Riviera Maya Golf

Monumental Memories of Riviera Maya Golf, Mexico

By Dave Finn as published in the October 2024 issue of Golf Central Magazine

What’s your pleasure?  Is it wading into the Caribbean Sea or plunging into the crystal-clear freshwater cenotes?  It is exploring the many archeological sites or simply chilling around the pool with a cool beverage.  Either way the Riviera Maya Golf in Mexico is the perfect winter getaway – me included, on more than one occasion.  It stretches over 140kms along the eastern Yucatan Peninsula from Tulum to just south of Cancun and is home to several world-class golf courses just waiting to be played.  Here is a quick rundown of the courses I’ve recently played just to ‘whet your whistle’.

El Camaleón Golf Course is a Greg Norman design and the only resort in Mexico to host an annual PGA Tour event and now the LIV Golf League.  Like the lizard capable of changing colors to blend in with their surroundings, this course delicately winds through the sensitive jungles, mangrove swamps and alongside magnificent ocean vistas.

Iberostar Paraiso Golf Club is located right next door to Mayakoba, about 30 minutes south of the Cancun International Airport.  Carved from an ancient Mayan jungle, every effort has been made to preserve the natural heritage of the property.  P.B. Dye’s “DYEabolical” design boasts more crests and swales then the adjacent Caribbean Sea.

Iberostar Playa Paraiso – Hole 6

Moon Palace Cancun is home to the first Jack Nicklaus Signature course in the area and when it was built in 2002 it began to raise the bar on golf courses in the region. The original 18, known as the Jungle and Lakes nines, intertwines through dense jungle and rocky sloped lagoons.  In 2005, the Dunes nine was unveiled with a desert feel and vast waste areas that come into play on most holes.

Moon Palace – Dunes 7th Tee

PGA Riviera Maya Golf Club is the southernmost golf course, just minutes north of Tulum.  This Robert Trent Jones Jr. course opened in 2010 but has become a perennial favorite.  The design consists of an 18-hole par 72 championship layout as well as a 9-hole par 3 course with plenty of natural lakes.

PGA Riviera Maya Hole 15

Vidanta Riviera Maya is a Jack Nicklaus Design and one of the best collections of par threes you’ll ever play. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say almost every hole could be a signature hole anywhere else.  This par 54 is fun for everyone in the family but will definitely test your short game.

Vidanta Riviera Maya

Gran Coyote Golf Carasol is a Nick Price design that opened in 2011. If everyone in your party is not as ‘avid’ of a golfer as you, I can suggest this player-friendly 18-hole par 71, since it is by far the most forgiving course in the area with wide and relatively flat fairways. It is also the closest course to Playa del Carmen so make sure you enjoy a stroll along the La Quinta Avenida Street mall with a smorgasbord of dining establishments, non-stop shopping and more than a bar of two where you can indulge with a cold cerveza while people watching.

Gran Coyote Golf Carasol

Green fees are not cheap on the ‘Riviera’ but all of the clubs include a power cart and some are all-inclusive with food and drinks provided on the course. Most will even pick you up at your hotel and bring you back after your round.  What’s not to like. Más cerveza por favor.

To read the entire Volume 25 – Issue 7 of Golf Central Magazine click here.