Best all-inclusive vacations with golf

[thejuice]

I'm turning 40 next year and I want to go on an all-inclusive vacation for a week where I can play golf two to three times, do some water sports, and maybe gamble (casino preferably). What do you folks suggest?

 

My thoughts:

Cabo San Lucas (I believe I counted four of the top 100 courses in the world there)

Dominican Republic (would love the chance to play Teeth of the Dog)

Puerto Rico (don't know much about the golf there but the Bacardi Tour is great from what I've heard)

St Lucia

Turks and Caicos

 

What are some others? If you only could choose one, which would it be?

[jumanji]

Cabo is a golf lovers dream. Some of the courses are challenging to get on but if you stay at a resort that has a course you can play there. Quivira and Cabo Del Sol are Top 100 courses with resort arrangements. You might be able to rent a condo at Diamante and get on there if you stay on the grounds. Downtown Cabo has a casino.

[Gmen1204]

Stayed at a Sandals resort in St.Lucia they had a decent course only 9 holes though not sure about other courses on the island.

[jimwgt26]

A big thumbs up for Turks and Caicos. It's everything that's great about the Caribbean. The people are friendly, the island is clean, and there's no chain restaurants with plastic menus. The wife and I went there three years ago, and stayed at a small hotel in Grace Bay, The Royal west Indies. It's right on the ocean and has a very nice beach. The rooms have little kitchenettes and there's a market close by. We ate breakfast and lunch on our patio, and went out to dinner each night. Every restaurant, from casual to fancy, was excellent. There's one golf course on the island, The Provo Golf Club. It's a five minute walk from the Royal West Indies. It's well maintained and decent. I gave them around $500, maybe $600, and had unlimited play and bag storage for the week. They let me get there early and play as the first one out. I played 18, and was back in the hotel room before the wife woke up. One day she did the spa thing and I played 54 holes. It was a great vacation, and we will certainly go back.

 

We've also been to a Sandals all inclusive in Ocho Rios Jamaica that included golf. The course was a 40 minute bus ride from the resort. While there was no "green fee," they nickle and dimed you to death. The free clubs were a joke, up charge for playable clubs. You had to take a caddie. This was a middle aged woman who had her little kids tag along. The whole time she worked me for a big tip. The course was like a mid tier muni, and not worth the hassle. We did pass the Half Moon Resort's golf course on the drive from the airport. It looked excellent.

 

I haven't been to the Dominican Republic, but have heard great things about the resorts and the golf.

[ClarkGrswld4]

big difference whether you are wanting an AI resort that includes the golf or if you are wanting to stay at an AI resort but have good golf around. Which one are you looking for?

[thejuice]

big difference whether you are wanting an AI resort that includes the golf or if you are wanting to stay at an AI resort but have good golf around. Which one are you looking for?

 

Either or. Just shoot me some suggestions.

[TomWishon]

 

Either or. Just shoot me some suggestions.

 

My wife and I have been doing the AI resort thing for 15 yrs though mostly in Mexico because from our remote US location, getting to the Dom Rep or elsewhere in the Caribbean takes too many flights and an overnight layover.

 

Cabo has been thought to have better courses than Cancun - although Cancun is catching up for sure. Cabo has less chance of rain too because it's a desert environment, Cancun is a jungle area with serious humidity.

 

Staying at any of the Pueblo Bonito resorts in Cabo gives you access to Quivera, which you have to play just for the eye candy holes perched above the ocean. You can also get decent deals from Questro Golf for any of their three layouts there in Cabo - Cabo Real, Club Campestre and Puerto Los Cabos - all three are good courses. Fiesta Americana Cabo is right next to Cabo del Sol but no real deals on the golf - Cabo del Sol Ocean is considered one of the very best in Cabo but pricey. Palmilla is VERY pricey but superb as a resort - there you can have deals to play their 27 hole layout which is nice. Secrets Puerto Los Cabos resort is top notch as an adult AI resort with no kids and right next to the PLC golf course, but the two are separate so no fee deals.

 

Just south of Cancun in the Riviera Maya area, you get across the highway from the golf course. Iberostar Grand is the best, but the others are good. The course was a host to The Big Break a few years back and a nice course. Also Iberostar is not far from Mayacoba which hosts a PGA Tour event down there each year, and a nice track but as a tour course they'll make you pay more to play. Cancun courses being carved from jungle are unforgiving for missing tee shots - you do NOT go looking for the ball in the jungle. Cabo is a little more beneficial there although there can be snakes in the desert off course.

 

An hour south of the Cancun airport is Bahia Principe which includes 4 resorts, all AI, under the same banner. These are lower priced resorts but very nice. There is a 27 hole track right there, pretty good one, for which you get deals for staying at the resort. Best of these resorts of the four is either Bahia Principe Tulum or Sian Kaan, as far as where to stay. But it is more of a drive from the airport to get there.

 

The Greg Norman course north of Cancun right at the Secrets Playa Mujeres AI resort is a nice track too. No deals on the green fees but the resort is really nice too.

 

Seriously though if the golf is the highest priority, check out the Casa de Campo resort in Dom Rep. The courses are unbelieveably good - you can't pay a better ocean side track than Teeth of the Dog and their other courses are first rate - and if you go to Dom Rep for golf, you might as well play Corales and Punta Espana. Those two plus Teeth of the Dog are arguably the best ocean side courses on the planet. So if you can get to Dom Rep easily from where you live, that would be high on the list for a golfer also looking for an AI. Other great AI's on Dom Rep are Excellence and Secrets Royal Beach - they're closer to Corales and Punta Espada than Casa de Campo is. But then at C d C, you have three courses there which are fabulous.

[cardoustie]

Sandals Exuma Bahamas, solid G Norman course with 6 or 7 holes hard on the ocean

 

Golf in Cabo is awesome

 

Golf in Turks is a 7 out of 10 .. but the island and beach and restos are flawless

[Boricua Golf]

Hawaii?!?!?!?!?

[munihack]

turks is amazing as an island I don't think the golf scene is really anything, as someone said I think there is one course. cabo or puertta Vallarta are the places to go I think for all inclusive and good golf courses. golf digest did a whole write up I think last month on mexico. we were headed to the st regis next week but had to change over zika fears

[ClarkGrswld4]

Hawaii and Turks & Caicos do not have AI resorts so they are out based on your original post. For AI resorts with great golf around the area, I would go to the Dominican. However, the food is subpar compared to Mexico and most other spots in the Caribbean. Cabo is a great choice. The wife and I are big fans of the Secrets Resorts and have been to four of them in the last two years.

 

For golf included, I would pick Secrets Playa Mujeres. The golf is "free" but you do have to pay a ridiculous cart fee and a relatively small fee if you want to play in the morning.

[robrey85]

I've been to Dominican Republic and Riviera Maya and will be going to Playa Mujeres in November. Punta Espada, is by far, my favorite course I've ever played. I haven't played the courses at Casa De Campo yet though because we haven't stayed on that side of the island and driving an hour and ten minutes one way is a little bit out of the question for the wife but Punta Cana has some beautiful courses along the oceanside. I live that stuff since I live in the damned desert, haha. I would highly recommend what Wishon already said about the DR but also throw in La Cana if you decide to go out there. Riviera Maya was awesome too but the jungle scenery was brutal. I played Grand Riviera Maya Golf club and Mayakoba when I was out there and had a blast. Would highly recommend Mayakoba, the other course was nothing special just an inland course that was a warm up day. I was going to play TPC Cancun but it was under construction or something when I was out there so I ixnayed it.

 

I'm planning to play Playa Mujeres and Iberostar when I go out in November, hopefully those are worthwhile courses. I'm not expecting amazing scenery on the course, but it should be fun! Hopefully I don't get eaten by a croc.

[1puttTUT]

I stayed at the secrets Playa del mujeres back in March and played the Gregor Norman course three times. I think they charged us $45 to play after 1 pm as part of our free golf package. The course was pretty decent and super convenient to access from the course. There were crocs on a few holes.

 

I also stayed at the hard Rock in Punta Cana DR a couple years ago. There was a Nicklaus course on site that we could play for $27 each day. It was tougher than the Norman course, but it was also a better overall course IMO.

 

Both resorts were nice. The Secrets was smaller and more romantic, while the hard Rock was huge and had a casino on site.

[chippa13]

We had a good trip to Secrets Capri in the Riviera Maya, Mexico. Greens fees at Grand Coral were included (there was a $45 cart fee) and it was a 3 minute cab ride, the course was top notch.

[SilverBullets]

I've been to Cabo, PR and DR. Cabo wins IMO and it's not even close. It's the best golf of the options you listed and the place with the most to do. Everything is centrally located in downtown Cabo and all of the nicer resorts have shuttles which are free that run downtown (if you are staying outside of DT). I would go there and not look back.

 

I went to San Juan in March and it was fun. I liked it a lot. But didn't like it near as much as Cabo. Cabo was nicer, downtown felt higher end and the food was better.

 

DR is just a resort place. Don't leave the resort. There's no need to and it's not exactly safe to leave the resort. Being resort bound for a week isn't my cup of tea (some people like that though, it's just not my thing).

[ruascott]

I'm turning 40 next year and I want to go on an all-inclusive vacation for a week where I can play golf two to three times, do some water sports, and maybe gamble (casino preferably). What do you folks suggest?

 

My thoughts:

Cabo San Lucas (I believe I counted four of the top 100 courses in the world there)

Dominican Republic (would love the chance to play Teeth of the Dog)

Puerto Rico (don't know much about the golf there but the Bacardi Tour is great from what I've heard)

St Lucia

Turks and Caicos

 

What are some others? If you only could choose one, which would it be?

 

Iberostar Grand Playa Paraiso was pretty sweet. Great adults only AI, food was very good, which is a big problem at a lot of AIs. Includes 4 rounds per week at the golf course, which was a lot of fun. They filmed Big Break Mexico there several years back.

 

One of the best rated AIs in the world, per Trip Advisor.

 

We loved it.

[Benkross]

Tom, first I love your videos. Thank you for educating. 2nd, I have booked 2 rounds at each of the 3 Questro Courses. Puerto Los Cabos is right next to Secrets where I'm staying so it'll be a short and cheap cab ride. The other two are $30-45 cab rides each way. I plan on playing all the layouts at least once, but and trying to decide if any of the others are worth playing 2x. Which of the 3 was your favorite? Do you recall which had the best greens? I'm a bomber who struggles a little with tight landing areas : )

[adschus]

I will post photos of Cabo Real and both Cabo del Sol courses. Cabo Del Sol can be found on TeeOff.com too. Unless you’re going to Dominican to play at Treth of the Dog, avoid DR and Jamaica. They aren’t worth the money, however cheap, compared to what you get in Mexico. While more expensive, the AM resorts are very nice and the food and service is excellent anywhere you go.

[zer0]

If you are married/dating and the hotel you stay at is a high priority I would recommend Le Blanc resort in either Cancun or Cabo. The Cancun location has been rated as the best adults only all inclusive resort in the Carribean. The Cabo location is new last year and pretty much a copy of the Cancun location so I;m sure its amazing.

 

They have a deal when you go where you can either get free credits for the spa or unlimited golf at 2 courses (moon palace 27holes and Riveria Cancun) Me and the wife went tehre for our honeymoon and opted for the golf package. It was great, shuttles every hour to the course, everything at the course was included in the all inclusive package.

 

I would be interested to know if the Cabo location also has as golf deal and what courses you get.

 

The resort itself is 5 stars all the way and definitely earned its ranking. Never had food or service like that at any other resort. Expensive though, but you can find great deals (50% off) if you look on ebay and buy someone's time share week. We went last year for a week and it would've cost 7k if we booked through the resort. Bought a week (with VIP extras included) from a resort member over the internet for $3600.

[TomWishon]

Tom, first I love your videos. Thank you for educating. 2nd, I have booked 2 rounds at each of the 3 Questro Courses. Puerto Los Cabos is right next to Secrets where I'm staying so it'll be a short and cheap cab ride. The other two are $30-45 cab rides each way. I plan on playing all the layouts at least once, but and trying to decide if any of the others are worth playing 2x. Which of the 3 was your favorite? Do you recall which had the best greens? I'm a bomber who struggles a little with tight landing areas : )

 

Hadn't been around the forum for a little bit so I did not see this when you posted. And thanks so much for your kind words about the vids and posts. Much appreciated, Hopefully you haven't been down to Cabo yet so the info might still be pertinent. First off Secrets Puerto Los Cabos is very nice. Only possible down thing is if your room is on the far west end of the resort. It's a little bit of a hike to the last building when you head back from the pools or from dinner and they don't have shuttle carts. So you may want to ask in advance for them to put you in a room closer to the main areas if you don't want the walk.

 

I have not played the newest 9 down at PLC which is Nicklaus' 2nd nine there called Nicklaus II. It opened shortly after the last time we were there so I can't tell you much about it. The 2nd Norman nine begins construction soon. Once that is done they'll use one 18 for the private club (PLC homeowners) and one for open play but I think their plan will be to rotate the 18's daily or weekly when they do that. The new clubhouse opened the last time we were there and it was nice. Each day they determine which two nines will be the 18 for the day but since they don't typically have a ton of play all day long, you probably can do that 3rd nine after you finish. Like most resort courses, it's fairly busy from 8 to 12 and then sparse after that.

 

The existing nines give you a decent bit of room off the tee. Some holes from the tee can look a little more narrow than they really are because of elevation change so just keep that in mind. The courses are hilly so expect that. #1 on the Norman nine makes you wonder about this when you see the hole heading straight up a steep fairway but the others on that nine are not nearly as bad. On #3 you just have to guess at the club selection since it is so downhill - 220 from the back and if I remember right all those tees make the club selection about 30 yds shorter. #1 on the Nicklaus I nine is a par 5 that you think is more narrow but when you get down there you see you have room. But the downhill 5-par on the Nicklaus I nine that comes toward Secrets resort is very wide open and lots of fun to just let it go. 625 yds from the back but plays 100 yds shorter. Greens each time we have played there have been good for being paspalum. Just watch the grain on all the greens for speed. Nice views from most of the holes too. And the halfway houses are spectacular if you like taking a break and having a snack.

 

At Secrets we liked going to the rear pool on the property. A little quieter, close to the ocean, the lounge chairs don't get reserved as soon as around the main pool, AND. . . you can hang on the back end of the pool watching the players on the ocean side par-3 and tee off the long par-4 heading back. And just turn around and ask the waiter for the next drink! Plus you can always kibitz with them from the pool after they hit because you'll be that close ! There is no ocean swimming at Secrets as is the case for many of the Cabo resorts because the waves are just way too rough.

 

If you don't plan to stay around the resort all the time, the famous and well worth it Flora Farms restaurant is close and you have to spend a half day wandering around old town San Jose del Cabo which is the city closest to Secrets. Both you can get a taxi to or ask Secrets about a shuttle. Can't remember if they had that service or not.

 

And have fun. Cabo's our favorite because it is a great combo for golf and great places to stay and eat. And if you wish to leave that Secrets area for more golf, I really can't say enough good about the Cabo del Sol Ocean track.

 

TOM

[robin_w]

I would argue you need to fly to Asia for the best experience

[carrera]

Good bump for the OP's upcoming 50th birthday!  😁

[hammergolf]

On 1/22/2016 at 4:35 PM, thejuice said:

I'm turning 40 next year and I want to go on an all-inclusive vacation for a week where I can play golf two to three times, do some water sports, and maybe gamble (casino preferably). What do you folks suggest?

 

My thoughts:

Cabo San Lucas (I believe I counted four of the top 100 courses in the world there)

Dominican Republic (would love the chance to play Teeth of the Dog)

Puerto Rico (don't know much about the golf there but the Bacardi Tour is great from what I've heard)

St Lucia

Turks and Caicos

 

What are some others? If you only could choose one, which would it be?

While Casa de Campo has gone up considerably in price, it’s still awesome. Great golf, great food, great service.

[tarheel golf]

Agree with hammergolf.  Casa is first class. 

[thejuice]

Posting an update to this thread as I've been able to try some things in the last few years. First of all, I LOVE CABO! My wife and I have been once per year for the last three years and going again this year. We've made it an annual thing (less than a 4 hour direct flight from Atlanta so it's perfect for a few days). I've been able to play The Dunes course at Diamante, Cabo Del Sol, and Quivira. All three are amazing, but I'd find it hard to believe there's a course with an ocean view that can beat Quivira. 

 

I've also been to Cancun and played and also to Hawaii. Cabo has them beat. I will be doing more beach/golf exploring soon. 

[thejuice]

On 4/25/2024 at 2:15 PM, carrera said:

Good bump for the OP's upcoming 50th birthday!  😁

The OP isn't turning 50 for another few years. Maybe you meant someone else? LOL