Papagayo Golf & Country Club

Papagayo Golf & Country Club occupies one of the most dramatically situated pieces of golf real estate in Central America, set within the broader Peninsula Papagayo development on the Pacific coast of Guanacaste. The course was designed by Robert Trent Jones II and plays through rugged tropical terrain where the dry forest of northwestern Costa Rica meets sweeping views of the Gulf of Papagayo. Unlike the lush green courses most golfers picture when they imagine playing in the tropics, this part of Costa Rica turns golden and dramatic during the dry season — the region receives far less rainfall than the rest of the country — giving the landscape a distinctly raw, sun-scorched character that RTJ II worked into the design rather than fought against.

As a private members' club anchoring a luxury residential and resort community, Papagayo delivers a polished, unhurried experience. The layout uses elevation changes and Pacific vistas as recurring design elements, with several holes offering sightlines out to the gulf that make club selection and focus genuinely difficult to maintain.

Guanacaste is Costa Rica's sunniest province, and Carrillo sits near established tourist infrastructure around Playa del Coco and the international airport at Liberia — making this an accessible destination while still feeling removed from the more crowded corners of the country's tourism circuit.