El Camaleón at Mayakoba
I talk in some of the other Caribbean course write-ups about how I was in a big pot fantasy football league and won or chopped the pot a few times and took the bride on a weekend trip with the winnings and as such could sneak in some unadulterated travel golf. I think my luck wore out by 2014 (the year I played El Cameleón), but just changed to my current job and decided to splurge on a Mexican trip anyway.
From the northeast, for a long weekend trip, it’s so much easier to get to Cancun and Riviera Maya than it is to get to Cabo. For that reason, I’ve never been to Cabo so the top golf course in Mexico outside of Cabo is El Cameleón at Mayakoba which is pretty close to Playa del Carmen. So there we went. It definitely has some top 100 chops: Beautiful ocean-front holes, supremo conditioning, it’s a PGA tour stop, very memorable and definitely tough – with thick mangrove framing a dozen or so holes.
If you don’t stay at the resort (it’s a Fairmont resort) it’s not easy to get here from Cancun, it’s a pricey taxi ride. We stayed in Playa del Carmen and while it’s pretty close, it’s a long wait for a taxi to get to the course for a return trip (or at least it was for me). Also outside golf, not sure if this is where you want to park yourself for three or four days as well. Keep this in mind if planning a trip here.
To the course. They change the hole sequencing for the Mayakoba Classic, so the first hole plays as the seventh if you’re watching on TV. The real first hole is pretty wild. It’s 532 yards from the whites – or blancos but they call them the Sak’s ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. These are about 6,600-yard tees. Anyway, if you smoke a drive from the whites you have a chance of rolling your drive into a cave in the middle of the fairway. No lie. It’s called a cenote. If you get too close, you have to carry the lip on your approach and if you can’t get height on your long irons then you’ll be spelunking. Just like me. Not sure if you’re supposed to go in to hit it but I took an unplayable and an eight.
Seven is the par three pictured above it goes right out to the beach. Fifteen in the back is a similar ocean-front par three. Overall I put El Cameleón in my top 100 for the reasons I described above. The clubhouse was okay – again I spent some considerable time here waiting on a cab. They have a pretty open bar area. The exterior looks like a 50’s elementary school building. Some of the mangrove-lined holes get pretty similar which is why I don’t rank this higher. I read some reviews from some scratch guys that complain about the greens – not enough motion in them and plain. I didn’t remember that but I guess i am so glad not to be in a cenote or mangrove jungle that I am not noticing the contours of the green.
So we stayed at the Playacar Palace. I think it’s a Hilton now. It’s an all-inclusive so am sure we ate there and I’m sure I don’t remember the food. There’s a Senor Frogs next door on the beach and am sure we went there for cocktails. The Palace is right on the ferry line to Cozumel so I suggest if you’re doing both, this is a good place to stay so you don’t have to get a taxi. There’s a Hard Rock golf course right there as well if you’re planning on multiple rounds. You can arrange a van/bus from the airport instead of getting a car which we did.
On the way back our flight was cancelled as there was a storm in Philly so we got a quick night set up at the Moon Palace in Cancun (right by the airport) and I snuck in a bonus round at the course there – meh. The Moon Palace is HUGE! We ate at the little Italian restaurant there which all things considered was not half bad. I guess if you’re gonna stay in Cancun the Moon is as good as anything especially if you don’t want to drop some serious golf cash on you and the missus going to El Cameleón,
Golf Scrapbook 