Featured Golf Trip: Mayakoba

Thinking about getting yourself to a beach and a warm golf course this winter?

If you’re looking for a trip that blends a bucket-list routing with resort luxury, Mayakoba strikes the right notes. Just south of Cancun in Mexico’s Riviera Maya, it’s a development with four resort options parked between the Caribbean Sea and a winding network of mangrove-guarded canals and lagoons.

The eco-friendly community built about 25 years ago also features a standout golf course: El Camaleón, the Greg Norman design that—you may remember—played host to the World Wide Technology Championship for a stretch that included Viktor Hovland’s second career Tour dub. It shows off the diverse nature of the tropical surroundings—a little jungle, a little limestone-lined canal, a little ocean, a little cenote (natural underwater caves that sit, in some cases, center fairway). It’s rated Mexico’s 8th best by Golf Digest, which says the course is “beautifully married into the local ecosystems around it.”

The resorts are, too, and you have your pick: from the most swanky and butler-aided (Rosewood) to the serene private-pool villa (Banyan Tree), from larger and more family-friendly amenities (Fairmont) to the wellness-minded and recently redone (Alila). Those options, as one might imagine, come with a wide range of price tags, starting around $775 a night for a two-person room over a weekend in January.

It’s not the cheapest ticket in golf travel, but for a few days of jungle-to-ocean golf and a resort escape that is truly unique, Mayakoba earns its spot on the short list.

Pricing details

Overall range (golf + lodging): $2,520 – $5,540
• Assumes three days, three nights

Golf: $270 – $740
• Greens fees: $369 for prime time; $270 twilight

Stay: $2,250 – $4,800

Travel considerations
• Cancun International is about 35 minutes up the road.

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