Nearly half of Greece’s top courses are at one resort—Costa Navarino—along with a choice of hotels, restaurants, and historic experiences
Unlike some other Mediterranean countries, which have a surplus of golf courses, Greece is home to only nine 18-hole layouts. Four of the best are at Costa Navarino, on the southeastern tip of the Greek mainland. The newest of the four—Navarino Hills and the International Olympic Academy Golf Course—were designed by José María Olazábal in 2022. Their location, perched high on a ridgeline, makes them the most challenging given their exposure to the region’s persistent winds. The Dunes and The Bay courses, by contrast, both play closer to the sea and are more resort-like in their design, especially The Bay, which offers generously wide fairways and traverses three distinct environments.
Costa Navarino covers almost 2,500 acres in two different locales along Navarino Bay. It’s also home to four distinct resort hotels. The newest and most luxurious is the Mandarin Oriental, where 99 suites and villas are built into the hillside and provide views of the Mediterranean, plus glimpses of The Bay course.
1. Beach Bites
Along with the choice of hotels and golf courses, Costa Navarino offers two dozen unique dining experiences. Informed guests know to venture out to the dunes where Barbouni, an open-air restaurant with beach club vibes, spotlights local seafood and native flavors. Standouts include grilled octopus, fried calamari, and traditional Greek salads topped with barrel-aged feta cheese.
2. Center of Attention
Most easily reached via the W Hotel and The Romanos, A Luxury Collection Resort, Navarino Agora is a charming hub of restaurants, bars, cafes, shops, and an open-air cinema, where, given its ambience, you’d think Roman Holiday would be playing every night. In fact, modern blockbusters and pop music concerts are more frequently on the docket.
3. First Impressions
Concealing a tee box isn’t easy, but they’ve done it on the first hole of The Bay course—by putting it on top of the clubhouse roof! The championship tee box, first used for the Legends Tour in 2024, is still pristinely maintained though hardly used, so it’s worth asking if you can start your round there. You may need to turn on the charm—or at least have the requisite game—but, as they say, it never hurts to ask.
4. Must Sea
It’s not often you can pair a morning round with an afternoon dip in the Mediterranean (or vice versa), but the sea laps the shore just steps from three of the four hotels (all but the Mandarin Oriental). The waves are sometimes significant, but the water is refreshing and an easy swim for those with ocean experience.
5. Village Life
To get a taste of the local lifestyle, head to nearby Pylos, a quaint coastal town with a rich history. Explore two ruined castles, Paleokastro and Niokastro, the latter instrumental in the early 19th-century Greek War of Independence. If you’re up for a more extensive journey—both in miles and centuries—the well-preserved Mycenaean Palace of Nestor, from Homer’s The Odyssey, is less than 10 miles away.
