Where Would You Like to Be Playing This Weekend?
Costa Rica vs. Panama: The Central American Golf Edition
Where Would You Like to Be Playing This Weekend?
Costa Rica vs. Panama: The Central American Golf Edition
It’s Friday afternoon. The clubs are packed. Your out-of-office is on. You have one decision left to make:
Costa Rica or Panama?
Both countries deliver something golfers rarely find in the same trip: championship-level golf, tropical landscapes, great weather, luxury resorts, beaches, adventure and a completely different experience once you step off the 18th green.
But if you had to choose just one for this weekend, where would you play?
At Trip18, we picked three courses from each country that make the decision particularly difficult.
COSTA RICA
Rainforest. Pacific Ocean. Pure Vida Golf.
Costa Rica isn't necessarily the first country that comes to mind when Americans think about international golf—and that's precisely what makes it so interesting.
Here, golf isn't isolated from the destination. You're playing through tropical forest in the morning and can be surfing, fishing, zip-lining or watching the sunset over the Pacific that afternoon.
La Iguana Golf Course — Los Sueños
Imagine standing over your tee shot while monkeys move through the trees and the Pacific appears beyond the fairway.
Welcome to La Iguana.
Located at Los Sueños in Playa Herradura, La Iguana is an 18-hole, par-72 Ted Robinson design stretching to 6,698 yards. The course runs through Costa Rican rainforest and features native vegetation, banana trees, orchids, monkeys and more than 150 species of birds and local wildlife.
This isn't simply golf in Costa Rica. It feels like golf inside Costa Rica.
And that's the difference.
Los Sueños also makes an exceptional base for a golf trip because the round is only one part of the experience. The Pacific Coast opens the door to sportfishing, beaches and adventure without sacrificing the amenities of a full-service resort destination.
Trip18 verdict: If you only have time for one round in Costa Rica, La Iguana would be very difficult to pass up.
Weekend vibe: 🏌️ Golf + 🌴 rainforest + 🎣 Pacific adventure
Hacienda Pinilla Golf Course — Guanacaste
Now head north to Guanacaste, where the landscape changes and golf meets Costa Rica's famous Pacific beaches.
Designed by Mike Young, Hacienda Pinilla is a par-72 championship course that can stretch to approximately 7,200 yards. The routing follows the natural contours of the property, moving through tropical forest and toward the Pacific. The course is also an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.
And this is where the Trip18 philosophy really comes alive.
Play 18 in the morning.
Then trade the golf shoes for flip-flops.
The greater Hacienda Pinilla/Tamarindo area gives you beaches, surfing, restaurants, nightlife and outdoor adventure. You aren't traveling thousands of miles just to play golf—you are using golf as the centerpiece of a much bigger trip.
Trip18 verdict: Perhaps the best all-around choice for a group that wants serious golf without making golf the only reason for traveling.
Weekend vibe: 🏌️ Golf + 🏄 surf + 🌊 beach
Reserva Conchal Golf Course — Guanacaste
This is the polished resort-golf option.
Designed by Robert Trent Jones II, Reserva Conchal is an 18-hole, par-71 championship course measuring roughly 7,000 yards, winding through native forest, lagoons and rolling coastal terrain.
The finishing stretch is particularly intriguing. No. 17 is a long downhill par 3 through jungle canopy, followed by a risk-reward par-5 18th where water guards the left side.
There's one important detail for traveling golfers: Reserva Conchal is currently restricted to resort guests rather than being open to the general public.
For us, that doesn't make it less interesting. It makes it a natural stay-and-play destination.
Wake up at the resort. Play 18. Spend the afternoon at Playa Conchal.
Not a particularly bad Saturday.
Trip18 verdict: The choice for golfers who want to combine championship golf with a higher-end resort experience.
Weekend vibe: 🏌️ Golf + 🏖️ resort + 🍹 relaxation
PANAMA
Championship Golf With a Different Personality
Now things get interesting.
Panama has a deeper golf offering than many traveling golfers realize, and its best courses provide a very different experience from Costa Rica.
If Costa Rica's calling card is golf surrounded by adventure, Panama makes a strong case for golf itself being the adventure.
Buenaventura Golf Club — Río Hato
If you're building a Panama golf bucket list, start here.
Buenaventura features the first Nicklaus Design course in Panama, an 18-hole resort layout using Platinum Paspalum and extensive waste-bunker areas. The club has also hosted national and international competition, including PGA TOUR Latinoamérica events.
It's the type of course where you arrive expecting resort golf and quickly realize you've come to play a serious round.
But Buenaventura's appeal extends beyond the scorecard. The Pacific resort environment gives a group the luxury-hotel, pool, beach, dining and golf combination that makes destination golf trips work particularly well.
Trip18 verdict: Our first tee time for a premium Panama golf itinerary.
Weekend vibe: 🏌️ Nicklaus golf + 🌴 resort + 🌊 Pacific Coast
Santa María Golf & Country Club — Panama City
Here's Panama's urban heavyweight.
Santa María is an 18-hole Nicklaus Design course managed by Troon, stretching to 7,153 yards from the championship tees. Unlike the Pacific resort courses, it's located within Panama City's metropolitan area.
That's what makes it so appealing for a golf trip.
You can play a championship golf course and still have Panama City waiting for you after the round.
Golf in the morning. Rooftop cocktails in the evening. Exceptional restaurants. Casco Viejo. The Panama Canal. Nightlife.
It's a completely different proposition from the secluded golf resort.
Santa María is classified by Nicklaus Design as private/resort, so access is something a golf itinerary needs to arrange rather than assuming ordinary public play.
Trip18 verdict: The sophisticated choice—and an ideal anchor for a Panama City golf experience.
Weekend vibe: 🏌️ Championship golf + 🌆 city + 🍽️ nightlife
Vista Mar Golf, Beach & Marina — San Carlos
And then there's Vista Mar.
Located on Panama's Pacific Coast in San Carlos, Vista Mar combines an 18-hole, par-72 course measuring approximately 7,100 yards with mountain and beach views. The course was designed by J. Michael Poellot and is classified as semi-private by Panama's national golf association.
But the name tells you why we like it for Trip18:
Golf. Beach. Marina.
Vista Mar is approximately 60 minutes from Panama City and combines its golf course with a large marina, beachfront residences and resort amenities.
That creates possibilities.
Play golf. Go fishing. Get on a boat. Hit the beach. Have dinner overlooking the Pacific.
Suddenly, your golf weekend doesn't feel much like a golf weekend anymore.
Trip18 verdict: An excellent course for travelers who want Panama's Pacific Coast experience without going too far from Panama City.
Weekend vibe: 🏌️ Golf + 🛥️ marina + 🌊 Pacific
So... Costa Rica or Panama?
That's the problem.
If we're choosing purely on what happens between the first tee and the 18th green, Panama may have the edge.
Buenaventura + Santa María + Vista Mar gives you three excellent courses with very different personalities: Pacific resort, metropolitan championship golf and golf-by-the-marina.
But if we're asking which destination produces the more diverse golf trip, Costa Rica fights right back.
La Iguana + Hacienda Pinilla + Reserva Conchal means rainforest, wildlife, Pacific beaches, Guanacaste, luxury resorts and three distinctly different golf experiences.
So perhaps the choice looks like this:
| If you want... | Pack for... |
|---|---|
| The strongest golf-first itinerary | Panama |
| Golf + adventure | Costa Rica |
| Rainforest & wildlife | Costa Rica |
| Nicklaus-designed golf | Panama |
| Surf + golf | Costa Rica |
| City + golf + nightlife | Panama |
| Luxury Pacific resort golf | Either one |
| An excuse to play all six | Trip18 |
The Trip18 Answer?
Why choose?
Do Costa Rica first.
Then Panama.
Because the best golf trips aren't necessarily about checking another famous course off a list. They're about discovering somewhere you wouldn't have thought to bring your clubs—and wondering why you didn't come sooner.
Six courses. Two countries. One question:
Where would you rather be playing this weekend?
Costa Rica or Panama?
You bring the clubs. We'll take care of the journey.
Trip18
Golf. Travel. Beyond.