Alice & Danny Scott - A Couple of TravelersThe Pueblo Bonito quartet of all-inclusive luxury resorts in Los Cabos give exclusive access for guests to play the unequivocal Quivira Golf Club alongside its residential members. The Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course takes golf to new heights, both literally and figuratively.
Quivira’s architecture is truly unique with a recent refinement of routing. The new first salvo begins driving out toward the ocean and then follows the original holes meandering through the desert foothills, and seascapes with more oceanfront exposure than any course in Cabo.
Quivira Golf carts are fully equipped with accurate pin distance readings, and they have ample power which is necessary to climb the distance from number 5’s green to the high comfort station perched above the ocean, serving inspiration before tackling the notorious 6th hole.
This Cliff Comfort Station has los baños (bathrooms) with a double sink al fresco between them and a massive mirror showing your reflection along with the dramatic course and ocean view behind and below you, impressive and almost dizzying. This is one of three comfort stations on the course which offer complimentary beverages, snacks, and varying food specials daily. Think shrimp quesadilla or brisket sliders, taquitos, margaritas, palomas, cervezas, agua, and more. A Pavlovian anticipation develops by the 17th hole for the final comfort station’s offerings.
Number 6 is probably the most talked about hole on Quivira.
The tips’ drive is from a cliffside tee across an ocean span, directly to the green jutting out over the water.
It is a challenging feat for pros and a delight for scuba ball rescuers.
Other tees on 6 are placed higher up the cliff with a blind shot over a narrow fairway for a strategic dogleg left slide down to the green far below.
Par is fantastic, a birdie a blessing and an eagle or hole in one? Boom shakalaka.
Any score is then aesthetically rewarded with a short par 3 on the 7th running along the cliffside coast.
It is very straight forward and yet; a high wind may drown a ball flying left. In any case, the waves below are a calming therapy.
Quivira produces a natural high from the views, including the Old Lighthouse between 7 and 8.
One of the highest points on the course is number 13, a daunting par 5 with a panoramic view of the Pacific that snakes down to the ocean edge green.
The super risk, super reward comes in flying the right distance and angle to hit a speed slot for a decent approach shot. Desert brush and bunkers are magnets for miscalculations making even a three-shot arrival tricky.
Bunkers throughout the course are filled with the beach sand, so fluffy your feet sink in the sides. Power through to arrive on the immaculate, speedy greens, big and small, some endowed with Jack’s signature slants.
A Cabo golf day at Quivira begins with shuttle delivery from one of the four Pueblo Bonito resorts to the pro shop adorned by colorful merchandise and the open Steakhouse bar/restaurant overlooking the Pueblo Bonito Residents’ Pool Club and Pacific Ocean. Antonio Reynante, Director of Golf, has been at Quivira since the beginning, ensuring a top-quality experience from start to finish.
The driving range is adjacent to the ocean where a flotilla of fishing boats set out for their big catch while other sailors assume their serene positions of lazing the day away. Make time to gaze out to sea between swings and putts in the practice area.
A spout of water in the sea signals a pod of humpback whales in season, December through April. Their black bodies emerge for air, sometimes with breaching acrobatics. Mothers are teaching their new babies to swim. It seems like that would be a natural gift given their water birth, but the art of buoyancy is a learned trick.
The Resorts:
Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Golf & Spa Resort and Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach Resort are adjacent to Quivira Golf Club and only ten minutes from downtown Cabo San Lucas. Arrival to the Pueblo Bonito Pacifica, adults only resort, is met with a tree filled with dangling red, blown glass hearts, shimmering in the sunlight. It is a suitable welcome to one of the most romantic resorts in the world. The hearts are sold in their gift shop, other Cabo shops or at the factory where the impressive artistry may be viewed in progress. Glassware, pitchers, and exquisite fish are among the beautiful compositions, but a pretty, little heart is a meaningful memento since it might break your own to leave Cabo. Also, sweet to note is that every used bottle at the Pueblo Bonito properties is sent to the factory for melting and creating new art.
Glass doors open to the circular lobby with a reflection pool and a view over the resort to the Pacific Ocean beyond. A welcome drink is offered with a smile and a bracelet key at registration unlocks your vacation door. Standard rooms are anything, but standard, given the balcony seating to watch over the property and perhaps spot some whales. A pillow menu on the bedstand is appreciated for selecting soft to firm, feather to allergenic options, for the best night’s sleep.
VIP guests who stay in the towers at Pacifica, closest to the beach, have access to the Whale Lounge on the second floor. Indoor/outdoor seating provides gallery viewing of the whales migrating by. While away the day with snacks, full menu and beverages while surveying the expansive beach and sea.
More VIP amenities might include a candy pinata in the room, swinging like a hangman game over a board with a wooden dowel to break it to music, spilling more candy all about. Welcome to a sweet stay with butlers ready at beck and call. Our only call to the butler was to reserve a canopy beach bed. Full size, swinging with a front ocean view and drapes on all sides, it is the epitome of romanticism.
The long beach is perfect for strolling hand in hand, but the waves and undercurrents of the Pacific are too strong for safe swimming. Not to worry, a shuttle to the sister resorts on Medano Beach will satisfy any urge to take a dip. At Pueblo Bonito Rose and Pueblo Bonito Los Cabos (in walking distance to downtown Los Cabos for artisan shopping and nightlife), beach chairs beckon guests. Gaze at the famous Arch or arrange a boat ride with Bonita Tours for a personal encounter with pelicans and seals on the magnificent rocks. Captains navigate right into the peak hole between the Sea of Cortez’ Lovers Beach and the Pacific Ocean’s Divorce Beach.
Back to Pacifica, romance is further enhanced with simultaneous massages at Armonio Spa. Therapists are well trained in relaxing and therapeutic techniques that make fifty minutes seem like ten. Lounges includes saunas, hot spa and cold plunge for alternating exhilaration and wellness.
39 restaurants throughout the four resorts delight all palettes and are interchangeably included. Every menu has a fresh catch option, often a delectable sea bass. At Pacifica, the round restaurant, Siempre, meaning always, is in the center of the resort by the pools, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner along with the ocean view.
Peninsula is an open-air venue on the beach, under the Whale Lounge for dinner with fireplaces lit. At Sunset Beach, LaFrida is decorated as a tribute to the famous Mexican artist. Dinner is accompanied by classical musicians and a mixologist’s fire show of blending Mexican Coffee delivers a festive evening conclusion accompanied by fireworks over the ocean. Service is exemplary as in all Pueblo Bonito spots.
Los Cabos has 17 more golf courses besides the unequivocal Quivira, with more in the works, making it a mecca for beach loving golfers.
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