Cancun golf courses often contain cenotes, like this one on El Camaleon's first hole.

Today, when the PGA Tour follows up it first-ever south-of-the-border visit to Mexico and its Cancun/Riviera Maya region, players will have to contend with additional hazards that they don't normally find on courses here in the States: giant sinkholes.

Rare in other parts of the world, but common on some Cancun golf courses, these sinkholes, or cenotes (se-NO-tays), are limestone, cave-like structures similar to underground lava tubes. The exotic, Greg Norman-designed El Camaleon course that the Tour is playing is crisscrossed by them, and players will get a glimpse of one on the very first hole, where the Devil's Mouth, sits smack dab in the middle of the fairway.

El Camaleon is one of the Cancun golf courses that you can play, too, and you shouldn't let the cenotes deter you. The truth is, there aren't too many of them and they're fairly easy to avoid. If you do hit your ball into one, you could find anything from dirt, sand, standing water, or gnarled bushes and trees inside. Our advice? Drop and play on.

What the cenotes do is remind you that you're playing golf in a unique place, and that's always a good thing. As for the rest of the course, the fairways are reasonably wide and there's no rough to speak of. However, if you're wild with your driver or approach shots, it can become a raging monster as there is thick jungle vegetation, swampy mangroves and a series of water-filled canals from which there is no recovery. The other threats to scoring come from Norman's bold bunkering and fiendishly contoured greens.

If you'd like to get our take on other Cancun golf courses, you might want to click here and read our free, special report on taking a Cancun golf vacation.

Did you know?Golf Vacation Insider and Golf Odyssey are the world's only golf publications that travel anonymously and do not accept advertising, discounts, or "freebies" from the golf courses, resorts or restaurants they review.

Not already a subscriber to Golf Vacation Insider? Click here to receive our free newsletter filled with insider travel tips on the world's finest golf courses and resorts. As a bonus, we will send you a free copy of Planning the Ultimate Golf Vacation, a 40-page book filled with insider tips from the editors of Golf Odyssey.