Situated 14 Km from Marbella in a valley surrounded by hills with magnificent views of the coast, El Paraiso was designed with great attention to detail by Gary Player and Kirby.
The designers laid out the course to take advantage of the slope of a hill which runs down to the sea. El Paraiso Golf course was carefully designed to achieve a peaceful atmosphere through the varied abundance of trees and vegetation, strategically placed lakes and bunkers.
The course has fairways which are quite wide, but you need to attack them quite carefully. The water hazards play an important role, both for the beauty they add to the course and because of the dangerous streams lying waiting to catch wayward shots.
The central holes of the course (the 13th and the 14th) are incredibly beautiful, with their large trees and lakes. The 6th hole is generally regarded as the best on the course, a par 5 dogleg left where your drive must steer clear of two well positioned bunkers, left and right, and your second shot should be aimed to the left in order to avoid landing in the lake. Finally, your approach has again to be accurate, to a two tiered green, to give you any chance of that elusive "birdie".
The clubhouse, situated in the middle of the course, is rustic but very popular.