The Undisputed Leader: Golf Riviera Nayarit
By Dave McKibben
Cabo is the undisputed golf capital of Mexico, with nearly 20 courses lining the tip of the Baja Peninsula, many of them perennially ranked among the 100 in the world. The other 200 or so courses in Mexico are sprinkled throughout the country, so there doesn’t appear to be a clear No. 2 region.
Could it be Nayarit? Unfolding just 10 miles north of Puerto Vallarta and tucked between the Pacific Ocean and the Western Sierra Madre Mountains, the Riviera Nayarit stretches for nearly 200 miles and is home to nine championship golf courses. Last month, I sampled five of the nine courses in just 36 hours.
First up was the semi-private Pacifico course at Punta Mita Golf Club, an old favorite and the unquestioned jewel of Riviera Nayarit. My third round at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Pacifico, which features eight stunning oceanfront holes (the most coastal exposure than any course in Mexico), was my most enjoyable. I’d always been impressed with the creative layout and sheer beauty of the course, but I’ve never seen it in better condition. There wasn’t a speck of grass out of place in the lush fairways and the greens were rolling faster and truer than ever.
I later learned that Pacifico’s greens and surrounds had recently undergone a complete restoration.
“The restoration has been a game changer for the golf experience,” said John McIntyre, Punta Mita’s director of golf. “Our Tiff-Eagle Bermuda greens are as fast and smooth as they’ve ever been.”
No kidding. For a minute, I thought I was playing Pinehurst – three-putting my first two holes and sailing my initial putts 15 feet past the hole and nearly off the green. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one to notice the immaculate course conditions. Earlier this year, the European Senior Tour announced they would be bringing a professional tournament to the Pacifico course in November, the inaugural WCM Mexico Senior Open. Former Masters Champ Ian Woosnam, former U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell and former European Ryder Cuppers Constantino Rocca and Jean Van de Velde have already committed to playing.
The pros will bypass “hole 3B” – also known as the “Tail of the Whale,” featuring the world’s only natural island green. The 180-yard iconic island hole wasn’t designed as an official hole on the scorecard, but you don’t dare play Pacifico without trying to conquer it. The rocky path from the beach to the black-lava island green was submerged in several feet of water in my previous two trips, but this time it was low tide and above water. Sadly, I yanked a 4-iron into the bottom of the ocean, and I was unable to claim victory over the Tail of Whale.
Just a few minutes down the road from Pacifico is Higuera Golf Club. From spacious my room at the Iberostar Selection Play Mita, I had a spectacular view of Higuera’s 18th green with the Pacific Ocean foaming in the background. Formerly known as Litibu Golf Club, the 7,022-yard Greg Norman designed public course is in the middle of a $7 million makeover. New owners have already poured $2 million into infrastructure and irrigation upgrades, and they are planning to spend another $5 million on new carts, maintenance and improving the greens and fairways. The front nine was being renovated so I was unable to play the signature par 3 fourth hole, modeled after Pebble Beach’s legendary 16th hole, with the postage stamp green overlooking the Pacific.
The back nine was a challenging journey of rolling, tight fairways through the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains. Along the way, we reset the round at the 13th hole with two delicious mahi-mahi tacos on blue corn tortillas and a wee shot of Nayarit’s finest Tequila at one of courses’ two comfort stations. Food and drink are included in the all-inclusive green fees, a dandy perk not offered anywhere else in Nayarit.
Martin Cote, Higuera’s director of golf, has ramped up the number of rounds by developing golf packages with nearly 20 hotels in the area. Golf is steadily rising in popularity throughout Nayarit, especially among Americans. A recent study showed that 18% of the nearly 600,000 Americans who visited Nayarit in 2022 played golf. “We don’t have nearly as many courses as Cabo does,” Cote said. “But most of our courses are public and it’s a lot easier to get tee times here, as opposed to Cabo.”
Flamingos and El Tigre, an hour’s drive from Punta Mita and close to the Puerto Vallarta airport, weren’t nearly as scenic as Pacifico and Higuera, but both were challenging and plenty long. Flamingos plays over 6,800 yards from the tips and El Tigre is over 7,200 yards. Flamingos doesn’t have any ocean views, but there’s plenty of water and danger—nine water hazards, and 43 bunkers, many of them greenside. El Tigre is a creation of Robert Von Hagge, who also designed Bajamar, a coastal course near Ensenada. The ocean breezes, 12 water holes and tight fairways make El Tigre one of Mexico’s trickier and most popular courses. GolfPass ranked El Tigre as the 17th most popular public course this year.
We saved the most peculiar course for last, the Lakes Course at Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta, a lush 10-hole, walkable par 3 course carved out of a jungle. After sweating through 45 holes over the past two days in 85-degree heat, I was ready for a short, cool and leisurely round of night golf under the lights. But only one of three happened. The holes weren’t long – between 85 and 115 yards – but every single one featured a carry over a manmade lake and a view of a Vidanta hotel tower. I started the round with four golf balls. By the sixth hole, my green Radda polo shirt was sopping wet with sweat (the moisture from the lakes and the nearby ocean ramped up the humidity to 90%) and I was borrowing tattered balls from my playing partners. Somehow, I rallied, finishing my two-day Nayarit excursion in style with pars on 3 of the last four holes. I even left town with a ball in my pocket.
Getting There
For Southern Californians, accessing Nayarit is easy and inexpensive via the Cross Border Xpress in Otay Mesa, where $23 will take you across the border, through customs and airport security in 15 minutes to the remodeled Tijuana International Airport. Street parking, reserved and valet parking are available at CBX, which has had over 22 million passengers since opening eight years ago. Round trips for the three-hour flight from Tijuana to Puerto Vallarta start at just $250 on Volaris Airlines.
