Best Golf Courses in Bicol: Book Tee Times & Play Under Mayon Volcano in 2026/2027

Bicol is a region at the southeastern tip of the Luzon peninsula, covering the provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Sorsogon, Masbate, and Catanduanes. Most travelers know it for one thing: Mayon Volcano, the near-perfectly conical stratovolcano that dominates the skyline of Albay province. What fewer people realize is that you can play golf with a direct view of it. Doña Pepita Golf Course in Legazpi City is an 18-hole layout where Mayon serves as the backdrop across the entire round, giving it a visual context that no other golf course in the Philippines, and arguably few courses anywhere in Asia, can match.

The region does not have the course volume of Manila, Clark, or Cebu, and the infrastructure for international golf travel is modest compared to the main Philippine golf hubs. Two courses are listed in the GolfLux Bicol database: Doña Pepita in Legazpi City and the Haciendas de Naga Sports Club in Naga City. Neither is the reason you fly to Bicol. You fly to Bicol to see Mayon, swim at Caramoan, eat Bicol Express at a local carenderia, and find that golf is available in genuinely one of the most extraordinary natural settings in the Philippines.

Bicol suits adventurous golfers who want to complete an unusual Philippines round, travelers building a Luzon road trip south from Manila, and anyone whose partner is drawn to the region for Mayon trekking and the Caramoan beaches, with golf filling the morning of one day.

Best golf courses in Bicol

Two courses are listed for the region. They serve different parts of Bicol and different types of golfer.

1. Doña Pepita Golf Course

Doña Pepita Golf Course is an 18-hole, par 72 layout in Legazpi City, Albay, according to the club. Course description describes the course as offering golfers the chance to play against the awe-inspiring backdrop of Mayon Volcano. The Albay provincial setting places the course on relatively flat lowland terrain that slopes gently toward the volcano’s base, which means the cone is visible from most of the layout throughout the round.

Mayon Volcano is recognized by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology as one of the most active volcanoes in the Philippines, having erupted over 50 times in recorded history. The near-perfect symmetry of its cone has made it a recognized natural landmark in Philippine tourism documentation. Playing a round with that as the permanent horizon feature is the specific appeal of this course. The experience is not about course conditioning or architectural sophistication. It is about playing 18 holes in front of an active 2,462-meter volcano, and the round is memorable for that reason alone.

It suits golfers who value setting and natural spectacle above course metrics, travelers who are in Legazpi for the volcano and want to add a round, and anyone building a Philippines golf itinerary who wants the most geographically distinctive course in the country.

2. Haciendas de Naga Sports Club

Haciendas de Naga Sports Club is a 9-hole, par 36 layout in Naga City, Camarines Sur, according to the club. The course is part of a broader sports and residential club, and the 9-hole format makes it accessible for a shorter afternoon session rather than a full-day golf commitment. Naga City is the largest city in the Bicol region and the commercial and transport hub of Camarines Sur, about two hours by road north of Legazpi.

It suits golfers passing through Naga, locals based in Camarines Sur who want a club environment, and visitors who want a relaxed nine holes without the full-day trip commitment required to reach Legazpi.

Which course is better?

There is no real comparison in purpose. Doña Pepita is the primary reason any visiting golfer comes to Bicol, and the Mayon backdrop makes it the more memorable round. Haciendas de Naga is the practical option for golfers in the northern part of the region around Naga City. If you are flying to Legazpi specifically for Bicol golf, Doña Pepita is the only course to plan your program around.

Best time to play golf in Bicol

Bicol’s weather is more complex than most Philippine regions because the peninsula is exposed to both the southwest monsoon from the west and the northeast monsoon and typhoon corridor from the Pacific to the east. The Philippines Tourism Authority notes that Albay and the Legazpi area are among the most typhoon-affected provinces in the country given their position at the southeastern tip of Luzon directly in the path of western Pacific storm tracks.

March to May is the driest and most reliable window for Legazpi golf. Skies are clearest in this period and Mayon is most likely to be fully visible without cloud cover, which matters considerably for the visual experience of playing Doña Pepita. This is also the season when ATV tours around the Mayon lava fields and hiking on the volcano’s lower slopes are most accessible.

November to February is the cool season and generally dry, though early November can still see northeast monsoon activity. From December through February the weather is more stable, and Mayon views are reliable on clear mornings. Temperatures are comfortable for golf at around 24 to 30 degrees Celsius.

June to October is the typhoon season and the most unpredictable window. The Bicol region has a recorded history of significant typhoon landfalls, and travel to Legazpi in this period requires checking weather forecasts carefully. Typhoon activity can disrupt flights into Legazpi Airport and ground all outdoor activities for days at a time. This is not a recommended window for an international golf trip to Bicol unless you have fully flexible scheduling.

Bicol golf holidays and package tours

Bicol does not function as a standalone multi-round golf destination. The honest framing is that you plan a Bicol trip for its other appeals, and golf at Doña Pepita is one activity within that. The standard structure for a Bicol visit is three to five days based in Legazpi, with Mayon trekking or ATV tours on the volcano, a day trip to Caramoan Peninsula for island hopping and white sand beaches, and a round at Doña Pepita worked into the schedule.

Flights from Manila to Legazpi Airport take about one hour on Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines. The airport is in Legazpi City, making transfers to the course and to the main Mayon viewing areas straightforward. From Manila, a night bus to Naga City is also an option for budget travelers, taking about eight to nine hours on the Pan-Philippine Highway.

A Bicol golf and adventure trip typically covers Legazpi City accommodation, a Mayon ATV tour or lower slope trek, a day at Doña Pepita Golf Course, a Caramoan island-hopping day trip, and a local food experience centered on Bicol’s distinctive cuisine. For golfers who want to extend the round count, combining Bicol with a return via Manila to Clark or Tagaytay for additional rounds before departure is the practical multi-course approach.

Practical formats:

3 days 2 nights Legazpi experience: arrival day with Mayon ATV tour, morning round at Doña Pepita, Caramoan boat trip on the third day before evening flight back to Manila

5 days extended Bicol and Manila loop: two nights in Legazpi for Doña Pepita round and Mayon activities, bus or flight to Naga for nine holes at Haciendas de Naga and Caramoan access, return to Manila for final round at a metropolitan course

For couples, Bicol is one of the most naturally varied three-day escapes from Manila in the Philippines. The Caramoan Peninsula beaches on the northeastern coast of Camarines Sur are among the least developed stretches of island coast in Luzon, with white sand and karst scenery that the Philippines Tourism Authority cites as one of the country’s lesser-known coastal destinations. Non-golfing partners have a full program of Mayon trekking, beach days, and food exploration, while golf fills one morning without competing with the other activities. Browse Philippines golf packages or create a custom Bicol and Manila itinerary that builds the volcano golf experience into a wider Luzon program.

Golf with Mayon Volcano and Caramoan’s beaches

Mayon Volcano is the defining feature of the Albay landscape and, by extension, of any round at Doña Pepita. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology notes it as one of the most active volcanoes in the Philippines, with the most recent significant eruption activity occurring in 2018 when lava flows and ashfall prompted temporary evacuations in communities around the base. Alert levels are publicly posted by PHIVOLCS, and checking current volcanic status before travel is sensible for any visitor planning Mayon trekking or ATV tours near the exclusion zone.

On non-alert days, ATV tours along the hardened lava fields on Mayon’s lower slopes operate from multiple operators in Camalig municipality, about 15 kilometers from Legazpi City. The tours run for one to two hours through the dark volcanic landscape at the base of the cone, and the contrast between the lava terrain and the surrounding rice paddy lowlands is one of the more visually striking experiences available in the Philippines. Most golfers who play Doña Pepita also do an ATV tour on the same trip, treating the two activities as the natural Albay itinerary combination.

Caramoan, on the peninsula extending into the Sibuyan Sea from eastern Camarines Sur, requires a roughly two-hour bus ride from Naga City followed by a bangka boat transfer to the islands. The island-hopping circuit covers several small limestone karst islands with clear water and beaches that are genuinely less crowded than Boracay or Palawan. The Philippines Tourism Authority notes Caramoan’s Gota Beach and Matukad Island as among the more photographed coastal sites in the Bicol region.

Book tee times in Bicol

Doña Pepita Golf Course is accessible with relatively short advance notice given the low visitor volume compared to Manila or Clark. Booking a few days ahead is generally sufficient for weekday slots. Weekend slots during the dry season December to May may see more local demand, and booking a week ahead is sensible for those windows.

When organizing a Bicol golf visit, confirm the tee time at Doña Pepita and the flight into Legazpi Airport, accommodation in Legazpi City, how the golf day aligns with any Mayon ATV tour and Caramoan trip within your overall Bicol schedule, and current Mayon volcanic alert status from PHIVOLCS before departure.

The primary consideration for Bicol travel is weather and typhoon risk, which should be checked before booking non-refundable flights during June through October. The dry season window of December through May is the practical planning frame for an international golf visit. Start planning here or view Philippines golf packages to incorporate Bicol into a wider Philippines program that includes Manila, Clark, or Boracay.