Picturesque: The ocean holes of Mexico's Punta Mita Golf Club
PUNTA MITA, Nayarit, Mexico -- Perhaps no club in the world features more ocean holes than Punta Mita Golf Club.
Fourteen of Punta Mita's 37 holes have a tee or a green -- or both -- right on the Pacific Ocean.
Eight are found on the Pacifico Course, the first designed by Jack Nicklaus on this scenic peninsula 45 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta. Pacifico's extra par-3 hole -- called "3b" -- plays to a natural island green 190 yards away from the tees along the beach. When the tide is in, the hole is unreachable by cart. Players can attempt to hit the green and move on to explore the other holes along the shore.
Punta Mita's Bahia Course, the newer and tougher of the two Nicklaus designs, climaxes with a four-hole finishing stretch home to spectacular oceanfront views. The stunning par-4 17th boomerangs left, ending at a wildly undulating, elevated green. For landlocked golfers not used to seeing the ocean, Punta Mita is golf nirvana.