Best Golf Resorts of the World

Nicklaus Golf and a Great Deal at Moon Palace Resort in Cancun

I'm a snob when it comes to all-inclusive resorts; at least, I was a snob, until I stayed recently at the Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort Cancun. What a relief it was to wander into restaurants, snack bars and bars all over the place and not even think about menu prices. And I went to yoga and Pilates classes, paddled a kayak in the ocean, took advantage of the free WiFi and free phone calls to the U.S. and Canada, and lingered into the evening at live music concerts by the pool, ordered room service, and raided the mini-bar—all included—aaahhh. I got used to it.Although this resort doesn’t have the wide, palm-fringed beach and lively surf that some vacationers dream of, the soft, clean, off-white sand beach here fills the bill, with tons of umbrella-shaded lounge chairs and tables, and powered and unpowered watercraft at the ready.

Although this resort doesn’t have the wide, palm-fringed beach and lively surf that some vacationers dream of, the soft, clean, off-white sand beach here fills the bill, with tons of umbrella-shaded lounge chairs and tables, and powered and unpowered watercraft at the ready.

Just south of the Cancun airport, the huge resort sprawls along the beachside in several complexes of 3-story, peachy-colored buildings between perfect lawns, palms and gardens. Daytime and nighttime action is steady at a gigantic, ocean-view main pool area and other pools.

2,457 spacious rooms (I know, sounds like a lot but doesn't feel like it) each have double Jacuzzis and balconies or patios, most with water views. You can choose a quiet corner of the resort or get a room or suite near the pool terrace or the main lobby and restaurants.

Add to that 15 restaurants and a dozen bars, tennis, fitness centers, a kids club, a disco, a full-service spa and . . . . 27 holes of Nicklaus-designed golf. Using the dynamite resort credit deal, I scooted out to the golf course and played all three nines (even the drinks cart is free) and ended the day with a great massage.

The Moon Spa and Golf Club has the only Jack Nicklaus signature golf course in Cancun, consisting of the Jungle, Lake and Dunes nines. My suggestion is to get early tee times to avoid the hottest and busiest part of the day; also, it can get quite breezy in the afternoons.

At the top notch clubhouse and pro shop, a high-tech Nicklaus Academy, a very nice restaurant and a bar where you can get homemade ice cream, snacks and hot dogs all day long (of course, it’s included).

The three tracks are rather flat, with plenty of reedy wetlands, lagoons, lakes and ponds. BIG fairway bunkers are fiendishly located to catch the long hitters’ tee shots, and sandy wastes and brambly rough add to the fun. In typical Nicklaus fashion, greens are well protected by battalions of flashed bunkers. Herons, egrets and iguanas are on hand to create interest in your scenic photos.

Wildly rolling fairways and millions of deep, grassy hollows around the greens characterize the Dunes, which is just fine if you don’t mind sidehill lies and chipping to greens high above your head.

The practice venues are spacious and very well laid out and maintained. One of the best instructors on the staff, Jose Corona offers very useful tips and drills.

Resort Credit: Get this! Book before April 30 of this year for stays through the rest of 2012, and get resort credit to be used towards tours to Mayan ruins and theme parks, spa/beauty salon treatments, Dolphin encounters, outdoor recreation, golf, and more. When you consider that meals, snacks and alcoholic drinks are all unlimited, this is a great deal—especially for families.

•   3 nights, receive $500 vacation dollars per room, per stay.
•   4 nights, $750 vacation dollars
•   5-8 nights, $1,500 vacation dollars
•   9-11 nights, $2,000 vacation dollars
•   12+ nights, $2,500 vacation dollars

Moon Palace Resort Cancun is the flagship property of the 7 Moon Palace resorts in the Cancun area and on Cozumel and Isla Mujeres.

More here about golf on Riviera Maya.

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsofTheWorld, Karen Misuraca is a travel and golf writer from the California Wine Country. She blogs golf travel and writes about Deep Culture Travel. Check out Karen's new iPhone app, California Coast North.

New Nicklaus course at Punta Mita

The long-awaited second Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course––Bahia Golf Course––has opened at the Four Seasons Punta Mita near Puerto Vallarta. On a lush peninsula jutting out into Bahia de Banderas, among lakes and numerous water features, the 7,035-yard beauty has skinnier fairways, more bunkers and trickier greens than its celebrated sister course at the resort, the Pacifico Golf Course.

Pacifico is famous for the world’s only natural island green, known to golf fans from around the world as "The Tail of the Whale". Eight of the holes border the Pacific or Bahia de Banderas, with whales often visible offshore from December to April.

A whopping $1,234 resort credit, based on a 5-night stay, is good through January, 2010.

Read more about golf at Punta Mita and in Puerto Vallarta.

BestGolfResortsofTheWorld.com,  Karen Misuraca is a travel and golf writer from the California Wine Country. She follows the little white ball around the world and blogs about International Golf Travel at www.examiner.com.

Fairmont Mayakoba sweet deal spa & golf

5-diamond-rated Fairmont Mayakoba on Mexico’s Riviera Maya, below Cancun, has come up with a cool wintertime Sweet Deal Package with Spa and Golf, that includes:

    One night luxury accommodation 

·    Purchase a round of golf at El Camaleon and play as many rounds of golf as you like on the same day

·    Purchase any 60-minute a la carte spa treatment at regular price and receive a complimentary 30-minute customized treatment

·    Enjoy a complimentary boat tour of the water canals with an ecology expert

·    $250 USD food and beverage credit per room, per stay

Sweet Deal Packages begin at $309 USD per room, per night, Nov. 1-Dec. 16, 2009 and $399 Jan. April 19, 2010.

If you ball ends up in the cavernous cenotes on El Camaleon’s first and second holes, just say no to trying to find it--it's not worth confronting the two-foot-long iguana guardians.

More about golf on Riviera Maya

Spas on Riviera Maya

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsofTheWorld.com,  Karen Misuraca is a travel and golf writer from the California Wine Country. She follows the little white ball around the world and blogs about International Golf Travel at www.examiner.com.

No flu in Cabo: Las Ventanas Al Paraiso celebrates with special package

The 15th green at Cabo Real Golf Club is perched just above the pool terrace at Las Ventanas Al Paraiso in Los Cabos. Celebrating the complete absence of H1N1 influenza in Cabo, the 5-star beachfront resort Las Ventanas has created some powerful incentives (besides the great golf) for visitors to head down to Cabo.

The Rosewood Escape offer, good May 25-Oct. 14 includes:

Significantly reduced rates from $515 per night

Upgrade if available (i.e. pay $515 but stay in a $750 suite)

Daily breakfast for two and $200 resort credit per stay

A small, ultra-luxurious enclave, the only 5-star property in Los Cabos (and my absolute favorite), Las Ventanas is for lovers, and for vacationers seeking solitude and the ultimate in service. Your personal butler will greet you with a beverage, then escort you through the tropical grounds to your suite where you can relax on a banquette on your balcony or hop right into your own outdoor whirlpool. Intricate stone inlays enhance the white marble floors and a wood-burning fireplace awaits the match. Spa suites each have two balconies with banquettes and infinity edge Jacuzzis; 2 bedrooms, each with double Jacuzzis; a full kitchen, separate dining and living room--and 4-foot-tall candles, and also a private spa room with double massage tables and a giant steam/rainforest shower. Your spa butler will meet with you to discuss treatments to enjoy in your suite and/or at the full-service spa. You may choose appearance-enhancing peels and facial lifts, body evaluations, the Ultimate Fitness and weight loss programs, and traditional and exotic massage and skin treatments. (A tip: although nearly every suite is quite private, those on the ground floor near the main pool may be less so.)

Butlers at the beachfront pool offer sunscreen, iPods, sorbet, frosty Evian spritzers and racy novels. As the evening draws near, hundreds of lanterns and candles flicker on the balconies, terraces, in the windows and down the stairs leading to fine dining in The Restaurant and in the open-air Sea Grill, where a wood-fired ovens and grills turn out luscious gulf shrimp, cabrilla(sea bass) and huachinango(snapper), pizzas and locally-produced meats and poultry. Fire bowls cast soft light on Guitaras de Luna, a duo renowned in Baja for the soft Spanish guitar music. As guests seeking seclusion often stay at the resort for all meals, menus change daily. Private dining is also available in the Spanish-colonial style La Cava, the wine cellar. (Up to 40 guests who are not staying at the resort may make reservations for dinner each day.)

A large telescope is set up for star-gazing on the beach, which is smoothed and cleaned each night. The exotic and very romantic setting at Las Ventanas makes it popular for marriage proposals and weddings, which are coordinated by the Director of Romance. You can arrange for a private pavilion for dinner on the beach, and she'll be surprised when a fellow gallops up on horseback and hands down flowers and the ring--that's your cue to pop the question. Or, have the D of R put your note in a bottle, and bury it in the sand next to your table. And, don't be surprised if you open the door to your suite to see a rose petal path leading to dozens of lighted candles in the bedroom. Las Ventanas al Paraiso translates as Windows to Paradise . . .

The resort will arrange guided tours for deep sea fishing and ATV expeditions, whale watching, wave runner and snorkeling tours, and golf. And, they will send a car to the airport for you, and for your return flight, the driver will whisk you, your packed lunch and your luggage right past the long economy-class lines and through First Class check-in, even if you are not a First Class passenger--this is a much-to-be-desired service at the Los Cabos airport.

Golf is on the menu, too--the Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed, world-famous Cabo Real Golf Club is a chain of green islands of turf in a fearsome desert landscape of huge cardon cacti, ball-snatching fronting the ocean. The track ascends on skinny fairways and small, elevated greens into mountainous terrain to the fifth hole, which runs 454 yards along the edge of a steep canyon to a green sandwiched between canyon and sea at the course's highest point, 460 feet above sea level, whereupon the course begins winding back down. The 14th sweeps to the ocean through a palm-lined fairway, ending in an elevated green at surfside--whales spouting offshore put on a show for TV viewers who watched the PGA Senior Slams here in the 1990s. Get out your camera for the spectacular view of the course from 15th. 

Balancing a 74.1 rating and 140 slope from the blacks, five sets of tees make Cabo Real fair for high handicappers contending with rocking and rolling fairways and unpredictable sea breezes. The starter strikes fear, and encourages the forward tees, when he says, "These are the hardest 9 holes on Cabo."

For more info on Los Cabos: www.visitloscabos.travel

Read about resorts on Riviera Maya on the Yucatan Peninsula

Karen Misuraca is the Resorts & Spas columnist at examiner.com 

Riviera Maya Golf Goes Green

Did you see my recent feature in the AirTran inflight magazine about the sustainable/eco features of the resort golf courses on Riviera Maya?

Check it out: Green Tees: Golf courses on the Riviera Maya are working to preserve natural habitats, ancient Mayan ruins, wildlife and waterways.

El Camaleón Mayakoba

Recently on Riviera Maya, the resort area south of Cancun, I had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to play the Greg Norman-designed El Camaleón Mayakoba Golf Club by myself. Somehow I dodged iguanas, cenotes (openings to underground caves), mangrove forest, a labyrinth of canals and pounding surf to do pretty  well. A stunning example of today's "eco-green" club, Mayakoba is a carefully managed Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary of protected habitat where herons stalk in the reeds, cormorants dive like black daggers into the water, and after their fishing expeditions, anhingas spread their wings to dry in the sun.

One of five hotels in the vast Mayakoba resort complex, the 5-diamond-rated Fairmont Mayakoba is comprised of low-rise casitas built of limestone and red sapote wood and hidden away in dense mangrove thickets along the edges of saltwater lagoons and canals. Golfers step out of their accommodations into small "lanchas"–– thatch-roofed boats––to be ferried to the first tee. El Camaleón is the home of the PGA Tour Mayakoba Golf Classic which this year takes place February 23 - March 1, 2009.

The Fairmont's Green Adventure Package offers nightly accommodation, daily breakfast for 2 adults (children to age 12 years of age eat free), unlimited golf for the day when purchasing a round of  golf at El Camaleón; picnic boxes for 2 adults and 2 children, a cooking lesson, a tour in a “lancha” (covered boat) through the canals with the resort’s ecology expert, and amenities. Rates: from $459 per night to April 26, 2009.

For more on Riviera Maya golf resorts, watch my feature article in the February 2009 issue of GO!, the AirTran inflight magazine.