El Camaleón is situated in the small resort region of Mayakoba, or 'city on the water'. The course weaves its way through crystal-clear canals, thick jungle forests & mangroves naturally winding out to the Caribbean Sea a few times. It’s beyond beautiful with unique plants and animals scattered throughout including small crocodiles, coatis (Mexican raccoons), iguanas, exotic birds and even spider monkeys.

This course is paradise. I love everything about the loop itself. It’s the perfect balance of strategy, creativity, fairness and natural beauty. The way the course seamlessly weaves through the endless number of canals. The natural features built into the course design; like the cenote bunker (cave bunker) on 7, and off to the right side of the 8th green (a short par 3 that can turn into a double or triple with ease). The course uses these features perfectly, adding in uniqueness, beauty and great strategy all-in-one without making the holes feel forced or manufactured.

As much as I loved the layout, conditioning and views, this course does not feel hard enough to host a professional event, but then again this isn't meant to be Oakmont. I digress as El Camaleón has hosted both the PGA Tour and LIV events. The PGA Tour’s contract ended in 2022, where their signature Mexico event was moved to Cabo. This left the door open for LIV to enter the scene. Designed by Greg Norman, it’s no wonder why LIV decided to add this course to their repertoire of events. At least half of the Pro Shop is LIV team gear, which may be a bit of an overkill. I don’t know about you, but when I play a new course, I want a memento keepsake from the course itself, not a LIV golf Team Smash polo, hat and towel. Just my two cents here, but looking around the Pro Shop, I wasn’t the only one who felt this way.

Pro Shop gear: 3.5/10 | Everything else: 10/10

While the 7th hole is the signature, the 15th has to be the postcard hole. It's stunning.

After weaving between the canals, you can feel the ocean breeze get a bit stronger while working your way down the 14th hole. As you ride up to the 15th tee, the strong breeze hits you in all the right ways; the smell of the ocean, palm trees and… cervezas. Grab a free cold one from the cooler, say salúd and let loose on your tee shot into this tough par 3. Take a moment to take in the view and that ocean breeze, welcome to paradise. It truly doesn’t get much better than golf on the beach.