Riviera Cancun Golf & Resorts

An excellent course extremely challenging a lot of bunkers in great shape. I think it is the best value in Cancun as it is all inclusive including beers and food.

This is a very good lay out. The back 9 is considerably tougher as fairways narrow. Conditions are good but not great. Many ground under repair areas, brown outs and the sand is very rough w. small stones. That said it was a fun game.

Awesome golf experience, challenging course....... bring balls or hit the fairways!?!?

I really enjoyed my experience at Riviera Cancun. The course was tough but fair. There are a lot of water carries off the tee and if you miss the fairway and rough you will not find your ball. That being said, the layout is excellent and keeps your attention. The service at the course from the checkin to the end of the round is fantastic. All your food and drinks on the course and at the 19th hole are included in your green fee. The drink cart comes by every three holes. It rained during the round and there were thatched roof waiting areas to sit it out which was great for staying dry. I will definitely play Riviera Cancun again. It is a bit more expensive than some of the other courses in the area, but the service and course conditions make it worth the price.

John
Lincoln, NE

Very good course, well maintained. Difficult, lots of forced water carries. Food and service we're exce5.

What else can I say. Less than a 30 minute taxi ride from near downtown CanCun. The course was excellent. From the driving range right thru the 18th hole. Along with the greens fees the cart came around regularly for refreshments. The lunch after the round at the 19th hole. All food and drink were complimentary!!! It's a Nicklaus designed course and it was in excellent condition.

About a 25 minute taxi ride from the Westin lagunamar- and well worth it. Course was in great shape- free range balls- free food and drink. All covered with the greens fees!

Very nice layout...greens were good but slow. We were out there seemingly by ourselves which was awesome...no houses, condos, or hotel rooms on the course. It was an all inclusive deal where F&B were included. Cart attendant was very nice. Two negatives on this course.
1-There was some kind of smell that was similar to like a paper mill.
2-Around 14,15 and 16, there was some loud construction noises that were irritating.
But, the holes were top notch and it I would recommend it.

I had a marvelous golf experience at Riviera Cancun Golf Club. The club is just south of the Hotel Zone sandwiched between the jungle and the sea. It is remotely isolated from any other buildings other than the clubhouse.

Upon my arrival via taxi, a polite young man, Saulo greeted me & took my bag to the cart area while I checked in.

The clubhouse was massive and reminded me of a hotel lobby but to my knowledge, there wasn't an attached hotel property. Registration went smoothly as the receptionist, Ingrid pulled up my reservation from golfnow.com. I was charged what was stated from the website. I didn't take the "Hot Deal" tee time. I wanted to sleep in on my vacation and secondly, the "twilight" tee time was still a deep discount from the "Hot Deal" tee time.

I had about 45 minutes before I had to tee off so I visited the clubhouse to buy a cap because I left mine at Home. I can't play golf without a hat. Its a silly idiosyncrasy but if it helps your game, the more power to you.

I still had some time so I grabbed a quick cheeseburger, fries and soda. The waiter asked me if I wanted a beer but I passed since I'm not much of a beer drinker. Food, alcohol & beverages are inclusive of your round. Lunch was wonderful and I hurried to the starting areas.

Saulo, the same young man who met me at the entrance led me to my cart. He gave me a quick orientation of the course. Water was provided and on ice in my cart cooler.

The first thing I noticed upon arriving on tee #1 was the isolation. As I stated before, there wasn't another building in sight. This remained to be true through out the entire course. The second thing I noticed was there wasn't any unsightly crabgrass or weeds on the tee box or the fairways. The greens were just as flawless.

I played by myself as there wasn't another golfer to partner me up at my assigned tee time. As I played my round, I let two other groups pass me by as I wanted to enjoy my round. I can't remember the gentleman who drove the refreshmemt but he stopped by frequently and kept in stock with Bacardi rum and pepsi. Rum improves my game. On the days it doesn't, It helps me not care about some of the bad shots I made.

Saulo had left for the day after I completed my round. Two other polite young men, Juan and Angel greeted me at the end. They cleaned my clubs and took it to the pickup area while I waited for my taxi. I made sure I tipped them well. A wonderful golf experience, I will defintely be back.

We travel to Cancun often and stay at the Royal Sands. Having played many of the area courses, we asked our concierge for a new option. He recommended Riveria Cancun, a Jack Nicholas course. Royal Resorts is just starting a relationship with this course. Our price included transportation, practice facility, golf, food and drink. A nice clean van showed up and took us to the course, which is set back off the highway - you would never know the course was out there! We checked in and since we had not brought our clubs (a long story), we rented the Calaways they offer. Within minutes we were in our carts and escorted to Hole #1. So far a good experience...then our friend bent over to tee his bell up and without very much pressure on the driver; the head twisted off at the shaft!!! I have never seen anything like it, my only thought is the club was flawed or previously damaged. We had a foursome they had “staged” behind us, so he put the shaft and head in his cart and used mine. When we made the turn; he and his wife went to the Clubhouse while we hit our drives and told them what happened, they said “these are new clubs”, I will tell you that they had use on them and were not brand new, They would not give him a replacement and told home he would have to pay for it. My friend told them he hadn’t even used the club and it must have been flawed...their representative said “I want to believe you, but I don’t“???? My friend said “we can talk about this when we finish”, but requested a replacement and was told NO. We continued on the back nine, enjoying the golf, but perturbed about their attitude. A couple of holes later two employees showed up with another driver and said they were sorry about their stance, and they would reduce the cost for the club from $100 (USD) down to $75...I didn’t believe he should have any responsibility for a club he did not abuse at all, but he said he just wanted to put it behind him and agreed. We finished a wonderful round and as they cleaned their rentals and our shoes, we tipped they well! Then he was escorted to the pro shop and told he owed $100, when he said $75? - no it has to be $100! He paid it and we left. Nice course; beautiful day; but beware of their operation...not ethical! We have informed Royal Sands. All that being said “Hit em straight!!”
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Course was extremely wet because of previous days storms, so was cart path only, but was still beautiful. Bring extra balls! Thick jungle and tons of water everywhere will eat any off-course golf ball. Super friendly staff and the restaurant that is included with your green fees was really surprisingly good! Bartender made excellent drinks! Overall was a great day.

The course is beautiful and the staff are friendly. The course was not busy when we went (it is the off season). We were a twosome, and a little surprised when the starter was pushing us to pair-up with other golfers. Understandable if the course was busy, however it was very quiet. Our tee-off was at 10am and there was no waiting, or golfers pushing us from behind. Drinks and food are included (I wasn’t sure sure they would be with a less expensive price through GolfNow). The course was in excellent shape, the rental clubs are Callaway’s and in good shape (Big Bertha’s). There are plenty of Coati and Crocodiles on the course which was great. There are no ocean views other than from one of the tee boxes. It is definitely a jungle course. Fairways are relatively narrow, there is water on EVERY hole, greens in good shape. Practice green was slow and didn’t represent the actual greens on the course. You get approximately 25 practice balls which are old balls probably found on the course. After the round had lunch and drinks which were also included. If you like to eat and drink the round ends up being relatively inexpensive.

The golf course design is fantastic. designwise it's beautiful and on par with Mayakoba (without the canals, boats, homes, hotels, sink holes and the open holes into the beach), there is a lot of water. the course's conditions are pristine.
fairways are pretty wide, with some of them with significant ondulations. Most holes are surrounded by mangroves and water; almost all of them are isolated from each other and the connecting routes are boardwalks over water through the mangroves; beautiful.
the greens have significant ondulations. They would be very difficult if it wasn't for the course keeping them intentionally slow. because of that, they are very receptive. you can go for the pins and the ball doesn't roll much. the ball rolls very true when putting.
pace of play felt a bit slow as a single, with a foursome and twosome in front for nine holes. on the back (the course's front) a six some and a threesome allowed me to play through, so I ended finishing the round in 3.5 hrs. total.
while beverages are included, the quality of the liquor on the course is so bad that we rather drank only beer and water. the cart could show more often, but we never got empty. I found empty cans of beers and soda throughout the route, but not single trashcan. that should not and excuse, but is a consequence.
the range could use some Improvement to be up to par with the course, but it's good enough. balls are assorted rescued, marked with wide sharpie.
the club house has a feeling of emptiness, as if they ran out of money for the furnishing and decoration. maybe once they built around the course they'll have more traffic and money to finish
The staff is fantastic. I communicated via Facebook chat (I could not find a working phone number or email online). they responded very fast every time, were very accommodating, got me a great rate and time, included very good pricing for transportation from /to my hotel and coordinating the access to my hotel.
I made the silly mistake of thinking I was on US EST and they were late, but they also responded pretty fast and clarified the situation.
once we finished and the transportion was supposed to pick us up we -and they- found out that the highway from and to the airport and our hotel was closed due to a bad accident. our transportation could not come in and we could not go back. they spend over and hour on the phone trying to work something out. eventually Elizabeth form cutomer service drove us herself to the highway, got us a taxi that drove back into Cancún's hotel zone, to the city and to the main highway -a 2 hrs. snail pace drive due to the traffic collapase on the one single road on the Cancun hotel zone-
Elizabeth covered the cost of the taxi, making good on the rates they offered. that is what total customer satisfaction no matter what it takes. they went above and beyond and we truly appreciate it.

a must play. we will be back one day

After Playing PGA Mayakoba I was Expecting a Let Down with Riviera Cancun. Boy Was I Surprised. It”s a Super Nice Course and Much Tougher than Mayakoba. I was Surprised. Fairways are Much Tighter and Water Comes into play More often than Mayakoba. All of The Greens here in Mexico Have Been true and to me that’s where a Good Golf Course begins. Not as Pristine as Mayakoba- to be expected Because its their PGA Course, But there is no let-down in the Quality of Riviera. They advertise to bring a Lot of Balls “ Don’t get Caught Letting The Paint Dry Boys “. Definitely a Must Play in Cancun. The Staff is Friendly Like Everywhere in Mexico and The Best Thing about Riviera is that with your Greens Fees of $140-$150 Everything is All Inclusive. All Your drinks and Food are included in the green fee. On the Course are food trucks and drinks. I don’t drink alcohol but the booze is included also. I’ve never seen that before. After your Round you head to their Resteraunt and that’s included as well. They have a nice after round menu to choose from. From this standpoint it’s a much better deal than Mayakoba because the green fees are close enough that the all inclusive makes Riviera a better deal. If you have the chance Play Both. Hope this review helps: hittem straight!

Had a good time people are great food was good. Would play this course again.

Nicklaus-designed course.

It's on the south side of the Hotel Zone and quite isolated. So far removed from the main road in Cancun so it feels exclusive. The staff is amazing. Pro shop is overpriced and no souvenir items such as ball markers really. I was bummed there weren't more options. PSA - bring your own balls and lots of them. The balls they have in the pro shop are very expensive and not worth it.

Practice greens - there are two right next to the clubhouse. They have some serious contours and undulations which are true on the golf course as well. Spend at least 15 minutes getting used to speed. There was sand on the practice and actual greens. Not sure why but it was the ONE thing I would complain about.

Practice range - down the bridge toward Hole 1. Not the best scenery or perfectly mowed area. I played Puerto Cancun and they had an amazing practice range! So worth playing there too. The balls were run down but it does the trick.

Watch out for crocodiles and an indigenous animal called the coati. They kinda look like foxes. They steal your food and phones if you leave them in the carts. We were warned so we didn't have any issues or come into contact with any of them. We did see one walk by before we teed off on Hole 1 though. Other players have lost food to them.

Food and beverage - free with tee time. We saw the cart girl at least 5 times during our round. Not much food except some ham/cheese croissant, chips, peanuts, and drinks (mostly water, sodas, and beers), not sports drinks like Gatorade, etc. Wasn't an issue for us at all. We drank plenty of water and beers and ate some food. We kept the food in the cooler that's attached to the cart. Cart also has ball washer and club washer. No GPS on cart.

Front 9 - Relatively wide fairways but lots of carries and location of bunkers were in the right spots. So aim your tee shots properly. Nicklaus always seems to place the bunkers in the right landing areas - Riviera is no different. The greens are very contoured so it's difficult to 2-putt. But the speeds are consistent so it's not impossible. The sand on the green messed me up at times cuz it seemed like it slowed the putts down a bit. Our playing partners who played the prior day said they didn't have sand on it the previous day. I shot a great 39 on the front 9 (7 pars, mostly up and downs, bogey and a double). The Front 9 is beautiful with lots of water holes and just very scenic.

Back 9 - completely different feel from the front 9. Narrow fairways, bunkers in the right spots again, and if you miss any of your drives, just take a drop. Started off hot with 2 pars, but then nearly lost it! Any pulls or slices are lost balls. I reached the signature hole Par 5 Hole 13 (I think) and birdied that made me feel good. But every hole is challenging on the back 9. Don't get me wrong... it was a lot of fun! Just error on the side of finding your balls. There's not so much water here but creeks that cut the fairways. If you have a golf GPS app on your phone, take a look at the hole layout. You'll need to know your distances and carries.

Concerns - The bunkers were hard, packed down,. and very little sand for some reason. This is my biggest complaint actually. The course was in perfect condition but the bunkers were just mediocre and on some holes, just plain bad. For the price and quality of the course, I was disappointed. (Probably cuz it cost me a couple strokes)

Overall, this course is great and I think it's a must-play if you're in the Hotel Zone in Cancun. I booked using Golfnow using the Hot Deal so I didn't get free transportation. It was $20 each way, plus additional $5 for tip.

The lunch was in the clubhouse and there's no prices on the menu as it's provided with the round of golf. Like I said, incredibly rewarding and fun round. Jack Nicklaus created a beauty.

The course is maintained perfectly. Staff was friendly and helpful. Don't try it first time without a yardage card.