Bahia Beach Resort & Golf Club

It was an excellent course. From the time you walk in the door until you leave, first class. Staff was very friendly and inviting. The course was in immaculate shape. From the putting green, driving range, to the on course tee boxes, fairways, greens and rough, all tournament ready. The only draw back that I had (not the courses fault) I was a single that caught the Ladies Member Guest Tourney and they were slow. But was able to enjoy the scenery. A must play in Puerto Rico, was able to get a rate of $115, on Teeoff.com.

The quality of courses is always a mixed bag in the Carribean. You book a tee time at a course designed by a big name golf architect with good looking pictures on their website only to find the course hasn't been maintained in years. Bahia is now owned by St Regis and managed by Troon. You expect a quality golf experience and Bahia does not disappoint. Yes, it is expensive (I paid $205 through Golf Now. It's more if you just walk up) but I needed a prime weekend AM tee time. There are no prime time bargains around San Juan. I drove myself from downtown SanJuan. 40 minutes. Straight forward with Map Quest though San Juan can be a bit tricky. Get the easy pass with your rental. You'll pass through several toll gates. The course staff was great, especially the starter, who drove me out to the 11th as my initial hole, as I was playing as a single, to bypass multiple foursomes. He fit me in very nicely when I made the turn. This is not a good walking course. Too much distance between green and tee. The course was in excellent condition. Prior complaints about sand traps seem remedied. No bare spots in the fairways. This is a membership course and I assume it gets a lot of play, but there were no ball marks on the greens. They don't equal continental US Troon green quality, but they are very good by Caribbean standards. I took away 0.5 stars on my final rating only because the overall design Is a little boring. Even the oceanfront holes are a tad dull. A final word of advice: if you spray the ball off the tee, don't golf here. This is a tight course with either jungle or water everywhere.

From the moment you drop of your bag until they place your bag back in your car the service is first class. All the staff we came in contact with was very attentive and helpfull. The pro shop is one of the best stocked I have seen anywhere. The practice facility is tour quality with range balls included in the green Fees. The front nine routes around some protected marsh land with water coming into play in seven holes, making the front nine the hardest of the two. The back nine is fun with plenty of scoring holes as it wonders itself to magnificent views of the ocean on holes 16 and 18. Week day pace of play was great as we only saw a couple of groups a few holes behind us. The fairways are in great condition. Although there where some rough spots on a couple of greens overall the greens where good if anything a bit on the slow side. Bunkers throughout the golf course are kept very well with my one complaint being that the sand in them contains some pebles (I could not identify what type of sand it is but it is defiantely not standard silica). Water bottles are provided in the cart at the begining of the ropund and a very friendly staff member would go by every few holes offering more (at no cost) and cold towels. We had lunch at the turn and food was excellent with local specialties as well as regular resort fare available. One caveat- the food is great but on the expensive side. We had a cuban sandwich , a wrap a coke and a beer and the bill was 43.00 before tip.

Overall a great experience and a good value if you book through one of the tee time services. Standard rack rates are over 200.00 dollars while tee time are available in the 75-95 range on these services (these are limited every day, one of the ways they keep traffic down and pace of play). The resort is located 30-40 minutes from any San Juan hotel and it is definatelly worth the ride, if for anything the views on 16 and 18.

Vacationing ten days in PR my girl and I played golf every other day while staying in San Juan. We would look for the off season deals on Golf Now which is highly advisable. We ranked Bahia, Dorado East(too expensive), Trump, then Rio Mar (best price) in order of best to least course condition. Bahia is the lush we expected from the Dorado & Trump. Fairways great condition although narrow for our game on some holes. Beautiful layout and true roll on putting greens. Sand somewhat firm as expected from previous reviews. Ocean view on 16 & 18. Staff very cordial and helpful. Highly recommend for your island golf experience.

I will always play BB every chance I get. It's that good an experience. I"m not wealthy, so I play when I can get a discounted rate.

Course conditions, layout, aesthetics, location, etc. are all well above-par, which in this context is a good thing!

But let me dwell on what I think can be improved.

1. Ball washers should have water in them. Too many of them were dry.
2. The tee markers should be placed where they'll fairly reflect the particular tees on the scorecard. The course played much shorter from where they placed the tee markers compared to what the scorecard showed for those particular tee markers. If I want to play 6313 yards (more or less) - the Gold markers - don't move the Golds so far forward that I'm effectively playing the Silvers, for example.
3. The greenside bunkers need sand. The two of us were in 5 of them, and they were all nothing but hard-packed dirt.
4. Unless I'm suddenly hitting my irons longer than usual, they may need to re-calibrate their GPS settings. Several times I overclubbed by at least one club (and not because I skulled the shot).
5. Rangering would be nice. We were a twosome being held up by a threesome. And we were holding up a foursome because of it. The foursome complained to a course employee (a pseudo-ranger?) which we overheard, but the pseudo-ranger never came to discuss it with us, perhaps because he knew WE were being held up by the group in front of us. What he SHOULD have done is told the threesome to step aside so we (and our following foursome) could play through. Mind you this is a deficiency of virtually EVERY golf course on the planet, and it's one of the leading causes of the scourge of golf, slow play or slow pace of play. Aggressive rangering would be nice.

Anyway, I could write twice as much positive stuff. I love the course. But I thought it might be more helpful to share what I think are its shortcomings, in hopes that they'll be considered.

Would go back in a heart-beat. The course and the views were just amazing. I hope to get back there again

Everything about this place was great. From the moment you drive in you can tell that they care about quality. Grounds are well maintained, staff is helpful and friendly. The golf course was in great condition (best of the 4 we played in PR). The layout was challenging but fair, greens in good condition and could play the ball down in the fairway.
Definitely worth the visit. Only downside is turning the 17th hole from a nice par 5 into a too tough par 4.

Enjoyed a 3:30pm start on a February afternoon, with sunset at 6:30pm and got in 17 holes, skipping one of the holes to be able to close out the course's signature holes near the end. I played the previous weekend (not through GolfNow) and the course seemed to be in better condition - and when I returned, all of the tee boxes had been punched, and it seemed to have a rough week of wear - however - a gorgeous, challenging course that sees very little play and they do a great job of maintaining it! The full rack rate may be a bit steep, but what do you expect on a course on the St. Regis resort property. You pay for the exclusivity behind the guarded gates and the ocean front location. Looking forward to playing again and comparing it to Dorado East - which I have yet to play, but is considered a challenger for "best course on the island".

The amenities of the golf course we're great, the cost wasn't worth it. I've played Trump international and champion course and they have better views from the course and more challenging for the money. Bahia needs to have more challenging holes I didn't expect what I played especially for how much it costs

The course and practice facility were in good condition. It was fair with a reasonable amount of challenge. Greens were in good condition and rolled well. Holes were laid out well and pleasing to the eye. Plenty of water and hazard area if you got much outside the fairway, but it was generally visible from where you were or on the GPS. The GPS was accurate and well done. The only bad thing was it also controlled the cart and you may have to back out of an area if you got too far outside the lines. There were two holes being affected by construction or repairs, one had a temporary green. For $200 I would have expected notification of the temporary green and possibly a slight discount. That was the only downside to the course. Staff was friendly and helpful. Food at the snack bar was good. A fun time!

For pure enjoyment, Bahia Beach might be the best golf experience on the island. It’s got as much swankiness – if not more – than the 36-hole Trump International Golf Club next door. Bahia Beach doesn’t bombard you with blind shots like Royal Isabela. There's always a bailout, or an easier way, at Bahia Beach. Golfers who want to take on the water that seems to be everywhere at Bahia Beach can do so at their own peril. Two of its most scenic holes, the beachfront par-5 at no. 16 and par-3 at no. 17, are being altered this summer, reopening in August. It remains to be seen if these changes will ultimately enhance, or detract, from the routing.

Maybe the most beautiful course I have ever played. Several holes play alongside the ocean, while others are lined by lakes and palm trees. The warm gentle ocean breezes kept us relaxed and comfortable all afternoon.While it was extremely difficult (140+ slope) it may have been my favorite round ever. Truly first class. A "must play" in Puerto Rico.

Played with a couple who were vacationing with us. My wife does not play, but rode with us. The club failed to tell me there was a riding charge (although I expected there would be). However, the bigger issue was that they also did not tell us there was a "Ryder Cup" format tournament in front of us. Our round was slow. I am not a good golfer, but I can easily play a round in 4 hours. We scrambled to get teed off on the 18th before dark, and that was without even finishing 15. But I loved the course. It was fun. Not as unforgiving as Trump International, but lots of sand.

The course is very similar to what it was before Regis acquired. The greens were of good speed and condition except many ball marks and cleat marks around the holes. The course would be good value at $100 but not at $200+ or even the $152 that we played although Puerto Rico is becoming expensive location to play.

I'll preface this by saying I didn't play Trump's courses because they were hosting the PGA TOUR event while I was there, but of the five courses I played on Puerto Rico, I'd give the nod to Bahia Beach as being the best overall experience. The course is gorgeous enough as it winds through the forest and mangroves. When the finishing stretch of holes emerge out along the beach, it's just a fantastic climax. With Troon Golf managing operations of the golf and a St. Regis Resort next door, you know you're going to be treated exceptionally well here.

Great layout. The course isn't as pristine as I would expect for $200 plus green fees. It is nice though and the staff is very friendly.

I used to play Bahia before St. Regis took it over for the its exclusive villas. It used to be a nice public course but now it's an amazing resort course. They reconfigured some holes and it is challenging in every way. The back nine border the ocean and makes you stop for a while to enjoy the view. 5 star service with a cold vanilla scent towel girl, cold beer and drinks, GPS, free range balls and a great turn for great food and drinks. Expensive lke crazy but treat you nice for once in your life.

The course is a great golf course layout. The natural forest environment surrounding the course was magnificent! I was amazed how they were able to develop a great golf course within this natural environment. The price was a little expensive for a resort course, but was well worth it. I played 2 rounds, and thoroughly enjoyed both!