Updated: July 31, 2024

Rio Mar Country Club, Ocean Course, Puerto Rico Review

A Lush, Tropical, Ocean, Resort Course in Amazing Puerto Rico

Ryan Heiman
Founder and head author at Independent Golf Reviews

Independent Golf Reviews hosted the annual family vacation at the Rio Mar Country Club, Ocean Course, in Puerto Rico in the summer of 2024. We enjoyed 1 week at the resort and played golf at the Ocean Course. We also relaxed by the beach while enjoying many other activities on the Isla de Encanto. If you are looking for one of the best all around tropical vacations, Rio Mar offers the perfect destination.

This is our definitive Rio Mar Country Club, Ocean Course, Puerto Rico Review for 2024.

Vacation in Puerto Rico

I used to live in Puerto Rico so it has a special place in my heart, but setting that love aside, it really is a perfect vacation destination for US citizens. You get an “out of the country” experience without “other country” headaches. It is tropical, beautiful, luxurious, exotic, yet easy, comfortable and safe. No passport needed, no other language skills required, and you will still feel like you are in the US (kind of). You can’t find a better vacation destination with something for everyone to do and the Wyndham Rio Mar is the perfect location on the island to enjoy it all.

Rio Mar Country Club

The Fazios designed one of the courses at the Rio Mar Country Club known as the Ocean Course, while Greg Norman designed the River Course. It is a Country Club within the Wyndham Rio Mar complex. It offers golf, tennis, pickle ball, swimming, restaurants and numerous other amenities. The club house is beautiful and the setting is central to all the resort activities. They offer memberships for locals and guests making more regular visits to the property or daily openings for the public that want to enjoy the courses while they are visiting Puerto Rico.

Ocean’s 16

The Ocean Course is really built around one hole, #16. Without this hole it couldn’t use the name “ocean” since none of the other17 holes are on the ocean. I get that the resort makes more money than the golf course, but another green or something coming up the ocean would be really cool. The 16th hole is a beast of a par 3. From the tips it plays 235 yards and has bunkers surrounding the green as well as wind blowing off the ocean most of the time. The other tee boxes are more playable, but still into the wind, with ocean on the left and condos on the right, this hole plays tough. However it is such a beautiful hole, your score won’t bother you as much as you soak in the beach, ocean and green.

Lush Conditions

“Water, Water, Everywhere” is pretty much the theme of the Ocean Course. While most of water is in-land, you will see a water feature on most holes from start to finish. Only a few are forced carries, most water runs on one side or the other of the holes, cutting in and jutting out creating some challenging approaches. The water is not only next to the grass, but rain water keeps the course lush and green year round. This is one of the greenest and lushest courses I’ve ever played. Soft turf, super green, and tropical like conditions on every hole. If you don’t like the “brown” golf movement, this course is for you. Green from horizon to horizon with soft receptive greens and lush fairways greeting your ball on every shot.

El Yunque Backdrop

Much of those lush conditions com from the neighboring national park, El Yunque Rain Forrest. From most holes you can see (when the clouds part) the El Yunque Rain Forrest which is literally across the highway from the Rio Mar Country Club. The river coming down out of El Yunque is the river that makes up the namesake of the River Course. This mountainous backdrop offers great views when looking away from the ocean. There are some elevation changes on the course too which match the landscape. While not hilly for the most part, there is some elevation change on a handful of holes up by the condos.

Lodging Options

If you are honeymooning or bringing 14 guests to Rio Mar, you have multiple lodging options either through Wyndham or Airbnb. There are hotel rooms, condos, apartments, duplexes and homes on property. They all have great views of either the ocean or the course. The property is set up in a way that the golf course is surrounded by lodging options with none in the central part of the course. At worst there might be a condo along one side of a hole, but never hitting shots down a tunnel of lodging. This makes for a great golf course, but also nice lodging options. They do a really nice job of keeping the entire resort in tip top shape and updating the lodging to keep everything feeling new and modern.

Location, Location, Location

The best part about staying at Rio Mar is the location. It is the best location for enjoying all of the best island adventures. Your 35-45 minutes from Old San Juan, 25 minutes to Fajardo, 10 minutes to El Junque, 5 minutes to Luquillo Beach. This mean you have access to history, adventure, hiking, snorkeling, boating, fishing, horseback riding, clubbing, waterfalls, bioluminecent bay, kayaking, zip lining, shopping and restaurants. There are 4 other golf courses within 30 minutes too. There is something literally for everyone and this is the ideal location which is why we keep going back here every time we visit Puerto Rico.

Beach

Obviously on an island the size of Puerto Rico there are beaches everywhere. Yet not all beaches are the same. The beach at Rio Mar is one of the best on the island because it is soft tan sand that gradually slopes into the ocean meaning you can swim out a ways without it being over your head, the waves are gentle so that kids can enjoy them crashing on them, you can do a little boogie boarding, but yet there is little undertow or rip tides so that little ones and the elderly can enjoy the beach and the water. There are plenty of palm trees lining the beach for some shade or if you get an umbrella to go with your beach lounger you can enjoy your time without getting sun burnt. The Wyndham Resort has designated beach areas while the condos and houses have their own chairs and beach side pool.

Summary

I might be biased towards Puerto Rico since it was my former home, but I’ve traveled a lot of other places and haven’t found anywhere else that offer so much in a lush, tropical, ocean vacation destination. The golf is great on property since there are two courses and the location on the island is even better to enjoy the non-golf experiences of Puerto Rico. The Ocean Course is the center piece of the resort and hole 16 is worth it. You will certainly have a memory of that hole as it embodies the course and resort so well. If you want to get away any time of year, Rio Mar Country Club is a perfect golf destination for both golf and other adventures. The location on the island is perfect and the Ocean Course gives you a true tropical, lush, ocean, resort course experience.

For more information: Rio Mar Country Club Website

If you want more Puerto Rico information: Discover Puerto Rico Website

🏌️‍♂️ Subscribe to
Independent Golf Reviews 👇

Get Golf Discounts & Giveaways from the top brands and stores in golf.

Sign up below to be automatically entered in this months giveaway.

No spam, ever. 🔒

About The Author

Ryan Heiman – Founder and Head Author of Independent Golf Reviews
Ryan has over 10 years of experience testing and writing golf reviews of nearly every brand out there.
HCP: 3
Read more…

Subscribe to Independent Golf Reviews👇

Receive the best golf discounts available exclusively for our subscribers and be auto entered into our monthly golf giveaways!