Costa Ballena Ocean Golf Club Est. 1996

The centrepiece of the Costa Ballena development is its 27-hole, resort-style, championship golf course. Complemented by a 9-hole par-3 course and huge practice area, these facilities are much enjoyed by visiting golfers, as well as by the resort's predominantly Spanish and Scandinavian residents. For much of the time this Jose-Maria Olazabal designed course weaves its way past rows of gleaming white apartments, which typically line just one side of the well crafted holes. On each of the three nine-hole loops, the holes are typically routed in pairs - one heading out, the other bringing you back in. Plenty of palms and small olive trees are dotted around the relatively open terrain, and together with gentle landscaping and good bunkering, play a key role in defining the flattish fairways en route to Costa Ballena's not overly large (nor overly fast) greens. Of the three nines, Los Olivos (1-9) and Las Palmares (10-18) give the best golfing challenge, with the shorter Los Ficus-nine (19-27) making up the full 27-holes. The Las Palmeras loop gets you closest to the Atlantic Ocean, with sea views to be enjoyed from the green of the par-5 12th, as well as the par-4 13th and par-3 14th. Not only does the Las Palmeras have the sea views (albeit briefly), it also contains most of the water hazards, which threaten on six of its holes. Overall a pleasant, well laid out and relatively easy-going, resort-style course, although one that certainly throws down a good golfing challenge, not least at the challenging 211-metre par-3 2nd.