Every golf getaway is special but the truly great destinations, their windswept views and their unforgettable vistas, stay a part of your forever. Not to wax too sentimental, but once you’ve walked the oceanside cliffs at Quivira Golf Club, the experience gets stamped into your golfing and adventuring DNA.
Situated at the tip of the Baja Peninsula along a dazzling 2.5-mile stretch of beach fronting the Sea of Cortez, the Pueblo Bonito family of resorts (artfully set within the upscale residential community of Quivira Los Cabos) reigns as one of the premier luxury vacation getaway in Mexico. For golf travel aficionados, the main attraction at this exclusive 1,850-acre hideaway, tucked in a mountain valley 10 minutes from places like this Cabo Downtown Restaurant, is Quivira Golf Club.
Built by golf legend Jack Nicklaus on one of the most stunning sites in the world, Quivira’s spectacular 7,085-yard, par-72 layout is marked by sheer granite cliffs, huge windswept dunes, and rolling desert foothills. From start to finish, players are treated to breathtaking views and one-of-a-kind challenges. In a destination revered for its unique mountain-desert-ocean ecosystem, Quivira offers more oceanfront exposure-and more unforgettable thrills-than any other course in Los Cabos. Little wonder it has been voted to Golf Digest’s roster of the “World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses.”
According to Taber Anderson, Quivira’s Managing Director, “The land where our course is located is very raw, rugged, and wild, with spectacular cliffs high above the Pacific. No other course I can think of boasts its terrain or its incredibly close relationship with the ocean. And while we consistently maintain high-level course conditions, Quivira was purposefully designed to celebrate an incredibly wild and natural setting that is truly at Land’s End, kilometer zero. It is a feast for all the senses.”
Created as an exclusive amenity for guests of Pueblo Bonito Golf & Spa Resorts and Quivira residents, the golf club offers complimentary food and refreshments (including regional Mexican specialties) at four comfort stations spread around the course. After the round, players can relax at the thatched-roof, open-air beachfront clubhouse or fine-tune their games at a double-ended practice facility located steps from the rolling surf.
Where to stay? Golfers gravitate to the adults-only, all-inclusive Pacifica Golf & Spa Resort located five minutes from the course. This lovely beachfront hotel ascended into the ultra-luxe category in 2016 with the debut of The Towers at Pacifica, a sumptuous “resort within a resort” that features beautifully appointed guest rooms and suites with private terraces and personalized 24-hour butler service. The hotel’s culinary jewel is Peninsula, a sophisticated restaurant and lounge specializing in regional Baja cuisine.
Golfers traveling with families can opt for the nearby Sunset Beach Golf & Spa Resort, a magnificent all-inclusive property terraced down the face of an ocean bluff. The largest hotel in the Pueblo Bonito portfolio, Sunset Beach offers an array of spacious, well-appointed suites, all with ocean views. Its signature restaurant is LaFrida, which offers a gourmet dining experience in a candlelit room dedicated to Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
More dining options? The Market at Quivira, a bustling food hall attached to Sunset Beach, welcomes diners to an enticing array of eateries, from Asian to Italian. The Market’s newest outlet is The After at Quivira, a stylish sports bar with an ocean-view terrace that features a dozen oversize flat-screen TV’s, 16 different artisanal beers on draft, and superb hand-crafted cocktails.
For those who don’t wish to leave, the real estate offerings at Quivira Los Cabos continue to outpace the competition. Fanned out along desert bluffs is Copala, a full-ownership home and condominium community with hacienda-style charm that honors the region’s colonial Mexican heritage. Also available is Coronado, a premier community set on a desert ridge high above the sea, its richly appointed four- and five-bedroom homes overlooking the ocean and the rolling fairways at Quivira Golf Club.
By Marc Hall