Let me tell you something about Crandon Golf Course that the brochure won’t — this place has crocodiles. Not metaphorical ones. Not the kind that show up in the fine print of your rental agreement. Actual, prehistoric, dead-eyed crocodiles lounging around like they pay dues here, which, frankly, they’ve earned. We’re talking tens of millions of years of evolution and they chose to spend their afternoon on the 7th fairway. Respect. The layout itself is genuinely excellent — a well-conceived, thoughtful design that moves through Key Biscayne’s natural landscape with real intention. The routing is interesting, the holes are varied, and there are moments where the course demands your full attention and rewards you handsomely when you deliver. On pure design merit, this is a serious track worth playing. Going in, I had visions of sweeping Biscayne Bay panoramas between every hole — a golf course wrapped in water views, the Miami skyline as your permanent backdrop. The reality is that the mangroves have other ideas. Dense, ancient, and completely indifferent to your expectations, they wall off most of what could be genuinely breathtaking scenery. You get flashes — a sliver of skyline here, a hint of water there — enough to remind you that something spectacular is just beyond the treeline, which is almost worse than no view at all. Almost. The conditions, however, were doing their best impression of a course that had better days recently and was working its way back. Fairways that showed their wear, greens that had opinions about speed and not all of them were correct. Nothing catastrophic — just enough to remind you that perfection costs extra, and at Crandon, so does everything else. The green fee lands with a thud that makes you briefly reconsider your life choices before teeing off anyway. Worth playing? Absolutely. Worth the full five stars? Not quite yet. But where else this far south in Florida are you getting a wildlife encounter, a partial skyline view, and a genuinely solid golf course all in the same afternoon? Nowhere. That’s where.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Such a unique golf course in Miami. The conditions may not be the best, but the atmosphere is special and the layout is really interesting—you’ll end up using most of the clubs in your bag. We had a lot of fun and can’t wait to play again. Be wary of the raccoons though—they’ll steal food from your cart if you leave it unattended while you’re on the green!

Crandon Golf at Key Biscayne was a massive disappointment for the price. At $185 per person, this course is absolutely not worth it. The fairways were full of weeds and dirt patches, and the rough looked more like overgrown backyard grass than a properly maintained golf course. The greens were decent, but nowhere near the level you would expect for such an expensive round. The driving range was another letdown. You have to pay extra for range balls, and they are overpriced on top of already expensive tee times. Even worse, the range uses mats sitting directly on cement, which feels terrible to hit from. Pace of play was completely unacceptable at over 5 hours and 15 minutes, and there appeared to be little to no ranger presence to keep groups moving. For a course charging premium resort prices, basic pace management should not be this bad. Overall, this felt like a standard municipal course charging luxury golf prices. The scenery around the property is nice, but pretty views alone do not justify $185 a round. For this price, go play The Biltmore Golf Course instead.

Such a beautiful course - and amazing, friendly staff! We thoroughly enjoyed our round, and can't wait to come back to play this spectacular course! Definitely a highlight of our visit to Miami.

Remarkably well maintained course with a friendly staff. Location is truly incredible, a true natural beauty! The wildlife here will add some excitement to the round and the scenic views and sunsets will take your breathe away. If you're a local, it's a good tip to save on rounds as a Patron Card member, absolutely one of my favorite places to play around Miami. -Johnny Michael