Golf for me, beach for them

[Petethreeput]

OK, looking for suggestions for places to go where I can play golf while everyone else can lounge on the beach. Trip to take place in early April. Cold beaches like Oregon coast are out, the girls want fun in the sun. Every year we say we are going, and every year we come up with reasons not to, well not again says my wife.

 

Places I have been to play golf are out, no repeats, we don't travel enough to perform re-dos.

 

So these places are out; Maui, Kauai, Cancun, Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, Orlando (is that even on the beach?), Key West, or Nags Head, NC.

 

Any favorite places to hang out in the sun and play beautiful golf courses?

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

 

[Bubb]

Destin in the Florida Panhandle fits the bill. The weather can be a little chilly in April, but if the weather is good, you'll get no complaints about that beach for sure.

[CowtownTexas]

[quote name='Bubb' timestamp='1365471774' post='6789729']
Destin in the Florida Panhandle fits the bill. The weather can be a little chilly in April, but if the weather is good, you'll get no complaints about that beach for sure.
[/quote]

Nothing better than the Florida panhandle for beaches, but I've been very under-whelmed by the golf courses there.

Early April is tough. I'd delay a month and go to Kiawah.

[Hateto3Putt]

Myrtle Beach.

Depending on the ages of the girls, there is bunches of stuff to do.

I've been there over a dozen times, hundreds of golf courses, I think there's even an ocean pretty close.

[sheppy335]

I am thinking Hawaii, Florida, Texas, Louisiana or Mississippi. These could fit the bill for warm waters and warm golf.

[shake99]

Florida Gulf Coast Sarasota or further south. Good variety of golf great beaches and gulf is warm enough to swim now. Lot's of good restauarants, shopping theater etc.Check the reviews for Siesta Key beaches.

[sharkiesj]

Or you can go to Vegas and they can swim at all the amazing pools, Mandalay Bay, Wynn, Bellagio, etc. Eat good food and see a show or two, meanwhile you're golfin it up at Coyote Springs, Paiute, Badlands, Rio Secco, Cascata or, if you dare, Shadow Creek.

Or come to SoCal. Beaches and shopping galore. You can even do the Monterey Peninsula and they can swim at Carmel beach while you play Spy or Spanish and/or Pacific Grove.

[Mr22putt]

Right by the Florida panhandle is Redneck Riviera...Gulf Shores....I luv it....nice beaches, nice golf, good eats and very economical and a huge outlet mall 20 mins away.

Win win for all.

[Hosley]

Second the Sarasota area and south in early April. Siesta is an awesome beach, so is Longboat. Grew up going to those beaches every summer.

The Florida panhandle might be a bit cold/windy.

[act0fgod]

Cabo fits in with the grouping of places you mentioned.

[jptruck]

Kiawah has some of the nicest beaches in the US. Big and no-one there. I'm a fan of the golf around there, too. The resort courses are great, and the Cassique and River Course are really nice private courses if you can work a connection. There's even better options for golf 30 minutes away in Charleston, but most are private.

Bald Head is a secret gem, I think. The course there is pretty fun. It has some of the firmest, fastest greens I've seen on a coastal course. It is tight. There are other options around Southport, too, including are really nice private club.

Myrtle sucks, in my opinion. Fun for a guys trip, but I wouldn't take my kids there. Not a fan of Hilton Head, either.

EDIT: I see you want to go in April. Go to Mexico. Ocean still too cold in SC, NC and most parts of Florida for kids to play. South Florida is nice. The Breakers is great. Naples has a lot of great options, too.

[jptruck]

[quote name='act0fgod' timestamp='1365600885' post='6799783']
Cabo fits in with the grouping of places you mentioned.
[/quote]

I'll second that. Courses are fun, resorts are nice. It's probably safer than a lot of places in California.

[jdubbs]

I will third Cabo, great golf and resorts, however golf is expensive there. But a great place to go for a vacation.

[I_HATE_SNOW]

Cozumel, stay at Playa Azul and no green fees on the only course there. Rent a cart for $30 a day, play all you want. Beautiful beach and snorkeling at the hotel. Very safe island as the Presidential palace is there.

[littleprov1x]

CABO!

[eagles1]

Cabo: +5

[_MS22_]

Having been to Cabo three times it is a great place. Las Ventanas is freaking amazing. However be careful there are many hotels and resorts where the water is off-limits. Also, the best courses down there can be quite expensive (however everything in Mexico is negotiable).

Other options:
Dorado Beach, PR
Aruba, only has 2-3 worthy courses but great culture too.
Dominican Republic has some great beaches and great golf too.

Being April-May timeline those are the top I'd choose. With Puerto Vallarta being a distant 5th.

By this time you are starting to see a cooling off in terms of great beach weather in Aus and NZ. If you ever take a winter vacation and can handle 20hours of fly time do it.

[Petethreeput]

First off, thanks for all the suggestions. I think it looks like Cabo is probably the place to go. I think the NZ/Aus is a little too far for a 10 day trip, that is my sense anyway.

So, if we assume Cabo, and perhaps some Sammy Haggar Cabo Wabo, does anyone have any recommendations for courses and/ or lodging? And of course, eateries,

Thanks again in advance.

And, if anyone has other ideas, please let me know, we are a long time out, but because it is on our mind now (having skipped this year's spring break).

[jptruck]

[size=4]In Cabo, it depends on where you want to stay. Downtown Cabo is a party scene with nice hotels, and then there's a variety of options between there and San Jose del Cabo. Esperanza is the nicest gig in town (I think), but no associated on-property golf. Palmilla is another good (expensive option). It has a course and can probably hook you up at the private options, if you try. The Westin, Sheraton, etc., in between the two towns are nice. I have not seen Diamante, but I've heard it's a spectacular course. Actually, the Sheraton has a great beach for kids. The Westin is in a pretty rocky spot.[/size]

As far as golf, Cabo Real, Cabo Del Sol, Querencia, Diamante, Palmilla are all nice. Cabo Del Sol has two courses. The desert is fun. The Ocean is typical Nicklaus course, but there's nothing to complain about. Querencia, Diamante, El Dorado all require some work to get a tee time ($$$). April may be a bit cheaper, but mid-winter is expensive everywhere.

Don't ignore going to San Jose del Cabo. Some of the best meals I've had in Cabo are around there. Esperanza has a cool, ocean-front restaurant, too. It's been a few years since I've been there, so I'm sure dining choices have changed.

[littleprov1x]

I wrote a post on all of the cabo courses once- will try to find it and repost in this thread. You will have a bit of a conundrum in choosing a hotel. The oceanfront hotels that have swimmer-friendly beaches (mostly on the Playa Medano downtown Cabo San Lucas) are not that close to any of the courses except Cabo CC (not worth your time or money), Cabo del Sol, and Diamante. The hotels affiliated with the Questro group (which owns Puerto Los Cabos, Cabo Real, and Campestre) are mostly along the corridor where the beach has a strong undertow. Campestre and Puerto Los Cabos are a hike from downtown.

There are a few hotels in the corridor (the highway area between San Jose and Cabo San Lucas) that have nice beaches. The Hilton is not bad (and I believe affiliated with the Questro Group, so you get a golf discount). Palmilla, which is closer to San Jose is awesome and has 27 holes, is also very swimmer friendly. The course is not my favorite though.

As far as hotels go, I would rank in this order. There are three standouts, then a huge group in the middle:

T-1. Esperanza
T-1. Las Ventanas
3. Palmilla
Next group: Hacienda del Mar (Cabo del Sol); Capella Pedregal, Casa Dorada (Questro); Dreams (Questro); Westin (Questro); Hilton (Questro); etc.

Another note: personally I hate the all-inclusive option. It works well for some people, but the last few times I was down there I noticed cheaper and cheaper drinks and food quality. Ended up eating out because the food was so bad. There are so many cool restaurants downtown and in San Jose that offer much better value. Also, you will be at the golf course for 4-5 hours per day (and I usually do a couple days of fishing as well), so you really are only eating 1-2 meals per day at the hotel. If you want to drink your face off and don't care what food tastes like, all-inclusive is the way to go.

[littleprov1x]

This was my other post on the courses:

A lot of this depends on where you stay and if you rent a car vs. cab. If you stay in Cabo San Lucas proper, then driving anywhere past Cabo Real is going to be really far.

-Cabo San Lucas CC: cheapest option, not that great (EDIT: it sucks); honestly better playing once at any of the other courses than twice here
-Campestre: nice course, pretty reasonable if you do twilight, but expensive cab ride / far drive from downtown
-Puerto Los Cabos: some people find the tee shots a little gimmicky (lot of elevation changes), but I really like it. Great service includes drinks and food at on-course comfort stations. Really nice vistas. It is a HIKE from almost anywhere except San Jose
-Palmilla: so-so; nice layout, but I always leave underwhelmed; ocean course is a racket, with essentially one hole playing down an arroyo towards the beach
-Cabo Real: really fun layout, good views, only 2 ocean holes; usually the best value, IMO
-El Dorado: private now so hard to get a tee time. IMO they killed the best holes when they put the houses in and really screwed up the course
-Diamante: it's spectacular, but it's really expensive and since they made it private you have to go through the sales tour, which sucks
-Cabo Del Sol Desert: kinda goofy layout, but usually in good shape and sometimes you can get a good twilight rate
-Cabo Del Sol Ocean: awesome, but $350;
-Querencia: private, hard to get a tee time and wish there were more ocean views for the price

Note: Cabo Real, Campestre, and Puerto Los Cabos have the same owner- sometimes you can get a discount if you play more than one of their courses

[_MS22_]

Having been there 3 times:

Trip 1:
Spring Break with friends. Me Cabo. Great time, young crowd, loud, party atmosphere. Not what you are looking for.

Trip 2:
Esperanza. Wonderful place to get away with the wife (fiancee at the time). Great Spa. Beach access is OK at best. Restaurants are good, closer to downtown Cabo yet not right in the middle of the busy city.

Trip 3:
Las Ventanas. Had our wedding here. 68 guests plus us made 70 people taking up a good portion of the property. Rooms are spectacular. Chose this over Palmilla for our venue based on property, dining, and having an actual usable beach. They allow firepits to by constructed into the sand nightly and provide wood and kindle; which is great to just hang out. Furthermore with the wedding party they upgraded all of our rooms when possible and the whole deal food, drinks, rooms (which we paid) cost us about what a 200 person wedding would back here. They were awesome and accommodating at all times.


As for golf:
Read up on the courses to decide which you'd like to visit. Diamante is the star of the peninsula, by far. Dorado and Querencia are also great. Real is a great track and easy to get to and usually cheaper. Now, remember, April-May starts to get towards the off season down there. Our wedding was over this time. Everything, tee time, fees, replays, everything is negotiable there with cash. I played Diamante the first time for less than half in the afternoon of their asking.

Food:
Let's get the big ones out of the way. Edith's/The Office, go once for breakfast and once for dinner. Kind of touristy but on Medano so for a chill night if it is close it is a great option. El Chilar is worth the drive to SJ. Mi Casa, Gordo Le Le, Hacienda Cocina y Cantina, Flora Farm (Awesome), NIk San for sushi are all solid choices.

Trips:
Fishing if you are in to that. Take a trip to Todos Santos for a day, drive over the mountains, lots of art and ex-pats with surf shops and some great breaks from beginner to serious. Myself and 3 buddies made the trip half of the days we were there.

[bradski]

I live in San Diego and in april the weather will be 70's but the water is going to be cold. For the girls you will likely have a couple beach days and some times you won't. Three places i have gone this time of year. Personally I don't like Mexico for a trip. There are always travel risks there.

-Hawaii, I did big island last april- Good golf and great beaches and resorts. More of a famliy and outdoor place.
-Palm springs- getting warmer this time of year, but some of the best golf you will be able to find and quite a few good pool, resorts for the wife.
LAs vegas- as mentioned earlier. me and the wife are going to be there next week. Staying at the four season,(part of mandalay) because of the service and pools. they have awesome golf, dining, and warm weather.
Phoenix- not as much of a resort town as mentioned above, but good weather, golf, and big city.

[b]In april it will be hard to find warm weather on either coast in the US. [/b]

[Hateto3Putt]

Have you considered a cruise?

Different courses and beaches every day. I've been on several, and the non golfers have more fun than the golfers....... (at least they think they do).

Each and every port has different excursions, you get to play exotic golf while the girls can go zip lining, or just hang out at another unbelievable beach.

Nights are back on the boat shooting dice.

The golf outings are not cheap, but you can put together an itinerary that would otherwise be impossible without a boat!

[lefty-golfer]

Casa De Campo in the domincan would be slam dunk in my opinion. one huge resort, all inclusive, beach, pools, spa, more dining options then i could remember, 3 golf courses on the property, every room comes with a complimentary golf cart for travel....from you have described i think it is perfect fit.