The Best Caribbean Island Destination For Your Perfect Golf Vacation

When it comes to scheduling an island getaway in the Caribbean, there are tons of selections, major and little, with arguments to be designed for just about each and every place. But if you are a golfer, the alternatives skinny out radically. There are numerous lesser islands with 1 or two very good programs, but when it will come to important mass, the sort of assortment that makes spots like Scottsdale or Pinehurst golfing destinations, there are really only two contenders, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

For the touring golfer who likes wide variety and needs to enjoy various programs alternatively than the similar a person above and in excess of yet again, the get goes to Puerto Rico. I appreciate the DR and it has some standout golf resorts, but they tend to be isolated as most People never want to drive all over, so the vast majority of golf travelers here just go to one particular place to keep and engage in. Even though there are multiple programs at distinctive locales, this assortment goes underutilized. But when you look at how uncomplicated it is to lease a motor vehicle, travel all over Puerto Rico and strike various places, the attraction grows noticeably, and in addition all, of Puerto Rico’s classes are available to the general public, when the single ideal golf system in the DR, Playa Grande, when a resort course, went absolutely personal and no more time permits any non-members. Even famed golf resort Casa de Campo features a non-public layout its resort visitors cannot accessibility.

Puerto Rico is straightforward to navigate and extremely easy to get to, with plenty of non-stops to San Juan, while numerous travelers to other Caribbean places have to fly right here anyway and then make another connection. That suggests lots of travelers can arrive in time to participate in golf the same afternoon, or play a last early morning round before heading to the airport, a a great deal more effective way to family vacation. It is specifically user-friendly in the age of COVID as it requires no testing to go to or return residence from (no chance of getting trapped there in quarantine, contrary to each other Caribbean golf location except the US Virgin Islands) and it has the maximum vaccination amount of any spot in the U.S.

I have been to Puerto Rico many moments and just frequented yet again, and it was a stark reminder of how great and various the lodging, leisure and particularly foods is on leading of the golfing, with a thing for each flavor and spending plan – there are far more than 4,000 dining places listed here and I did not have a much less than standout meal my complete vacation. In addition, there are tons of non-golf attractions, from the historic to the world’s major rum distillery (Bacardi) to the pure wonders, most notably the only rainforest within just the U.S. Forest Provider (El Yunque), exceptional bioluminescent bays, and of program, beach locations.

But when it arrives to golf the island has a whopping 18 programs, a lot of of them on the ocean, whilst El Yunque, the magnificent rain forest, can be found from various top layouts. Designers browse like a Who’s Who of terrific golf architects, such as Greg Norman, Robert Trent Jones Sr., Robert Trent Jones Jr., Chi Chi Rodriguez, Tom Fazio, Tom Kite, Rees Jones, and Gary Participant. Below are some highlights:

Historically the greatest golf vacation resort on the island used to be the Dorado Seaside resort sophisticated, originally created by Laurance Rockefeller as component of his Rockresorts manufacturer, and for a prolonged time it was property to two sibling Hyatt resorts and four 18-gap classes. It has been reborn in current many years as the only Ritz-Carlton Reserve home in the U.S., Reserve being the luxurious brand’s optimum tier with just 5 spots worldwide. Nowadays the Dorado Beach front, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve is an exceptional luxurious vacation resort that is property to two courses comprising the 36-hole TPC Dorado Seashore, the only member of the PGA Tour’s TPC network in the overall Caribbean. A radical advancement in residents and members (which include various Big League Baseball stars) has pressured the resort to limit perform to its right away company, so you have to stay here to participate in these. If you can swing that it is really worth performing, because the East Study course, often the most famous of the initial four, has a single of the most memorable begins in all of golfing with a lengthy oceanfront push in the cart to the 1st tee, and amazing ocean vistas from the get-go, while numerous “coastal” styles wait three in addition hrs to reach the sea. It also returns to the exact same good views at the complete. TPC Dorado Seaside is a 1st-price procedure with forecaddies and excellent problems, and design is beneath way on a 3rd eighteen right here, which will set it in a tie as the greatest golfing vacation resort slate in the Caribbean.

In my educated feeling, the single very best course on the island is the stunning Royal Isabela, aspect of a boutique vacation resort on the fewer visited northwestern shore. This is wonderful vacation resort with its own farm developing develop for the cafe, and all lodging in standalone casitas with private plunge pools and terraces. The golf study course is as shut as you can get to a back links in the location, exquisite with a lot of dramatic clifftop holes hugging the ocean, you can walk it with caddies which is unusual, and when it opened a 10 years ago I wrote about it in depth listed here at Forbes (which may perhaps be dated). I claimed then that is like Pebble Seashore Golfing Links transported to an even far more scenic environment, and I stand by that evaluation – no subject how a lot golfing you have performed all-around the globe, you will discover this an exceptional training course.

The PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open up (traditionally held in late February/early March) has brought superstars these types of as Jason Working day, Bryson DeChambeau, Jordan Speith, and Tony Finau to the island, and is held on the Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve’s Championship Course. The Hyatt is a step down in value from the Ritz-Carlton and neighboring St. Regis Bahia Beach, but is an outstanding complete-service vacation resort with wonderful dining choices, to start with price lodging, a substantial lagoon style pool elaborate with cabanas, and a gorgeous beach front – so amazing that the new edition of Tv set present Fantasy Island was filmed in this article. I have stayed at the assets and would be very delighted to return. The Hyatt has two of Puerto Rico’s improved golfing programs, both of those intended by Tom Kite. These are a little a lot more Florida-model with loads of h2o within the programs, occasionally on both of those sides of the fairway, in addition to ocean sights.

The St. Regis Bahia Seaside is the other best-tier luxurious golfing resort in this article, and like the Ritz-Carlton Reserve, section of Marriott’s field primary Bonvoy rewards applications. Many golfers are acquainted with the Audubon Worldwide Sanctuary software that certifies eco-friendly golf programs that use a lot less chemicals, safeguard wildlife and meet quite a few other specifications. But the group has expanded to certify full communities and resorts as well, and Bahia Beach front was 1 of the initial to receive this, and it is apparent in the lush greenery and tropical bouquets at just about every convert as a result of the appealing home. About 65% of the nearly 500 acres are preserved as environmentally friendly spots, sanctuaries or mother nature trails, and there is a pretty intensive path community in the course of. The golf class is considerably unique from its neighbors, winding via thick jungle-like foliage with some tight fairways when it strays away from the two-mile extended seashore, set at the foothills of the 28,00-acre El Yunque Nationwide Rain Forest.

I have not stayed myself, but a different leading pick for a Puerto Rico golfing holiday vacation is the far more affordable Wyndham Grand Rio Mar, a really comprehensive-services resort with two standout programs. The Wyndham is large with about 400-rooms, many dining places, a entire casino, and is established on two-miles of uncrowded seashore. It is has the most likely on under a person roof in Puerto Rico, and the golfing is primarily diverse, showcasing the Tom Fazio-created Ocean Study course with is famed coastal 16^th hole, and the Greg Norman-intended River program, which has deceptively wide fairways, a in addition given that the river is nicely utilized through, and it has stunning El Yunque sights. I had a single of my beloved foods on the island in the clubhouse below, and the Ocean Study course also has a beloved open-air bar/eatery, Hole in A person, in its center, overlooking one and ten.

There are many other alternatives, and I haven’t gotten to all of them however. El Conquistador is one more perfectly-known golfing vacation resort with an Arthur Hills course (and private island and waterpark). Punta Borinquen is Puerto Rico’s oldest total-sized golfing system, developed by the Army in 1940 as aspect of a base and reported to be a favored of President Eisenhower’s. When the foundation closed in 1973 it turned an accessible general public course and is perched atop extraordinary seaside cliffs in the vicinity of Royal Isabela. There are numerous other standalone programs like the 27-hole Costa Caribe Golfing & Nation Club with its signature island environmentally friendly. When I regret not playing some of these, it is great to have factors to go back to this tropical golfing paradise again.

Uncover Puerto Rico, the island’s visitor bureau, has numerous useful articles or blog posts about golfing grouped by subject matter these as “near San Juan,” “most affordable” and particular person resort profiles, all of which can be discovered below.