The Wyndham Rio Mar Beach Resort - River Course

Both courses are immaculate and well maintained. Breath taking views surround you on the River course as it’s secluded from the Rio Mar Villas. It’s challenging, beautiful and the course staff is very friendly. A+ experience. If I had to choose between the River and the Ocean I would choose the River every time due to the challenges and the seclusion of the course.

I hadn't played the River Course in a couple of years, but have played it maybe a dozen times over the past 5-6 years.

The course conditions (with one caveat) were as good as they've been in the past, and by past I mean, pre-Hurricane Maria. The bunkers are currently being repaired. Some are ready for the sand, others are still being reconstructed or finishing having the drainage replaced. So, most bunkers will play as GUR. No biggie. I mean, Maria was just 4 months ago.

Tees, greens, fairways - the vast majority were in good to very good conditions. The greens rolled true (most of the time) and pretty quick most of the time as well.

The wind was up when we played, but the weather was warm, mix of sun and clouds. Just beautiful.

The staff at Rio Mar were as friendly and as helpful and as genuine as they've always been. It was great to see some familiar faces after having been away for a couple of years.

I can't make a value judgment for you the reader, but I have no problem playing this course and paying in the $60 range. You get the course, the cart, water bottles, complimentary assorted peanuts from the cart girl, and practice balls. And you'll see the cart girl, I think it was, we saw her six times during our round. Some places you're lucky if you see her twice.

I have no complaints about my experience at Rio Mar. I'll be back. (I live here, so that makes it easy!)

Got golfnow deal for $32 USD with cart. No additional tax or resort fees although expected based on the fine print.

Nice layout with vast scenery of Rainforest and Mtns.
Played from tips with wind conditions at a constant 10-15 MPH and course was challenging. Lots of rain here means mud balls and very little roll but course conditions better than sister Ocean Course. Would play this one before playing Ocean but for 50 bucks, both were well worth it.

I booked for the river course, arrived and the course was closed due to lack of security on the course, since i was there already played the Ocean course which has 2 holes along the ocean, dont know why they call it the ocean course. Should be called Village Course ita surrouded by cottages and villas.

Couse layout is challening fairways are somewhat dry or burnt, greens are hard and not manicured as shown on several sites, extreamly expensive for the type of course.

Interesting layout, with lots of mountain views. Conditions ok - lots of burnt out areas. Definitely not as green as the pictures on this site and others may have you think. Pace was great - course was empty. But for almost $200 per player, Im not sure this is worth it.

great scenic views, plays well, great staff and plenty of Iguanas.

This Greg Norman Layout Is Fantastic , Easily the Best layout of the Courses I've played in the PR .
THE STAFF FRIENDLINESS WAS TERRIBLE , Never Experienced this on any Carribean Island Course . Usually it's the opposite everyone is very Freindly .

FIRST No one was at the Bag Drop , after I unloaded my own Clubs, when the Guy Showed Up he seemed very annoyed, NOW IM GIVING THEM THE BENEFIT OF DOUBT Because they did have a Tournament Going on this day and Maybe they just were very Busy. So all Tee times was pushed back , but no problem I was an Hour early to Warm up and Practice.. When I got into the Pro Shop it didn't get any better. No one was nasty, but everyone seemed preoccupied and not interested ." No Warmth No Love "

SECOND So I head out to warm up, The attendant hands me a bucket with about 20 Balls in it . So I ask him it's gonna be about an hour before I go off right , he says yes, And you give me 20 balls to warm up with. ( It's Like asking for Napkins and the Server gives you One Napkin like its a shortage or something. ) So he goes back and gets me another Small bucket.

THIRD When I get out on the Course , you Know the Fantastic Layout , There are NO YARDAGE Markers anywhere. When I ocassionally found one , You had to pull the grass back that covered it completely And then the Painted numbers had faded away , So you still didn't know how far out you were. (My Fault for not bringing my Yardage Laser ) It's a Shame because the Course has So Much Potential and Character. Shiot my best Round of the week 69 Guess it really didn't matter...!!!!

They have been experiencing a Drought in the PR so maybe they've been cutting back on a lot of things. Dorado Beach is a Much better Choice . ( Very Freindly Over there The Assitant Pro Randall Thompson was Great ) !!!

I played on Wed afternoon and had the river course to myself. Wide open fairways, greens are mostly flat and a little bit slow and bumpy. Overall a nice experience. Average degree of difficulty. Beers are a bit costly at $7. Very nice staff.

I've played both Rio Mar courses a number of times, and I realized this time that I prefer the River track. I think it's more challenging, offers more playing options, and is at least as pretty as Ocean. Mind you, I like Ocean very much, too. But if I could only play one of them, I'd choose River (notwithstanding Ocean's signature 16th, which is a delightful challenge when the wind's howling off the water).

If you're not hitting your tee balls straight, River will exact its punishment (for that matter, so will Ocean). I played from the tips (6,903 yards) without any warmup on the range or practice green and played the first 3 holes in +4 (one 3-putt and two lost tee balls), but then played the remaining 15 holes in +10 (all in all a good round for this 9.3 GHIN index player). More dogleg lefts (slight or more) than rights, if that matters to you (approx. 8 left and 4 right).

We've gone through a dry spell so the course was nice and dry; some of the tee boxes were almost too hard to peg a tee. Otherwise, the course was in good condition, not burned out or anything.

The people, as always, are terrific. I played on a Wednesday, and saw just ONE other golfer on the River course. If you can do it, play midweek. It's like you own the place.

I"m not wealthy, so I play when I can get a good discount. GolfNow is superb in that respect. I can't afford $100+ green fees. The HotDeals are truly worthwhile. If you're on vacation, I suppose the cost of a round of golf is less important than if you live here and want to play regularly. Nevertheless, as someone who lives here in PR, I'll pay up to around $70 to play the island's courses. Rio Mar River is well worth that price (and maybe more, if you're here on vaca).

Couple of pieces of constructive criticism for the course (if they read these):

1. Your bunkers need sand. ALL of them. They're little more than hardpan. FWIW, you're not alone. I found the same problem at Bahia Beach.
2. On a few holes you'll find so many leaves on the ground that you'd think you're in New England in October. Please vacuum them up. There are few things more frustrating than losing a ball because the ground is covered unnecessarily with leaves.

Other than that, my experience was very satisfying in every respect. I'll be back as often as possible (or as often as my wife will let me play midweek hooky).

Course was playable. We played on a Thursday at 11am so it wasn't crowded at all. Greens were a bit slow and rolled descent for the most part, and overall I would say it was a good value for the price we paid on GolfNow. ($75.00)

Some of the players are familiar with Golf play norms..
Like let singles/doubles go on if you are two holes behind.
I was intimated of some safety issues.

A cart path intersection in the layout of the course led to a number of tees, no problem if you are playing with someone familiar with the course. I was playing alone. Never did locate 18 tee, and called it a day. Relatively easy because of flat topography. Next time to the island, I would try a different course.

The River course layout/design meets it's excellent expectations. Staff was friendly and professional. However, the course playing conditions waous disappoinclosed even at the discounted rate we received. Due to recent rains several holes were cart path only, but even walking was a challenge. Course probably should have been closed.

Had to play with rentals, did not know about the guest rate and was not told, We were able to tee off on time and the course was immaculate

Staff in pro shop very friendly and efficient. Other staff not very friendly almost like they did not want to bother with customers.
Course is unkept in may areas including two tee boxes that were in terrible shape with bare dirt.

Was very disappointed in the condition of the course. Many parts of the fairway are creeping weeds. The sand in the bunkers is not sand at all but rather a mixture of sand, fine gravel and rocks that are a danger to equipment and players

I got a chance to squeeze in a quick nine holes on the River while on the island for the 2014 Puerto Rico Open.
As I wrote in my earlier review, the Norman routing is a stout test of golf. The river, and an assortment of wetlands and ponds, are always lurking to steal golf balls. If you're a snowbird with a rusty swing, it's not the best course to start your season on. If you're a mid-handicapper, I suggest playing the Ocean course. It's a little more scenic and slightly more forgiving.
The River was also the muddiest course of the five I played during the trip. The greens putted fine, but spots of the turf were thin. Overall, it's a solid resort course that needs a little more TLC.

For the price of $ 130 all should be perfect, greens are dry and dirt no grass. fairways fair but worth 130. this rate should be discounted for conditions.

I played and stayed at this resort in 2007 when it was a Westin property. It's disappointing to read the recent reviews that indicate conditioning has gone downhill. When I played it, I enjoyed the River course more than the Ocean. There were no major issues back then, but it wasn't in pristine shape, either.
The 6,902-yard course twists and turns through the mangrove swamps and the Mameyes River.
The river demands a heroic carry off the tee of the 392-yard 17th hole and guards the entire left side of the 448-yard 18th, with bunkers on the right catching any timid swings.
Norman did a nice job to create a challenging and interesting routing. If conditioning stays up to par, you'll enjoy the day, even without an ocean view.