The Global Golfer · Course Intelligence · Messinia · Costa Navarino
The Bay Course — Costa Navarino
Location: Navarino Bay, Messinia, Greece
Design: Robert Trent Jones II
Par: 71
Back-tee length: 5,614 metres
Course type: Resort / coastal
Access: Resort golf; tee-time availability, course operations and playing conditions should be confirmed for the travel dates.
Open since October 2011, The Bay Course is Costa Navarino’s second signature golf course and a deliberate contrast to The Dunes Course. It plays through three distinct landscapes — Seaside, Canyon and Grove — with elevated tees, Navarino Bay views, inland box canyons and mature olive trees creating a round that changes character repeatedly rather than following one visual theme.
Why play The Bay Course
The Bay Course works well as the second round in a Costa Navarino Course Swing. It is shorter than The Dunes Course from the back tees, but the value of the round comes from position, elevation changes and the transition between exposed sea views and more intimate inland holes. Two holes play directly along the historic Bay of Navarino, while many tees open towards the water or surrounding mountains.
Course character
- Seaside: holes framed by Navarino Bay, with the coastal setting most visible around the waterfront sections.
- Canyon: elevated tees and tighter inland corridors create a different strategic rhythm and more pronounced changes in elevation.
- Grove: mature olive trees and mountain views soften the setting and give the closing landscape a distinctly Messinian character.
- Decision-making: shorter overall length does not remove the need for placement; the variety of angles, slopes and green positions rewards choosing the correct side rather than simply hitting farther.
Practice, tuition and equipment
Costa Navarino’s golf operation supports tuition through the Navarino Golf Academy, while equipment and golf packages can include practical items such as shoes, buggies and club hire. Availability and inclusions change, so these should be confirmed when booking rather than assumed from an older package description.
Build a Costa Navarino Course Swing
- 1 · The Dunes Course: begin with the original Costa Navarino anchor and establish the destination’s resort-golf identity.
- 2 · The Bay Course: switch to a shorter, more varied routing through Seaside, Canyon and Grove landscapes.
- 3 · International Olympic Academy Golf Course: move onto the longer Navarino Hills layout and broader elevated views.
- 4 · The Hills Course: complete the itinerary with the second José María Olazábal course across the Messinian hillside.
For a three-round trip, The Dunes and Bay courses make a natural opening pair before choosing one of the two Navarino Hills layouts. For four rounds, play all four and use the contrasting ground and elevation to avoid repeating the same test on consecutive days.
Stay · Play · Recover
The Bay Course sits within the wider Costa Navarino destination rather than as an isolated golf stop. That makes it straightforward to combine the round with resort accommodation, dining and wellness, including the broader Navarino Bay and Navarino Waterfront offer. Build recovery time around the sequence of rounds rather than treating the course schedule as the only structure for the trip.
Checked 18 September 2026. Course facts are based on Costa Navarino’s current dedicated Bay Course information. A separate resort overview has historically shown a different par figure, so TGG uses the dedicated current course page as the working source and recommends reconfirming course data, tee-time access, operations and package inclusions directly before travel. The Global Golfer’s editorial guidance is independent.