Golf guide • Mexico • Baja California Sur

Golf in Los Cabos: desert, cactus and the Pacific at the tip of Baja

Los Cabos, at the southern tip of Baja California in Mexico, has eighteen courses between cactus desert and ocean, making it the country's leading golf destination. Tom Weiskopf's Cabo del Sol and the twenty-seven holes of Puerto Los Cabos, by Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman, are open to all; Quivira, Nicklaus's clifftop course, is reserved for guests of the Pueblo Bonito hotels. The best season runs from mid-November to April.

Plan this tripUpdated 4 November 2026

At the end of the Baja California peninsula, the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific beneath granite cliffs. Between the two towns of Los Cabos, San José del Cabo to the east and Cabo San Lucas to the west, desert studded with cardón cactus runs down to the beaches. There are eighteen courses in play here, designed by Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Tom Weiskopf and Tiger Woods; one of them, El Cardonal at Diamante, hosts a PGA Tour event every November.

Here, your hotel decides where you can play. Quivira accepts only guests of the Pueblo Bonito hotels; the Dunes and El Cardonal, at Diamante, are reserved for owners and members of the estate's residence club. Cabo del Sol's Ocean Course has become a private club, and Palmilla's Nicklaus course is being rebuilt: only the Arroyo nine remains open, to members and hotel guests. Choosing the right base makes all the difference.

Allow a week: the journey is long, and the eight-hour time difference with Paris is best put to work with dawn tee times. Play the two great public courses, Cabo del Sol on the tourist corridor and Puerto Los Cabos near San José, then keep two nights on the Pacific side for Quivira. One morning at sea, from mid-December to mid-April, is enough to see humpback whales.

The courses

Desert fairway between granite boulders, scrub and cardón cactus, with green and flag against the ocean in early morning

Cabo del Sol Course

Architect: Tom Weiskopf; Fry/Straka (2023)
Opened 2001
18 holes
Par 72

Opened in December 2001, this was Tom Weiskopf's first course in Latin America, long known as the Desert Course. In 2023 the Fry/Straka practice added six holes on the mountainside. The fairways wind through the arroyos, between cardón cactus and boulders, and the sea is in view from every hole. Its neighbour, Nicklaus's Ocean Course, has become a private club: this is the half of Cabo del Sol you can still play. Open to all, by reservation, in the heart of the corridor, it suits players who like to plot their way round.

Official website

Puerto Los Cabos Golf Club

Architect: Jack Nicklaus; Greg Norman
Opened 2007
27 holes

Near San José del Cabo, on the Sea of Cortez, Puerto Los Cabos lines up twenty-seven holes in three loops of nine, combined into three courses: Ocean, Jack Nicklaus's original nine, opened in 2007; Vista, his second nine, opened in 2018; and Mission, by Greg Norman. You can therefore play Nicklaus and Norman in the same round. The opening holes of Vista are played at sea level, among dunes and arroyos; the later ones climb into the hills, with views over the marina. Open to the public, it makes a fine second round.

Signature hole. The 5th and 6th on the Ocean loop are cut into the shoreline, with the Sea of Cortez running alongside the fairway.

Official website

Quivira Golf Club

Architect: Jack Nicklaus
Opened 2014
18 holes
Par 72

Jack Nicklaus came to open Quivira in December 2014. The course runs across the granite cliffs and Pacific dunes west of Cabo San Lucas, with steep changes in elevation that make a buggy essential. Nicklaus himself called it playable, designed to stay enjoyable: the drama comes from the setting rather than the difficulty. On the estate stands the Faro Viejo, a lighthouse dating from 1905, where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific. Tee times are reserved for guests of the Pueblo Bonito hotels and Quivira residents.

Signature hole. The par-3 7th and 14th are played from rocky points to greens perched some 25 metres above the Pacific.

Official website

Where to stay

One&Only Palmilla

Opened in the 1950s, when Los Cabos was barely on the map, Palmilla welcomed Bing Crosby, Ernest Hemingway and Dwight Eisenhower. Today it has 173 rooms and two Michelin Keys. Its Blue Flag beach is safe for swimming, which cannot be taken for granted on this coast. Its Jack Nicklaus course is being rebuilt until 2028: only the Arroyo nine remains open to guests. Stay for the beach and the service, and play the neighbouring courses on the corridor.

Hotel El Ganzo

Pablo Sánchez Navarro opened El Ganzo in 2012 on the marina at Puerto Los Cabos, with a simple idea: artists stay in exchange for their work, a mural or a concert. A recording studio occupies the basement. The adults-only hotel has its own beach, one of the few in San José where you can swim, and the Puerto Los Cabos course on the same estate. The rooftop is lively; ask for the Penthouse Suite, with its outdoor jacuzzi and views over the sea and marina.

Acre

In the hills of Ánimas Bajas, above San José del Cabo, two Canadian friends, Cameron Watt and Stuart McPherson, turned a simple restaurant and bar into a ten-hectare estate, with an organic farm that supplies more than sixty crops to the kitchen, which holds a Michelin Green Star. Ask for one of the adults-only treehouses, with private terrace and outdoor shower; mosquito net provided. For a group, the villas and haciendas have their own pools.

Terrace under a palm-thatched roof, wooden loungers and pool, bougainvillea and cactus garden facing the sea at dusk

Where to dine

Flora's Field Kitchen

Gloria and Patrick Greene started Flora Farms as an organic farm in the late 1990s, at the foot of the Sierra de la Laguna. The family grows its vegetables, raises its chickens, butchers its meat and bakes its bread; Michelin awards it a Bib Gourmand and a Green Star. Start at the bar with a Farmarita, the house carrot margarita, then order the pork chop with crispy potatoes. Portions are generous.

Taquería Rossy

On Boulevard Mauricio Castro in San José del Cabo, the same family has run this fish and seafood taquería for more than a quarter of a century. Half a dozen tables, blue-and-white checked tablecloths, no view. People come for the almejas chocolatas, Baja clams named for the colour of their shells, and the tacos gobernador, prawns and melted cheese in a flour tortilla.

Los Tres Gallos

In the centre of Cabo San Lucas, Los Tres Gallos serves traditional Mexican cooking around a large courtyard, with a rooftop terrace open in the evening. Michelin singles out its pozole, a broth spiced with roasted chillies and tomatoes, its chiles rellenos and its mole. Save room: the house flan is for sharing. A good address after a round at the western end of the corridor.

Grilled fish tacos with cabbage, tomato and lime, terracotta bowls of salsa, a beach palapa in the background

Beyond golf

Humpback whales

From mid-December to mid-April, humpback whales come to calve off the cape; sightings are most reliable from January to March. Licensed boats must keep their distance from the animals. Book a morning trip, with calm seas and low light, and play in the afternoon: whale season is also the best season for golf.

The San José del Cabo Art Walk

Every Thursday evening from November to June, the gallery district behind the mission church and Plaza Mijares closes to cars and the galleries stay open late. Entry is free. Combine it with dinner at Flora Farms, in the hills above the town.

Cabo Pulmo National Park

On the east coast, Cabo Pulmo has been a national park since 1995 and is part of the Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California World Heritage Site. Its reef holds the only coral system in the gulf; since fishing was banned, the fish have returned in numbers. Allow a full day, mask and snorkel included.

When to go

The golf season runs from mid-November to April: dry weather, 26 to 30°C in the afternoon, and cool nights from December to February, around 12 to 14°C. The courses are then at their best. May and June stay dry but reach 32°C; from July to October the heat turns humid. The Pacific hurricane season runs from mid-May to the end of November, peaking from July to September. Winter is high season: book early-morning tee times.

Getting there

Los Cabos International Airport (SJD) is about ten kilometres north of San José del Cabo, 20 to 40 minutes from the corridor. There is no direct flight from France: Condor flies from Frankfurt to Los Cabos twice a week from November to March; otherwise, connect in Mexico City, served by Air France from Paris-Charles de Gaulle, or in the United States, which requires an ESTA. Arrange a private transfer.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best golf course in Los Cabos?

Among those you can play, Quivira, designed by Jack Nicklaus on the Pacific cliffs and reserved for guests of the Pueblo Bonito hotels. Open to all, Tom Weiskopf's Cabo del Sol and Puerto Los Cabos, by Nicklaus and Norman, are the two safe bets.

Can you play Diamante and El Cardonal without staying there?

No: the Diamante courses, Davis Love III's Dunes and Tiger Woods's El Cardonal, are private, reserved for owners and members of the estate's residence club.

When is the best time to play golf in Los Cabos?

From mid-November to April, in dry weather, with 26 to 30°C in the afternoon. From mid-May to the end of November it is hurricane season, peaking from July to September.

Are there direct flights from Europe to Los Cabos?

There is no direct flight from France. The only direct flight from Europe in winter leaves from Frankfurt, with Condor. Otherwise, allow for a connection in Mexico City or the United States.

Do I need a visa for a golf trip to Mexico?

Not for French citizens on a tourist trip: a valid passport is enough. With a connection in the United States, you need an ESTA, even in transit.

Tailor-made

Your golf trip: Los Cabos

Tee times, suites, transfers and tables: your concierge replies within 24 hours with a proposal shaped around you.