La Iguana, Costa Rica

[arroyotrabuco]

Vacationed in Playa Herradura, Costa Rica last week. We stayed at the Marriott Los Suenos Resort. Five star all the way; I HIGHLY recommend it. La Iguana is the best course I have ever played. Now, I don't travel much and here in SoCal, I really only play $10 & $40 local courses, so I don't have a lot of high-end, exotic courses under my belt. But if you are planning a trip to the Pacific side of central Costa Rica, stay at this hotel and play this course!

Green fee before 2PM is $100; after 2PM is $85. Club Rental is $45. They rent all high-end, new TaylorMade clubs. R7 Draw Driver, irons (AW-4i), utility (19º), 3-metal and Rossa putter. They didn't include a SW. Brought my own shoes, balls and glove. (BTW, the Golf Shop is a total rip-off...shirts, hats, towels are way overpriced.) I teed off right around 2PM and played by myself...which I LOVE. I finished in about 3 1/2 hours. And that is with hitting 2 or 3 tee shots and fairway shots. Holes 1-9 and 11-14 meander through the forest and if you're lucky (as I was) you may see some monkeys and a few other native creatures. There's iguanas everywhere, especially in the pool area of the resort. Holes 10 and 15 run along the main road in and out of the property. Holes 16 and 17 are flanked by high-end condos on your left that are part of the property. Hole 18 runs parallel with the beach and winds up just outside the 19th hole and starter area. It's a long course so you will use the driver and 3-metal on several of the holes. In my opinion, the front nine is harder then the back nine as I lost most of my balls on the front. If you slice or pull it, don't bother looking because you don't know what kind of creature may be hiding in the trees and bushes. It's hot and humid but I noticed my muscles stayed loose the entire round, especially my back which tightens up a bit. Bring water and a sports drink, as you normally would.

With rental clubs, particularly irons and putter, I didn't play that well but I didn't care. The course is amazing and you will enjoy it.

[ringin]

Sounds great. Very nice review.

I'm assuming by your avatar that you surf or bodyboard. Did you take the boat out at Playa Herradura and surf the break out between the peninsula and the island? I surfed it with a couple of friends when I was there back in 2001. They boat dropped us at the break and came back about 4 hours later. It was a great right and was about 8 feet...anyway, sounds like you had a great time. I can't wait to get back to Costa.

[arroyotrabuco]

Bodyboarder. I took the fins and rashguard but didn't paddle out. Didn't know there was a break out there! Checked out Jaco -- good size but not breaking clean. Loved the warm water, though. The golf course was somethin' else...

[pick-it-up]

I saw that golf course when I was there last year. I think they were getting ready for some kind of tournament.

Costa Rica is just starting to develop courses and bring the game to their country.

Man I want to go back there! I've been to many places on this planet and CR is definitely near the top- IMO!