Golf didn’t come to Los Cabos, Mexico until 1987. But it’s now home to over 18 courses and is widely regarded as one of the best places to golf not only in Mexico but all of the Americas.
We put together a list of our favorite courses in the Cabo area. This list is exclusively for courses anyone can play on a Cabo golf trip and therefore excludes private member-only clubs. Our rankings take into account accessibility (public/resort only), layout, amenities, upkeep, and much more!
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#1 - Puerto Los Cabos Golf Club
Puerto Los Cabos Golf Club is a fully public course offering 27 holes featuring three 9-hole championship designs, by two of the sport’s most legendary figures, Greg Norman and Jack Nicklaus.
All three courses offer championship layouts, perched above the Sea of Cortez etched into rolling desert foothills and backdropped by the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains. The views from the course are unparalleled and showcase the rare combination of beautiful desert and pristine coastline, which is only found on the majestic Baja Peninsula.
All three 9-hole designs offer a challenge with the Vista-Mission combination tipping out at 7,213 yards and a rating of 75.9.
The course’s amenities are 2nd to none offering a fully all-inclusive round with four different Culinary Palapas spaced around the course. They’re each staffed with a bartender, chef, and enough food to easily power you through all 27 holes!
A round here will run you anywhere from $200 – $375 depending on the time of year, but is well worth the price of admission!
#2 - Cabo Real Golf Club
Cabo Real offers a memorable, well-balanced test of golf. While the course only tips out at just over 6,800 yards, it requires precision into the tightly contoured greens. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr the course perfectly combines the natural desert and views of the Sea of Cortes on every hole.
A sister course of our #1 ranked Puerto Los Cabos, enjoy the same All-Inclusive amenities during your round at one of Cabo’s best public courses.
Green Fees can run anywhere from $145 – $275 depending on the time of the year. Be sure to check out there Triple Crown and Multi-Round Passes to save even more!
#3 - Quivira Golf Club
Opened in 2014, Quivira Golf Club has quickly established itself as one of the best new courses in the world. Holes 5 and 6 are two of the most beautiful holes in the world that have you dangling over the cliffs edge.
The Jack Nicklaus design isn’t worried about being conventional with a couple of holes that some players may find quirky. The course offers comfort stations with chefs ready to serve (included with the round) and conditioning is as top-notch as the service you’ll receive at the various comfort stations.
Quivira is one of the most fun and unique courses on the planet and makes a strong case as Cabo’s best track. The only thing holding us back from putting this at the #1 spot is you can only play this course as a guest of the Pueblo Bonito Resort. Rooms at the resort can run up to $1,000 a night during peak times.
Once at the resort, a round at Quivira will set you back another $300-$450 depending on the time of year. What do you think, is this one-of-a-kind course worth the price of admission?
#4 - Diamante Dunes
If there is one course to give Quivira a run for its money as the best 18 holes in Cabo it’s Diamante Dunes. Since its opening in 2009, it has widely been regarded as one of the best courses in Mexico.
Bringing links-style golf to the Baja California peninsula. When Diamante Dunes course designer Davis Love III first arrived on the Diamante site, he said, “It was like pulling up to St. Andrews.” Golf on the Dunes does share some similarities with the classic links courses in Scotland and Ireland–but here, the weather is warmer, the sand is whiter, and the sea is bluer.
You won’t find any cliffside views here. You may tee off down in the dunes, hitting a blind shot, just to find yourself popping out right next to the ocean.
The Dunes is more than just a world-class course. As part of the Dunes experience, players enjoy a pro-style practice facility; a can’t miss Slider Bar with mini sandwiches and refreshments before tee time; and additional small plates and libations at Diamante’s signature course-side comfort stations.
The only downside to the Diamante Dunes course is it went fully private shortly after opening in 2012. However, if you’re a guest at the Diamante Cabo San Lucas Golf & Spa Resort they do 90-minute sales pitches on their various residence clubs that as a reward for attending you can select a complimentary round on the Dunes Course.
#5 - Diamante - El Cardonal
After the success of the Dunes Course Diamante added another 18-hole course, El Cardonal. Most famously known as the first full course designed by Tiger Woods!
The Dunes was a hard act to follow, especially as this new course now occupies more of an inland, less visually exciting portion of the property. But Tiger used the land to his advantage using the existing arroyos and well-placed bunkers to add risk-reward shots all over the course.
As Tiger explains: “I set up the golf strategy to make golfers think and make choices. Regardless of your handicap, there are going to be different ways to play every hole. Angles of approach are going to be very important and will dictate the type of shots you should consider. I love this kind of golf.”
El Cardonal is a stout test from the back tees, measuring almost 7,400 yards from the back tees, with a slope/rating of 140/75.9. But there’s lots of fairway width to allow for the strong winds that often blow here. Greens are rather distinctive and they come in a variety of forms.
Unlike the Dunes course, El Cardonal is open to all guests staying at the Diamante Resorts or multiple Casitas available for rent at the property. Prices during the high season can run well into the thousands per night but deals can be found in the off-season for as low as $385 a night. Once at the resort however a round on El Cardonal will set you back another $320.
#6 - Palmilla Golf Club
Palmilla is the very first location that Jack Nicklaus designed, not only in Mexico but in all of Latin America. Two decades later, it still stands up very well against the many top-end layouts that have sprung up along the coastline between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo.
Palmilla consists of three 9-hole tracks. The core 18 opened in 1992, the Mountain and Arroyo courses. Several of the Mountain holes are played around four man-made lakes with forced carries from elevated tee boxes. Holes 6, 7, and 8 on the Arroyo nine are known locally as “Amen Corner,” each presenting a complete test of your golf game.
The last 9 holes, the Ocean Nine, opened in 1997, features a 600-foot elevation change from the first tee to the sixth green, carrying players from the mountains to the sea.
Don’t expect too many frills at Palmilla, such as comfort stations and a fancy clubhouse like other courses higher on this list. Instead, enjoy the 27 challenging holes Palmilla has to offer, that will have you pulling every club in your bag!
Be sure to check the aerification schedule ahead of time as the course will shut down each 9-hole course for 3-4 weeks to allow the greens to heal after being aerated. Depending on the time of year 18 holes will set you back anywhere from $155 to $325 a round.
#7 - Cabo Del Sol - Desert Course
Cabo Del Sol Course (formerly the Desert Course) is routed through mountain foothills and achieved immediate acclaim when it debuted in 2001.
Views of the ocean from all 18 holes create a breathtaking backdrop for your round, and its varying elevation changes and defended greens make for a fun and challenging round. With its enticing risk-reward options, the Del Sol Course presents a classic test and ranks among Tom Weiskopf’s finest designs.
Cabo Del Sol is fully open to the public and can played anywhere from $175 to $265 a round. Even though its sister course, formerly known as the Ocean Course, has now gone fully private during a rebrand to the Cove Club. Cabo Del Sol is still worth a play on any Cabo golf trip!
#8 - Club Campestre San Jose
Jack Nicklaus returned to Cabo to design Club Campestre San Jose. With spectacular views of the Sea of Cortez, canyons and mountains, Club Campestre San José invites you to enjoy the incredible panoramic views, dramatic elevation changes, and undulating championship greens of a first-rate Mexico golf club.
Club Campestre lures you in with its welcoming wide-open fairways. However, the Nicklaus design course gets its revenge on the putting surfaces. Campestre’s greens, among the most liberally contoured putting surfaces in Los Cabos, can be very challenging depending on pin placement.
My favorite hole is the par-3 sixth which is set on a rocky bluff 120 feet above an oasis-like green that is heavily defended by water and lush vegetation.
Another sister course to our top 2 ranked courses Puerto Los Cabos and Cabo Real. You can expect the same first-class, all-inclusive service during your round. One of the more affordable courses in Cabo, a round here will set you back anywhere from $120 to $245 a round.
#9 - Rancho San Lucas Golf Club
Rancho San Lucas GC is set back on a long stretch of Pacific beach, 20 minutes from downtown Cabo San Lucas. The Greg Norman Signature golf course opened to rave reviews in 2020.
Known for his ‘least-disturbance’ design approach, Norman tailored the course to the site’s existing terrain, creating a low-profile layout with panoramic ocean views from every hole. Spanning three different ecosystems, the layout rambles through huge windswept dunes at the start, climbs through a thick cactus forest crossed by arroyos, and returns players to the beach and sea on the back nine. Wide corridors and generous targets give players at all ability levels a chance.
The signature hole is definitely the island green 17th. Breezes off the ocean make this hole play differently each time you play it.
While not fully all-inclusive as other courses on this list a round here is reasonably priced anywhere from $115 to $390 depending on time of day and year.
#10 - Chileno Bay
Chileno Bay Golf Course sits above one of the best beaches in Cabo. This 18-hole layout is very different from a regular Tom Fazio design, with no rough to speak of and an extremely rugged style of bunkering. You must keep your shots in play on the grass or they’ll be lost in the surrounding desert scrub.
It’s certainly a very demanding course, with a slope rating of 145 from the back markers, but there’s sufficient fairway width to allow regular mid-handicap players to stay in the game quite comfortably – and enjoy views of the Sea of Cortez which is visible from all 18 holes.
Chileno Bay is a private course but is playable if you’re a guest of the Chileno Bay Resort. Unfortunately, a room here will set you back over $900 in the off-season with in-season rates skyrocketing over $2,000 a night! As a result, Chileno Bay only ends up at number 10 on our list.
#11 - Twin Dolphin
Twin Dolphin is self-described as Championship Golf for the Everyday Player. The Fred Couples designed course features sweeping ocean views from every hole, known for its firm, fast conditions.
This pristine layout has broad rolling fairways, open-entry greens, minimal forced carries, and sharp elevation changes. To settle bets there’s even a short par-3 “19th Gambler’s Hole” that calls for a 95-yard pitch shot over an arroyo.
The course is fully private, known for its no tee times and mandatory caddies. One can play Twin Dolphin by staying at the Montage Los Cabos, a resort hotel on Santa Maria Bay. A room here though goes for over $2,000 in peak season and $800 in non-peak months. The buck doesn’t stop there once you’re at the resort a round will cost you an additional $650!
#12 - Cabo San Lucas Country Club
Cabo San Lucas CC is located just minutes from the heart of Cabo San Lucas. Don’t be fooled by its name this course is fully open to the public. The course is the only one in Cabo that can boast it offers views of Land’s End and its internationally famous Arch.
A great warmup round to start any Cabo golf trip. The course also is a perfect place for mid-trip tune-ups as the area’s only after-hours driving range, which provides neon targets and well-priced buckets of beers.
18 holes at Cabo San Lucas will set you back anywhere from $185 – $285 a round. Making it one of the cheaper options in all of Cabo.
