For 32 years, the Robert Trent Jones II course at Cabo Real ran as a resort course. In September it closed for a multimillion-dollar renovation. When it reopens, which is expected in late 2027, only Cabo Real members will be able to play it. El Dorado Golf & Beach Club sits inside the same 3,000-acre Cabo Real master plan and has long kept its Jack Nicklaus course and beach club for members. It is about to get company.
The golf course, a wave basin due in December and a surf club planned for early 2027 are all being built for one group of owners. The master plan is moving toward a set of private clubs. This season, the part of Cabo Real that still runs a calendar anyone can book sits at its hotels.
A Resort Course Goes Members-Only
The developer, Meriwether Companies, describes the existing Cabo Real master plan as anchored by El Dorado and Rosewood's Las Ventanas al Paraíso. Its new project, Cabo Real Surf Club, is developing the rest of the land. The golf course is the first big piece to change hands. According to the October 20, 2026 announcement on PR Newswire, Robert Trent Jones II is working on the renovation himself. He originally designed the course on horseback, and it opened in 1994.
"It has always had an adventurous spirit, and this new chapter with Cabo Real allows us to honor the original vision while making the course more playable, strategic and enjoyable for members," Jones said in that release.
| Area | Planned for the late 2027 reopening |
|---|---|
| Who plays | Cabo Real members only, after 32 years as a resort course |
| Routing | Four new holes, #1, #7, #8 and #9, with a signature hole finishing by a new clubhouse |
| Greens and bunkers | Renovated across all 18 holes |
| Turf and irrigation | 100% turf replacement and upgraded irrigation |
| Practice | New dual-sided driving range with putting and chipping green |
| Extras | Five-hole social short course with Pacific views, four new comfort stations, members-only golf clubhouse |
The renovation covers the Cabo Real course only. El Dorado's 18 holes are a separate Jack Nicklaus design, with comfort stations already placed along the round. Graham Culp, managing partner at Meriwether, put the goal plainly in the same announcement, "creating an exceptional private golf experience that complements the community's amenities." The surf project follows the same private model.
Four Acres of Water, Built for the Same Members
The centerpiece of Cabo Real Surf Club is Endless Surf's first wave basin in North America. It covers four acres and runs on the company's ES48 technology. It is designed to produce 240 customizable waves an hour, with rides up to 25 seconds and controllable wave heights up to seven feet. SurfParkGuide reported that water began entering the basin in September, in a filling process expected to take 30 to 40 days. The developer says the basin is "set to open this December."
Next to the basin, the Surf Club is planned as the project's social center. It will have a resort pool, surf viewing areas, food and beverage, and surf retail. Its opening is expected in early 2027. The announcement also lists racquet sports, wellness and recovery facilities, mountain biking and hiking trails, and several beach clubs. The access rule is the same as at the golf course. Membership is reserved for Cabo Real real estate owners, and club access is limited to members and their invited guests.
The project's address is Km 19.5 on México 1. Meriwether is building it with Grupo Questro and Clubs Desarrolla, which the developer calls longtime stewards of the land. The turnkey Surf Casitas, designed by Mexico City-based Sordo Madaleno, are now fully reserved. Earlier this year, Wave Pool Mag reported that some foundations were complete on the first 19 casitas and walls were starting to rise.
Here is the timeline from the developer's release and SurfParkGuide's filling report:
- September 2026. The Cabo Real course closes for renovation, and water begins filling the wave basin.
- December 2026. Target opening for the wave basin.
- Early 2027. Expected opening of the Surf Club.
- May 2027. Expected completion of the first homes.
- Late 2027. Expected reopening of the renovated course as a private club.
Taken together, the timeline describes a second private club taking shape inside the master plan El Dorado already belongs to, with its golf, surf, pool and beach clubs arriving over about eighteen months.
The Hotels Are Running the Holiday Season
As the golf and surf move behind membership, the area's holiday calendar this year is coming from its resorts. Three of them have published dated programs for November and December 2026.
Solaz, at Km 18.5
Solaz, a Luxury Collection Resort, sits at KM 18.5 on the Carretera Transpeninsular, Access B, Cabo Real. Its longest event of the season, SOLAZ X LAILA GOHAR, runs nightly from November 1 through December 27, from 7 to 11 p.m. Solaz describes it as "a celebration of imagination, ritual, and the art of gathering," with curated culinary moments inspired by Gohar's playful world. Laila Gohar is an Egyptian-born artist who works with food as her medium and runs the design label Gohar World.
Two dated events follow on the same calendar:
- Thanksgiving, November 26, 6 to 11 p.m. A set table facing the Sea of Cortez, listed at $120 USD.
- Tree lighting, December 4, 5 to 7 p.m. A twilight ceremony to open the season.
Las Ventanas al Paraíso
The Rosewood resort in the master plan built its festive program around Baja ingredients and its own rooms. Thanksgiving runs November 26 and 27. It centers on the Back to the Roots experience, where local lamb is slow-cooked underground in the ancestral barbacoa tradition, with private dining in the newly reimagined La Cava and dinners on the beach. A Christmas Market with artisans and a painting workshop is set for December 22 at the Lounge Bar, from noon to 4 p.m. Christmas Eve dinner is at Alebrije, Santa arrives at the main pool at 4 p.m. on December 25, and New Year's Eve brings Midnight Oasis, an evening of dinner, music and performance.
Hilton Los Cabos
Hilton Los Cabos lists a daily festive schedule from December 17 through January 1. The New Year's Eve party on December 31 brings dinner, dancing and fireworks at midnight.
The Model El Dorado Already Runs
None of this is new to El Dorado. Its course, beach and tables have always been reserved for members. Food on property centers on La Palapa beside the ocean, the main dining room and El Mercado. The Nicklaus course runs as a members' course with its own comfort stations. Cabo Real Surf Club is now building toward the same arrangement on a larger scale. It reports more than $200 million in contracted sales and an amenity list running from a wave basin to multiple beach clubs.
The places within Cabo Real that publish a calendar for anyone to book are now mostly its hotels. Solaz takes reservations for the Gohar evenings through December 27, and Las Ventanas' barbacoa Thanksgiving falls on November 26 and 27, the week before Solaz lights its tree on December 4. By late 2027, the Jones course is expected to return with four new holes, a five-hole short course and a members-only clubhouse, all open only to Cabo Real members.
Corcoran The Baja Real Estate Co. follows Cabo Real closely, from the December wave basin target to the course reopening planned for late 2027. If you own at El Dorado and want to talk through what the new private clubs next door mean for your home, our team would be glad to talk. Explore Baja Properties.
