El Camaleón is the course that put the Riviera Maya on the professional golf map. Greg Norman routed it through the Mayakoba estate south of Puerto Morelos, so a single round crosses three distinct landscapes: low tropical forest, mangrove swamp cut by freshwater canals, and a short run of holes beside the Caribbean. The PGA Tour played here sixteen times, LIV Golf twice and the LPGA once, and the Latin America Amateur Championship returns in January 2027. Outside golfers can book, and guests of the four Mayakoba hotels get better rates.
El Camaleón Golf Course at Mayakoba green fees and tee times.
Non-guests reserve through the club rather than a hotel. The course’s tee-time request form, phone line +52 984 206 4653, WhatsApp +52 984 155 3797 or Info@MayakobaGolf.com all reach the golf shop. The only prices the club publishes sit on that form under the heading of special rates for Mayakoba hotel guests: US$375 for a prime-time start and US$280 for twilight. No separate rate for outside golfers is posted, so ask for a quote when you request a time. If you are staying on the estate, your hotel concierge can book for you. Prime-time starts run from 7am to 10:20am, and twilight play from 1pm to 4pm. The club sets no published handicap limit. Players wear collared shirts with sleeves and golf or tennis shoes; metal spikes are banned. Check the blackout list before you fix dates: the club lists a full closure on 24 August, and the course will be shut from 7 to 18 January 2027 for the Latin America Amateur Championship.
The round, in perspective.
The name means chameleon, and the course earns it by changing character every few holes. The club’s own description puts a cenote, one of the limestone sinkholes that pock the Yucatán, beside the opening fairway, so the strangest feature comes before you have settled. From there the routing threads narrow corridors of jungle, crosses the mangrove canals and reaches the sea for two oceanfront holes. Rosewood Mayakoba singles out the 15th, a par three of 160 yards from the back marker that plays straight out towards the shoreline. The R&A, for its part, places a limestone cenote in the fairway of the par-5 7th, so the card may hold more than one. Played from the back tees the card reads 7,024 yards, par 72, with a slope of 139, and there are five sets of tees on every hole. Surfaces are paspalum, the salt-tolerant grass used across the coast. The course is certified as an Audubon International Cooperative Sanctuary, so expect to share the fairways with jungle wildlife.
Know before you go.
Carts
GPS carts; food and drink cart on course
Dress
Collared shirts with sleeves; golf or tennis shoes, no spikes
Tee times
Prime 7:00–10:20am; twilight 1:00–4:00pm
Rentals
PXG sets, US$80
Closures
7–18 January 2027 for the LAAC
Make the trip work.
A round here is half a day once you include the drive inside the estate, the range and a drink in the clubhouse. That clubhouse stands above the 18th green, with a locker room lined with plaques for every Mayakoba Golf Classic champion. Range balls are unlimited. The Jim McLean Golf School runs lessons with Trackman from the same practice ground, which has a 350-yard range and a short-game area with bunkers. Start windows differ slightly by source: the club’s form runs twilight from 1pm, while Rosewood’s golf page lists a first tee at 7am and twilight from noon, so confirm which applies when you book.
Mayakoba sits at kilometre 298 of Federal Highway 307, the road from Cancún to Tulum, a few kilometres north of central Playa del Carmen. Cancún International Airport is roughly 45 minutes up the highway by private transfer. From Playa del Carmen it is a short taxi ride.
Four hotels share the estate and its canals: Rosewood Mayakoba, Fairmont Mayakoba, Banyan Tree Mayakoba and Alila Mayakoba, which replaced the Andaz. Each has its own concierge for tee times, and guests qualify for the special rates on the club’s form. For a cheaper base, Playa del Carmen has many hotels within a short taxi ride, but you lose the guest rate and the walk to the first tee.
Make a trip of it.
Iberostar Playa Paraíso, P.B. Dye’s narrow layout, is about 10 kilometres north on the same highway and makes an easy second round. Riviera Cancún, a Nicklaus Signature course near the airport, suits an arrival or departure day. Hard Rock Golf Club Riviera Maya, a Robert von Hagge design, lies south of Playa del Carmen. Off the course, take the ferry from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel for reef snorkelling, or swim in one of the open cenotes inland from Puerto Morelos.
Find your season.
December to April brings dry air, trade winds and the highest demand. May is hot but usually still dry. Storm season on this coast lasts from June through November, most dangerously August to October, and the late-summer heat and humidity make early tee times worthwhile. El Camaleón opens 365 days a year, except for the blackout days it posts for events and maintenance.
Yes. The course takes outside golfers through its tee-time request form, phone and WhatsApp lines and golf shop email. Guests of Rosewood, Fairmont, Banyan Tree and Alila Mayakoba are offered special rates and can book through their hotel concierge.
How much are El Camaleón green fees?
The club publishes only its Mayakoba hotel guest rates: US$375 for prime time (7am to 10:20am) and US$280 for twilight (1pm to 4pm). Outside golfers are quoted on request through the golf shop. PXG rental sets cost US$80 on top.
Is El Camaleón still a PGA Tour course?
Not since 2022. The Mayakoba Golf Classic, later the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, ran from 2007 to 2022 and was the first PGA Tour event played in Mexico. LIV Golf then held events here in 2023 and 2024, and the LPGA’s Riviera Maya Open came in May 2025.
When is El Camaleón closed in 2027?
The course is shut from 7 to 18 January 2027 while it stages the Latin America Amateur Championship from 14 to 17 January. The Masters, The R&A and the USGA run the event, and the winner earns a Masters invitation plus exemptions into The Open and the U.S. Open. El Camaleón last hosted it in 2020, when Abel Gallegos won.
How far is El Camaleón from Cancún airport?
About 45 minutes by road south along Highway 307 to the Mayakoba entrance at kilometre 298. Most visitors use a private transfer or their hotel’s car. Playa del Carmen is only a few minutes further south.
Last checked 10 November 2026. This is an independent planning guide, not a first-hand review or a booking service. Check live availability, access, fees and travel details with the operator before booking. Airport suggestions are starting points for route planning.
