Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; San Diego by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.
Abu Dhabi or San Diego?
Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.
Choose Abu Dhabi for
- culture and sights
- prices
- beaches
What lies behind each score is written up on Abu Dhabi’s own page.
Choose San Diego for
- nature and the outdoors
- live music and the arts
- day trips
What lies behind each score is written up on San Diego’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Abu Dhabi and San Diego.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on culture and sights and prices with your weighting.
Wins on nature and the outdoors and live music and the arts with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Abu Dhabi in July
San Diego in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Abu Dhabi's temperatures are measured 26 km from the centre, at Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Abu Dhabi has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Abu Dhabi: 1991-2020 normals, Abu Dhabi International Airport (25.7 km from centre). San Diego: 1991-2020 normals, San Diego International Airport (2.8 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Abu Dhabi | San Diego |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Arabic | - |
| Currency | UAE Dirham (AED) | US Dollar (USD) |
| Sockets | CG220 V, 50 Hz | AB120 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+4 | UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer |
| Emergency number | 112 | 911 |
| Elevation | 14 m | 129 m |
| Main airport | Zayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinations | San Diego International Airport (SAN)3 km from centre87 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | - | 13 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Abu Dhabi | San Diego |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 1,570,000 | 1,386,932 |
| People per km² | 1,615 | 1,438 |
| Museums within 10 km | 3 | 26 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 0 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 11 months | 1 month |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Abu Dhabi or San Diego somewhere new.