Dorado Beach Lifestyle

Dorado Beach is a private beachfront community on Puerto Rico’s north coast, about 35 to 40 minutes by car from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport. It sits on the former estate of financier and conservationist Laurance S. Rockefeller and brings together golf, beaches, nature trails and a Ritz-Carlton Reserve resort in the municipality of Dorado.

A short history of Dorado Beach

The story starts in 1905, when Dr. Alfred Livingston bought about 1,700 acres along the north coast and developed a coconut and citrus plantation. In the 1950s, Laurance S. Rockefeller turned the land into one of the Caribbean’s most exclusive resorts. The Dorado Beach hotel and its East and West golf courses, designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., opened in 1958, and each course grew to 18 holes in 1966. The Sugarcane and Pineapple courses were added in the early 1970s.

Today the property operates as Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, the only Ritz-Carlton Reserve in the Western Hemisphere.

Golf at Dorado Beach

Golfers can play the East and Sugarcane courses at TPC Dorado Beach, both designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. His son, Robert Trent Jones Jr., restored the East Course, which reopened in November 2011. Older descriptions mention four courses. The West and Pineapple courses closed after Hurricane Maria in 2017, so confirm current availability with the club before you plan around them.

Beaches and nature near Dorado Beach

The resort faces the Atlantic, and the grounds include the Rockefeller nature trail. Closer to downtown Dorado, Balneario Manuel “Nolo” Morales is a public Blue Flag beach with lifeguards and picnic facilities.