Best Golf Courses in Cabo: My 4 Picks Anyone Can Book

By Cabo Wander

When a friend who golfs tells me they're going to Cabo, they've usually already booked the hotel, and now they want to know which of the famous courses to play. That's the wrong order, and it's the most useful thing I can tell you about Cabo golf. There are about twenty courses in Los Cabos. A visitor with no particular room key can book maybe six of them. Most of the names you've seen in the rankings are private, or they come with one specific hotel.

So here's my answer up front. The best course anyone can book is Puerto Los Cabos, and if you were searching for golf in Cabo San Lucas, you should know it's in San José, about 45 minutes away. It's the only fully public course with holes on the sand, and the green fee covers all the food and drinks you want out on the course. My number two is the Cabo del Sol Course, because it's 15 minutes from Cabo San Lucas. Number three is Club Campestre, the cheapest round I'd still recommend. Number four is Cabo Real, which is convenient and a little overpriced for what's in it.

Quivira, the cliff course on every poster, is the one splurge I'd pay for. You can only play it if you're sleeping at a Pueblo Bonito hotel. That's why I've sorted this post by who's allowed on first, and ranked the courses second. Pick the course, then pick the hotel.

I judged the public four on three things. Can anybody book it, with no conditions? What's actually inside the green fee? And what is the course known for, good and bad? I plan a lot of these trips for friends, and that second question changes the math more than people expect.

1. Puerto Los Cabos

Puerto Los Cabos is first because it's the public course that feels the most like the private ones, and because of what the fee includes.

It's 27 holes on the hillside and shore just east of San José. Two of the nines are Jack Nicklaus designs and the third is Greg Norman's, and any two of them make your eighteen. A couple of holes and a couple more greens sit right on the beach. No other course on my public list gets you that close to the water, and it has the steadiest reputation for turf of the four.

The fee is where it pulls ahead. There are four staffed palapas around the course with cooks and bartenders, and everything they make is in the price, alcohol included. Think breakfast tacos, empanadas and a margarita at the turn, and the menu changes every couple of weeks. So the round is also breakfast, lunch and your drinks. That's why I don't flinch at the number.

Winter mornings (November to mid-May): about US$400
Winter afternoons: about US$300
Late spring and late October: about US$250 to $335
July to mid-October: about US$210 to $280

Tax and the cart are in those. It's the most expensive of the four, and I still think it's the best value on this list once you count lunch and the bar.

Here's my tip. Book a morning, and when you book, ask which nines are in play that day and ask for the Ocean nine. I can't promise you'll get your pick, but it costs nothing to ask.

What I'd want to be different is the pace policing. The club holds everyone to about four and a half hours, and marshals in red shirts will come find you if you fall behind. The complaint golfers have, and I think it's a fair one, is getting hurried past the food they already paid for. On the flip side, if slow groups ahead of you mean you don't finish, don't expect much back. Something like US$70 on a US$300 round is the scale of it.

The other catch is where it is. From the San José hotel zone it's 10 to 15 minutes. From Cabo San Lucas it's about 45, and the taxi both ways is a real piece of another green fee, so ask your hotel what it runs before you commit. If golf is a big part of the trip, I'd honestly just stay on this side. The JW Marriott and Secrets are next door, and the rest are in the best hotels in San José del Cabo.

Bottom line: if you're playing one round in Los Cabos and your hotel doesn't come with a course, this is the one.

2. The Cabo del Sol Course

Cabo del Sol is second because it's the closest serious course to Cabo San Lucas that anyone can book, no questions asked. It's about 15 minutes from the marina, at the San Lucas end of the highway I cover in my Tourist Corridor guide.

This is the Tom Weiskopf course, with six newer holes and a newer clubhouse added to it. The practice ground is excellent, and the pricing is the simplest on this list, with one flat rate all day and no morning premium.

Now the correction, because this one trips up a LOT of people. Cabo del Sol used to have two courses. The famous one, with the Nicklaus holes along the shoreline that you've seen in photos, is now the Cove Club, and it's private. The one you can book is the inland course of the two. The club says it has ocean views from every hole, and that's fair. You're looking at the water from up the slope. You aren't playing along it. It's a good course. Just know which one you're buying.

Summer and fall: about US$195 plus tax, so around US$225
From November: about US$295 plus tax, so around US$340

That "plus tax" matters. Cabo del Sol quotes its rate before 16% tax, and the other three courses on my list quote theirs with tax in. The fee gets you the round, a shared cart, practice balls and bottled water. I wouldn't count on food or drinks at the comfort stations being part of it, so ask what's included when you book, and budget for lunch.

A few more things to ask about. The course has closed on Mondays in summer. The development around it is still being built, so there can be construction traffic near the cart paths. And if you're staying at one of the hotels inside Cabo del Sol, ask whether guests get a better rate. I don't know that they do. How the hotel there compares with its sister up the coast is in Four Seasons Cabo del Sol vs Costa Palmas.

You book by phone or email, and they'll want a card to hold it.

For a golfer staying in Cabo San Lucas who doesn't want to spend an hour and a half in a car, this is my pick.

3. Club Campestre San José

Campestre is the cheapest round here that golfers still recommend, and that's the whole reason it's third.

It's a Nicklaus Design course in the hills north of San José, about 15 minutes from the airport. It's desert and hillside golf with big greens in several tiers, and the sea is something you see in the distance. No hole touches the water. It's quiet, and it has a local membership, which I always take as a good sign.

Winter mornings: about US$260
Winter afternoons: about US$195
Late spring and late October: about US$170 to $225
July to mid-October: about US$130 to $175

A summer afternoon at around US$130 is the cheapest decent eighteen holes in Los Cabos. The fee includes the cart, the range and a bottle of water, and that's it. Bring cash for a drink.

My honest caution is about the turf. Water is the long-running problem for desert courses here, and Campestre's condition has swung from one year to the next because of it. So ask your hotel or the pro shop how the course is playing right now, and don't trust anything you read that's more than a few months old.

It pairs really well with Puerto Los Cabos, since they're both 10 to 15 minutes from the San José hotels. If you're doing two rounds, I'd play both and sleep on that side. What else is over there is in my San José del Cabo guide.

4. Cabo Real

Cabo Real is the easiest course to get to from the most hotels, and it's fourth because of what it charges for that.

It's a Robert Trent Jones Jr course from the 1990s, right in the middle of the Corridor, 20 to 30 minutes from either town. The front nine climbs up into the hills on one side of the highway, and a few holes come down to sea level near the hotels. If you're staying at the Hilton, Paradisus, Dreams or Las Ventanas, it's basically out front.

Winter mornings: about US$300
Winter afternoons: about US$220
Late spring and late October: about US$195 to $260
July to mid-October: about US$160 to $215

Here's my problem with it. That US$300 buys the round, the cart and a bottle of water. Put it next to US$400 at Puerto Los Cabos, where breakfast, lunch and the bar are covered, and the two are a lot closer than they look. For most people I think the extra hundred is the better spend. The clubhouse is dated too, and the condition has been up and down over the last couple of years, so ask for a current report here as well.

Two kinds of reader should still book it. One is anyone staying mid-Corridor who wants a morning round without a long ride. The other is a family with a junior, because Cabo Real has had rates for kids 16 and under of about US$80 to $150, which is rare here. Confirm that when you call.

I'd play it on a multi-round pass before I'd pay the full winter rate for it, and the pass is in the fees section below.

Solmar Golf Links: Probably Bookable, So Call First

I've kept this one out of the numbered list because I can't tell you for sure that you can get on.

Solmar Golf Links is the Greg Norman course on the Pacific side, north of Cabo San Lucas. It used to be called Rancho San Lucas, and half the internet still uses the old name, so you'll see both. It's a links-style course with the ocean in view the whole way around, and it's known for being kept in excellent shape.

For a long time I've treated it as a course for guests of the Solmar resort next to it. Tee-time resellers do sell it to anyone, at roughly US$200 to $300 in summer and US$315 to $400 in winter, with food and drinks on the course included. So call the pro shop and confirm you can book without staying there before you plan a day around it. If the answer is yes, it's the best course near Cabo San Lucas that doesn't need a room key, and I'd put it second on this list.

Three things to know if you go:

Tee off as early as you can. The wind out here is serious, 30 miles an hour and more by late morning on a bad day.
Skip the last afternoon times. A late start can run into closing time, with the food stations already shut. I wouldn't book anything after about 1:30.
Line up your ride back before you tee off. It's 25 to 30 minutes from the marina, and Uber often can't pick up behind the gates on this coast. I explain that in my Pacific side guide.

Two Public Courses I Left Off

Cabo San Lucas Country Club is the closest course to downtown, five to ten minutes from the marina, and it's the only one with a view of the Arch. It's also the cheapest eighteen in Cabo San Lucas, at roughly US$100 to $235 depending on the month and the time of day. The turf is what golfers complain about, with bare patches on the fairways and greens. I've also heard it was in good shape more recently. So it's the convenience pick, and I wouldn't book it without a fresh report.

Vidanta is nine flat holes inside a resort in the San José hotel zone, at roughly US$120 to $185. It's for beginners, kids and an easy nine with someone who doesn't really golf. Ask whether a food and drink charge gets added to the fee.

The Courses That Need the Right Room Key

These are the famous ones, and each belongs to a hotel. The hotel books the tee time for you and the fee goes on your room. So for these, you choose where to sleep based on where you want to play.

Quivira (stay at a Pueblo Bonito)

This is the splurge I'd pay for. Quivira is a Jack Nicklaus course cut into the cliffs above the Pacific, it's kept in great shape, and the fee covers everything you eat and drink at four comfort stations.

You have to be a guest at one of the four Pueblo Bonito hotels in Los Cabos. Here's the trick. Two of those four, Rosé and Blanco, are on Médano Beach. So you can sleep on a beach you can swim at and still get the tee time. A free shuttle runs between the Médano hotels and Quivira by reservation. Ask whether it'll take golf bags and whether it goes to the clubhouse, because I don't know.

Plan on about US$360 to $465 from October to May and about US$300 to $400 in summer, with tax in. Mornings cost the most. In winter the last tee time is 1:00.

The catches are real. A round can run to six hours, partly because of the long cart rides between holes and partly because everybody stops for photos on the cliffs. It's windy. And it's tight, with blind shots, so if your handicap is over 15 or so it can be a long day. The club also says no non-playing riders. Ask anyway, because it may be possible for a fee.

The Dunes and El Cardonal at Diamante (stay at the Hard Rock or Nobu)

The Dunes, by Davis Love III, is usually ranked the best course in Mexico. El Cardonal next to it was Tiger Woods' first design, and the PGA Tour plays there. Diamante is a private club that lets Hard Rock and Nobu guests on when there's room.

"When there's room" is the catch. The club doesn't publish a guest fee. The numbers I'd plan around are about US$320 for the Dunes and about US$400 for El Cardonal, where a forecaddie is required. Ask for the real figure. The club has also said it's heading toward members only. So get the tee time and the price confirmed in writing BEFORE you pay for the room.

Two more things. El Cardonal is off limits to hotel guests for a week in early November, when the tour is in town. And each course may shut one day a week for maintenance, so ask which day. I wouldn't choose either hotel for a first trip to Cabo for any reason except this golf, and I explain why in Hard Rock vs Nobu Los Cabos.

Twin Dolphin (stay at Montage)

Twin Dolphin is the Fred Couples course behind Montage. It's the quietest, most private-feeling round a visitor can buy here. It's around US$650 for a hotel guest, which includes the cart, a caddie, the practice tee and the food stations out on the course. Ask the hotel for the current figure.

That's a lot of money for a round. If the budget doesn't care and you want an empty course with a caddie, this is yours. The hotel is the other half of the decision, and it's in Montage vs Chileno Bay.

Costa Palmas (stay at the Four Seasons on the East Cape)

The Robert Trent Jones II course at Costa Palmas is for members and Four Seasons guests. The guest package has run about US$275 a player per day plus tax for unlimited golf, with clubs, a cart and the food and drinks on the course. If that's still the deal, it's the best value in this group by a wide margin. Confirm it.

The catch is the map. It's more than an hour from Cabo, and there's no other golf nearby. What the rest of that coast is like is in my East Cape guide.

Palmilla (stay at the One&Only)

Palmilla is the course that started golf in Cabo, and a lot of websites still list it as 27 public holes. It isn't that right now. Most of it is closed for a long rebuild, and what's open is for members and One&Only guests. Check before you plan around it. I wouldn't choose the hotel for the golf at the moment, though there are other good reasons to stay there, and they're in Las Ventanas vs One&Only Palmilla.

Members Only: You Can Stop Looking

These come up in every "best courses" search, and you can't book them. I'm listing them so you don't lose an evening trying.

The Cove Club. This is the old Cabo del Sol Ocean course. It's been private since 2019, and you'd need a member to bring you.
El Dorado. Members.
Querencia. Members and their guests.
Chileno Bay. It's a private club. Guests of the Chileno Bay resort may be able to get on, so if you're staying there, ask the hotel.

If you see a list that calls Quivira, the Dunes or "the Cabo del Sol Ocean course" public, it's out of date. The famous courses here have been closing their doors one at a time for years, and I'd expect the public list to get shorter.

What's Actually in the Green Fee

Okay, now the part that makes two prices hard to compare. In Cabo the number tells you less than what's inside it.

The cart is always included, and you have to take it. Nobody walks these courses.

Food and drinks are the big split. At Puerto Los Cabos and Quivira, everything at the stations is included, alcohol too, and Solmar Golf Links is sold the same way. At Cabo Real, Campestre and the Country Club you get bottled water. At Cabo del Sol, assume water and ask about the rest.

Tax is in the price at the three Questro courses (Puerto Los Cabos, Campestre and Cabo Real) and at Quivira. At Cabo del Sol, add 16%.

Then come the extras:

Rental clubs: about US$60 to $85 a set per round. If you're playing three or four rounds, bring your own, because the rentals pass the airline bag fee by about the second day.
A non-golfer riding along: about US$35 to $70 at the public courses, if there's space.
A caddie: not standard at any public course. At the Questro courses you can request one 48 hours ahead, and it still isn't guaranteed.
Tips: nothing is posted anywhere. I'd carry small bills for the bag staff and for the cooks and bartenders at the stations, who work for tips. For a caddie, US$30 to $50 a player is the usual range, and US$20 to $25 each for a shared forecaddie.

If you're playing more than one round, look at the Questro passes before you pay the regular rate. One round at each of the three runs about US$730 in winter, against about US$950 booked separately. There are two-round versions too. For three or four rounds on a budget, that pass and a hotel in San José is what I'd do.

A golf day adds up quickly next to everything else on the trip, and my post on how much Cabo costs has the rest of the daily budget.

When to Play

November to mid-May is the best golf, with the best turf and mild mornings, and you pay full price for it. Winter morning times go first.

July to mid-October is the bargain, roughly a quarter to a third off at the Questro courses and a bit less than that at Quivira. The reason is the weather. It's in the 90s and humid, so take the first tee time of the day or don't go. Summer is also when the greens get aerated, and most clubs won't mention it. Ask whether the greens have just been punched before you book.

Late October, and mid-May into June, are the middle ground, and they're what I'd aim for.

Two seasonal things catch people. On the Pacific side, which means Quivira, Diamante and Solmar Golf Links, the wind blows from about February to June and it's worst in March and April. Play early out there. The Corridor and San José courses are more sheltered.

And in winter, twilight is short. The sun's down by about 5:35 in December, so a 1:30 start at a four and a half hour pace finishes in the dusk. The afternoon rate is a good deal only if you get all eighteen in.

One nice thing about a winter round. From mid-December you can see whales from the shore holes at Puerto Los Cabos and from the Pacific courses. The rest of the calendar is in the best time to visit Cabo.

Booking It, and the Mistakes I'd Avoid

For a winter morning, book the tee time when you book your flights. The Questro courses take reservations online up to a year ahead, and you can cancel up to 24 hours before. In summer, a few days ahead is plenty. Cabo del Sol is a phone call or an email. The hotel courses go through your concierge once the room is confirmed.

On the day, you drop your bags with the staff out front, check in at the shop, hit a few balls on the range and go. It's a shared cart with GPS.

Here's what I see go wrong:

Booking the hotel first. A Hard Rock room doesn't get you onto Quivira, and a Pueblo Bonito room doesn't get you onto Diamante. Nothing but a member gets you onto the Cove Club.
Showing up without a collared shirt. Every club wants a collared shirt and golf shorts or pants, with no denim. Cabo del Sol in particular enforces it, and the fix is buying shirts in the pro shop. For a group, that can come close to US$200.
Taking the last twilight time. You may not finish, and at the all-in courses the food stations close before you get to them.
Expecting a caddie. See above.
Forgetting the ride. Nobody provides one. At the Corridor and San José courses an Uber will come, at roughly half the taxi fare, though with golf travel bags I'd order the big one. Behind the Pacific-side gates it may not come at all. Ask your hotel what a taxi to the clubhouse costs, since there are no meters, and the rest is in getting around Cabo. For three courses from one base, I'd rent a car. Parking at the clubhouses is free as far as I know.
Bringing a non-golfer to Quivira for the views. Ask first.

The Verdict

Pick the course, then the hotel. And if your hotel doesn't come with a course, play Puerto Los Cabos in the morning.

Here's what I'd book for you:

One round on a trip that isn't about golf: Puerto Los Cabos, a morning time.
One round, staying in Cabo San Lucas, no long drive: the Cabo del Sol Course. Solmar Golf Links if the pro shop says you can book it.
The famous photo: Quivira, from a Pueblo Bonito hotel. Rosé or Blanco if you want to swim, Pacifica if you want quiet.
Three or four rounds on a budget: the Questro pass, staying in San José.
The cheapest decent eighteen: Club Campestre in the afternoon.
A beginner, or nine holes with someone who doesn't golf: Vidanta.
The top of the rankings: the Dunes, from the Hard Rock or Nobu, with the tee time and the fee in writing first.
Money no object: Twin Dolphin, from Montage, which is also one of my top picks in the best luxury resorts in Cabo.
A family with a junior: Cabo Real.
A summer deal, if you can take the heat: any Questro course, first tee time.

And here's who I'd tell to skip it. If US$300 sounds like too much for a round and you'd spend the back nine resenting it, golf here isn't for you, and that's fine. A high handicapper will have a hard day at Quivira. And nobody should book a Pacific-side afternoon in spring.

I think Cabo is a really good golf trip for people who plan the golf first... and a frustrating one for everybody who books the room and then goes looking. If you haven't picked a hotel yet, the best resorts in Cabo ranks them across every area, and where to stay in Cabo tells you which area each course belongs to. If the rest of your group doesn't golf, they've got plenty of options in my list of things to do in Cabo.

Here's how I'd text it to a friend: most of the famous courses are private or come with one hotel, so check before you book the room. Anyone can play Puerto Los Cabos, and it's the best of the public ones, about $400 on a winter morning with all the food and drinks in. Cabo del Sol if you're staying in San Lucas, and add tax. Campestre if you want cheap. Quivira only from a Pueblo Bonito. Collared shirt, morning tee time, and sort out your ride home first.

Quick Answers

What is the best golf course in Cabo? By the rankings it's the Dunes at Diamante, which is private and open to Hard Rock and Nobu guests when there's room. Of the courses anyone can book, it's Puerto Los Cabos. For the views it's Quivira, for Pueblo Bonito guests only.

Which Cabo golf courses are public? Puerto Los Cabos, Club Campestre San José, Cabo Real, the Cabo del Sol Course, Cabo San Lucas Country Club and the nine holes at Vidanta. Solmar Golf Links, the old Rancho San Lucas, is sold to the public by resellers, so confirm with the pro shop.

Can I play Quivira if I'm not staying at Pueblo Bonito? No. You have to be a guest at one of the four Pueblo Bonito hotels in Los Cabos, and the two on Médano Beach count.

Can the public still play the Cabo del Sol Ocean course? No. It's the private Cove Club now. What you can book is the Cabo del Sol Course, the inland one.

How much is a round of golf in Cabo? At the public courses, about US$130 to $400 depending on the course, the season and the time of day. The hotel courses run from about US$300 at Quivira in summer to around US$650 at Twin Dolphin. The cart is always included, and food and drinks are included at Puerto Los Cabos and Quivira.