser: MJ’s opens for lunch and serves dinner and weekend brunch, which means it is one of the few gay-friendly venues you can actually visit during cruise-friendly daylight hours.
Mixed clientele. Comfortable atmosphere. Not a dance club. Roughly a 10-minute rideshare from Half Moone. If you only have time for one queer-coded venue and you cannot stay out late, this is the obvious choice.
The Wave
A late-night gay dance club on Colley Avenue. The Wave has one of the longer continuous histories in the local gay scene. Drag nights, themed events, and dancing. Opens in the evening. Not a place you visit for a quick afternoon drink — the energy is night-out energy.
For a pre-cruise night, this is the most genre-typical option. For a same-day cruise stop, it does not work.
37th and Zen
An eclectic venue that hosts drag, karaoke, and rotating themed nights. The crowd is mixed — gay and straight allies, neighborhood regulars and out-of-towners. Worth checking the calendar for whatever is happening the night you are in town, because the programming varies more than at a standard bar.
Rainbow Cactus Company (Virginia Beach)
A larger gay dance club in Virginia Beach. Different city, longer drive (30–40 minutes from downtown Norfolk depending on traffic), and a different scene — oceanfront, vacation-energy, year-round. If you have multiple nights or are pairing Norfolk with a Virginia Beach stay, it is the venue most people mean when they ask “where is the big gay dance club around here.” Not a Norfolk-overnight plan.
The Granby Street Corridor
Downtown Norfolk’s Granby Street historically held the densest cluster of gay bars in the city. The cluster has thinned over the past two decades. Some bars on Granby remain queer-friendly without being explicitly gay-friendly venues; if you walk Granby on a Saturday night, you will pass a mix of straight bars, mixed bars, restaurants, and live-music rooms. It is a reasonable evening walk if you are staying downtown, but it is not the gay-bar strip it was.
The Hershee Bar (Closed)
You may find references to The Hershee Bar in older guides. It was one of the oldest lesbian bars on the East Coast, operated in Norfolk for more than three decades, and was demolished in 2019 after the city purchased the property. There are community efforts to commemorate the site, but the venue is gone. It is part of why the active bar list above is shorter than it used to be.
Practical Notes for Overnight Cruisers
- Getting there. Rideshare from downtown hotels or the cruise terminal is the standard option. None of the active gay-friendly venues are a comfortable walk from Half Moone.
- Getting back. Plan rideshare both directions — do not assume late-night service is plentiful in every neighborhood. Confirm pickup before you start drinking.
- Dress. Norfolk is casual. Even at the dance clubs, jeans and a clean shirt are fine.
- IDs. Bring physical ID. Some venues do not accept digital ID copies.
- Cash. Most venues take cards but a small amount of cash for tipping drag performers and bartenders is good practice.
If You Only Have One Evening
The honest answer depends on what you want from the night. For a relaxed dinner-and-a-drink that still feels like a community space, MJ’s Tavern. For dancing and a club atmosphere, The Wave. For drag and variety programming, check 37th and Zen’s schedule for the night you are in town. There is no wrong answer; there is also no single “scene-defining” venue in Norfolk the way some bigger cities have.
Related Guides
- Friends of Dorothy in Norfolk — gay port-day hub.
- Queer-Owned and Gay-Friendly Businesses Near Half Moone (daytime).
- Where to Stay Before Your Cruise.
- Slow Norfolk After Your Cruise.
- Getting Around Norfolk.
Independent guide. Always confirm hours, age restrictions, and event schedules with the venue. Closures and changes happen — if you find something out of date, tell us.
Planning your Norfolk port day? Get answers to 40 of the most common cruiser questions in our Norfolk Cruise Port FAQ — covering walkability, parking, side trips, Naval Base tours, and more.
