Moon Spa & Golf Club - Dunes Course

We enjoyed this course and felt like it was the best of all the ones we played (Iberostar, El Tinto, & Riviera Cancun) with respect to course condition (nice fairways, bunkers, & greens), pace of play, amenities, and staff friendliness. There was a bartender on the course serving mixed drinks, and we enjoyed a delicious sit down lunch at the restaurant after our round. All food & drinks were included with the green fee, which was a nice perk.

However, the above assessment is based on the online pricing we received through Golfnow for $190 per person, which was significantly discounted from the rate of $310 per person our concierge was quoted when she called Moon Palace directly to book. Although we enjoyed the course, we don’t believe it’s worth $310 per person to play. Therefore, we’d highly recommend this course if you are able to get the discounted rate. For the standard $310 rate, we would suggest going elsewhere.

Played the Dunes and Jungle courses. Very nice and challenging while still enjoyable playing from the correct tees. A wide open course (both) with several difficult pin placements that I had to layup on. Even on some par 3’s. I will say it was fun. The greens were in good condition. The problem was the people ahead of us didn’t clean their shoes after leaving the bunkers and left shoe marks and pebbles on the greens. The only downside were the bunkers. The best description would be asphalt.

Definitely a place to enjoy and I am going to play here again.

During a recent vacation to Mexico we booked 3 rounds of golf around Cancun to experience different courses. Moon Palace was absolutely wonderful. The staff was warm and welcoming, the course was in great shape, the send players out in 2's, the pace of play was relaxed, the course was challenging, the refreshment station was easily accessible, lunch in the restaurant was delicious and the cost is all-inclusive!

I would highly recommend this course. The regular greens fee is $300 but we took advantage of a hot deal and paid $200.

The course itself was fairly maintained, but nothing special.

1. They do not provide transportation with the tee time through GolfNow, which leaves you at the mercy of taxis (which can charge up to $50 one way depending on your hotel location).

2. Upon arrival at the course, we were told that we would be playing the same 9-hole layout (jungle) twice because of a tournament that was happening. There was no mention of the tournament beforehand, and no efforts by the staff to provide a refund or any other considerations.

3. Golf balls are extremely overpriced ($135 for a box of pro v1s), and staff periodically go through the course to pick up lost balls in order to encourage golfers to buy more balls at the shop. If you are planning a round here, bring plenty of your own balls!

4. Starter was incredibly rude when I asked to accommodate a back 9 on a separate track, going so far as to blame me for not waiting the hour between 9's for the tournament to end.

5. Course condition is good, but not good value for the money. We only saw a beverage cart once the entire round.

Skip this course and use the money elsewhere - if you are planning to spend $300 for a morning tee time, go to Mayakoba instead. Even with the discounted GolfNow rate for an afternoon time, Riviera Cancun is far better. Given the chance, I would've played Riviera twice instead of trying Moon Spa.

If you are set on playing Moon Spa, try to confirm the round for Dunes/Lakes beforehand.

No shuttle service. Taxi for 10 minute ride $120 USD.

GOLF NOW... canceled same day within 5 minutes of booking. Still waiting for refund.

If you've booked directly at the Moon Palace resort and paid the $300 rack fee for a morning play, then it's poor value for your money (unless you've gotten free $1,500 hotel credits from attending the time share talk) as the 2 next door golf courses; the El Tinto Golf in Cancun Country Club and the Riviera Cancun Golf Resort which we had played back to back are great courses and i paid less than $80 for each.

What i don't like; All their sand bunkers are clumpy/ lacking sand and has lots of stones and gravel. Beside, the greens which had close strategic bunkers are most frustrating to putt due the the lifted stones and gravel that flew into the greens.

They have 3 -9s ...don't miss the Dunes as it has lots of signature holes. All in all, the greens and fairways conditions are good.

Cons:

Value not there at $300/player. At best the value is there in the $130-140 range. No ice in cooler or water and range closed gave us the wrong first impression. No GPS in cart! Carts not turned on. It seemed like starter and staff were disorganized. No marshals on course to monitor play. Took threesome in front of us to play the 1sr hole in 15 minutes. No beverage cart on course. It’s all inclusive, but you really have one station between #4 Jungle and #16 Lakes to get drinks and sandwiches. The course: Patchy greens on the Jungle side specifically#1, #2, #3 and #4 was being top dressed. The greens are not consistent on the Jungle side but some what better on the Lake side. Not at all impressed with Moon palace.

Pros:

Food and drink station bartender super great and friendly.

Sports Bar after golf was ok but lacks in choices of beer, liquor is not premium for sure. All Inclusive??? Food ok but not hot.

Take your money to Riviera Cancun Golf, just bought by Hard Rock Casinos.

Feel like am a complainer but if the rate is $300/player am expecting a 1st golf course with awesome amenities.

It's a great course. As far as all inclusive, it's better than most! Out of the 3 courses I've played in the last three days...this one was most challenging but had best amenities.

Service: The staff was nothing but amazing! First class MVP all the way! From the chica that checked me in to the cart chico who took the rental clubs and did the count, they were all amazing! $300 is their normal rack rate, and yes that is steep but ALL golf in Mexico is stupid expensive. Using the golf now deal I played for $250 with rentals* and I would like to point out that everything is included in your grees fees. Cart, greens fees, pratice balls, drinks, snacks, and lunch(turn or after). I asked of this was for ever golfer and they said it was. I was shocked! They have these cortesía houses and you can get all the snacks and drinks you want. I got loads of snacks, six maragritas(doubles, they were club sized), and six beers that I took home/shared with my taxi driver.

The course: They have three nines and used that to their advantage to space out play. I did not see another golfer till #17! Play Dunes & Lakes. The fairways do NOT run at all! So many times I came to my ball and the impact mark was right there. Some guys at the turn confirmed this as did the cart chicos. This and the wind makes this place play long! Beautiful course! Mexico has this rock sand they get from the ocean. It has shells and stuff in the mix. This makes bunker play VERY difficult! Club up to get out of the bunkers. The greens were like carpets and rolled true IMO. Loads lf wildlife too! Bring your camera/charge your phone!

*The Bad: my rentas were Epics from a.few years ago and they needed to be regripped, the entire bag! My putter was shameful how bad the grip was. The only other issue I had was their yardage, no posts on one of the nines I played and the yardage on the sprinkler yardage was WAY off! A major area for improvement but that is about it.

If you are complaining that golf is too expensive on vacation in Mexico than you should pick a new sport or stick to goat tracks. Mayacobar is $400+$80 in rentals and they charge for riders! Now that is expensive!

Booked through golf now instead of directly though the course. Staff was a little rude when I checked in, once they found out I booked through golf now.

Got outside, starter was great. Bartender on the course was great.

There were also two guys at the little cart hut that I coulda done without, pretty rude.

I won’t get too much into the weeds on the ride conversations, all I’ll say is it is by far the worst I’ve ever been treated while spending multiple hundreds of dollars for golf. Still a great course, had a great time while golfing. But I wouldn’t go back.

The course, pro shop and restaurant are great. Maybe another snack will be good.