Golf in Punta Mita: Courses, Access, and What to Know

Punta Mita has two Jack Nicklaus Signature golf courses, Pacifico and Bahia. Before choosing a course or planning around the island green, confirm whether your accommodation gives you access and how to book a tee time. Golf in Punta Mita is excellent, but access is the first thing to settle.

Can you play golf in Punta Mita?

These are private courses. The Riviera Nayarit tourism board lists club members, residents and guests of Punta Mita resorts among those who may play. Confirm eligibility for your specific stay before making plans; an address inside the development alone does not establish the booking terms.

Hotel guests can ask their resort concierge about access and reservations. If you are renting a home, ask the manager to confirm the home’s applicable membership, guest privileges and booking process in writing. Do not assume that every rental has identical golf access.

If golf is the reason for the trip, this decides where you stay before it decides anything else. Our guide to where to stay in Punta Mita covers how the development, the hotels and the town outside the gates differ.

What access does not include

Within Four Seasons Punta Mita, villas and residences come with access to the hotel’s pools, restaurants, bars and spa, and to Punta Mita’s community amenities. Check the exact rental agreement for included services and additional charges; access does not mean that every service is included or that everything is charged separately.

Golf is one of those services. Being eligible to book a tee time is not the same as having golf paid for, and a home described as having golf-course frontage is not a home that comes with golf. Ask what a specific home includes, in writing, before you book on the strength of the course.

Pacifico, and the Tail of the Whale

Pacifico is the older of the two. Nicklaus Design records it as opening in 1999, a par 72 running just over 7,000 yards from the back tees, on the ocean side of the peninsula.

Its reputation rests on one hole, and the hole is optional. Nicklaus Design describes an extra par 3 of 199 yards with its tee on the beach and its green on a natural island offshore, shaped like a whale’s tail, which is where the name comes from. The firm treats it as a nineteenth hole; the Riviera Nayarit tourism board lists it as hole 3B, an optional par 3 whose island green sits in what it calls perhaps the largest water hazard on the planet. Either way, it is played as an addition to a normal round rather than as part of one, and you should ask whether it is available on the day rather than assume it.

Four Seasons states that the Tail of the Whale can only be played at low tide. Confirm the available playing window and any operational restrictions with the golf team for your date.

If you have read our guide to Punta Mita’s beaches, you have already met this stretch of coast from the other direction: the residents’ Pacifico Beach Club sits above this hole.

Bahia, the second course

Bahia opened ten years after Pacifico, with its opening ceremony on 16 November 2009. Nicklaus Design records a par 72 of 7,035 yards, made up of five par 3s, eight par 4s and five par 5s, with Miniverde greens built to USGA standards.

Where Pacifico faces open ocean, Bahia turns toward Banderas Bay, and its best-known stretch comes late in the round. Nicklaus Design singles out the 15th, a 462-yard par 4 whose approach opens onto the bay and the Puerto Vallarta skyline across it, and the 17th, a 387-yard par 4 that doglegs left around the contour of a cove.

Together the two courses give the development 36 holes, which is how The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort describes the golf available to its guests.

Booking a tee time

If you are staying at one of the hotels, the concierge is the route. The St. Regis states that golf reservations are made through its concierge, and gives the hours as 7:30 am to 7 pm daily. Arranging tee times is one of the things hotel staff inside the gates do as a matter of course, which is part of what a resort stay buys.

If you are renting a home instead, the arrangement runs through whoever manages it, and it is worth settling before you arrive. Ask who books the tee time, whether your rental gives you access as a resident’s guest, and what you will be charged and when. A villa with a view of a fairway does not answer any of those three questions.

Request your preferred date and tee time before arrival, and ask what alternatives are available if that slot cannot be confirmed. Check cancellation terms and how changes are handled.

Rates and inclusions

Four Seasons publishes seasonal golf rates and states that its green fees include a shared cart and use of the driving range. Taxes, service charges, equipment rentals and other extras can affect the total. Ask for the current quote that applies to your eligibility and booking.

Confirm the course, number of holes, equipment needs and any island-hole arrangements when comparing quotes. Ask which inclusions apply to your booking rather than assuming that a published hotel guest rate applies to every stay.

If you are still deciding on Punta Mita

If golf is a priority, choose accommodation with confirmed access, arrange the booking before you fly, and check the island hole’s availability for your date. A fairway view or an address inside the gates is not a substitute for that confirmation.

Golf in Punta Mita is easiest to enjoy when tee times and access are confirmed before you arrive. For everything else about the peninsula, and how the golf fits the rest of it, start with our Punta Mita travel guide.