Acapulco or Huatulco?

Both have warm Pacific water all year, and both split between sheltered swimming and open-coast surf that is risky to swim in. Acapulco is one big urban bay, with Condesa and Icacos below the hotels and the family coves of Caleta and Caletilla on the old peninsula, but the water can turn murky after rain, sending swimmers to Puerto Marqués or Roqueta Island.

Huatulco has the edge with its nine separate coves, clearer and calmer, with coral off La Entrega and wilder bays such as Cacaluta reached only by boat or forest path. Hopping from beach to beach by boat in a morning is something Acapulco's single bay cannot match.

Acapulco has the more distinctive local cooking and a wider spread of places to eat: pescado a la talla at the lagoon palapas, tomato-based ceviche, the Thursday pozole verde ritual and a few clifftop restaurants for dinner over the bay. Huatulco eats simply and well, with Oaxacan mole, tlayudas and mezcal at the La Crucecita market and plaza fondas, but it has only a handful of serious restaurants and the Tangolunda resorts lean towards buffets.

Neither is a culture destination, but Acapulco fills a day where Huatulco fills a morning. The Fuerte de San Diego tells the story of the Manila galleons, Diego Rivera's mosaics cover the Casa de los Vientos, and the hillside villas and old hotels carry the memory of the mid-century jet set.

Huatulco, a planned resort, has the painted dome of La Crucecita's church, the small pre-Hispanic site at Copalita with its walk to a clifftop lookout, and a quiet colonial church inland at Santa María Huatulco.

This is where the two differ most. Acapulco has a real late-night scene along the Costera Miguel Alemán, with beach bars, terraces and hillside clubs that run until dawn, loudest when crowds drive down from Mexico City on long weekends. It is mainstream rather than intimate, and it can feel half empty midweek off-season.

Huatulco goes to bed early: a few bars and mezcal spots around La Crucecita's square, some beach bars by the Santa Cruz marina, and little else. Anyone wanting a party there heads up the coast to Zipolite.

Huatulco is the stronger choice outdoors. Much of its coast is national park, dry forest falling to cliffs and coral that is easy to snorkel, with blowholes, humpback whales from December to March, rafting on the Copalita River and waterfalls and coffee farms in the Sierra Sur foothills.

Acapulco's setting is a grand green horseshoe of a bay, and it has its own strengths in deep-sea fishing for sailfish and marlin and the mangrove channels of Coyuca Lagoon. Inland, though, the Sierra Madre del Sur offers few marked trails.

Huatulco has far better outings within reach. About an hour west lie Mazunte with its turtle centre, laid-back San Agustinillo, the harbour at Puerto Ángel and Zipolite, with the surf town of Puerto Escondido further on and coffee villages in the hills.

From Acapulco the easy trips are half days on the city's own edges, Pie de la Cuesta for sunsets and Barra Vieja for lunch. Taxco, the silver town that is its obvious cultural outing, is far enough away to need a night.

Both have sheltered water and resorts with kids' clubs, but Huatulco is the easier place with children. At La Entrega and Santa Cruz children can snorkel among fish close to shore, and the small, calm town is simple to manage.

Acapulco has more built for children, with the CICI water park, Papagayo Park and the gentle coves of Caleta and Caletilla. Against that, the Costera's traffic, the heat and the dangerous open-ocean surf mean many families end up staying inside their resort.

Neither is walkable from end to end, and both run on taxis. Acapulco is a long city strung along a single boulevard, with cheap buses on the Costera but steep hills behind and distances from the old town to Diamante too long to walk. Huatulco is smaller, a set of bays a short drive apart, with a compact La Crucecita and colectivos on the main routes, though the remoter bays need a boat or a hire car.

Acapulco has a little more to browse. Its big artisan market near the old town gathers Taxco silver, Olinalá lacquerware and Guerrero masks, and the open-air malls in Diamante cover everyday needs. Huatulco's stalls around La Crucecita and Santa Cruz carry appealing Oaxacan craft, such as black pottery, alebrijes and embroidered blouses, but there is no mall or fashion retail, and keen buyers save their money for Oaxaca city.

Acapulco is the cheaper stay, because it is mainly a resort for Mexican visitors. Older beach-view hotels on the Costera, seafood lunches and local buses all cost little, and even the all-inclusives are fair for what they offer.

Huatulco can be kept modest by staying in La Crucecita and eating at the market and fondas, but boat tours, hotel restaurants and the Tangolunda resorts add up more quickly. In both places, Mexican vacation periods push room rates up.

Acapulco gives you more to listen to in the evening. Mariachis and guitar trios play for diners in the seafood restaurants and around the zócalo, and hotels put on Mexican folk dance shows. Touring Latin pop stars play the big concert venue in Diamante, and the Acapulco Philharmonic gives occasional concerts between its tours around Guerrero.

Huatulco has little to plan a night around: Oaxacan folk dance in the resorts, a few bands in bars, and music and dancing on La Crucecita's plaza during festivals. You won't find a regular theatre or classical season in either city.

Huatulco is the more restful place. It is low-rise and quiet once the boats come in, with full spas in Tangolunda and Conejos and the temazcal, a herbal steam bath taken in a small dome, as its own local ritual.

In Acapulco, wellness lives inside the resort spas of Diamante and Las Brisas and a few clifftop hotels. Outside them, the noisy Costera and packed long-weekend beaches work against rest, and Pie de la Cuesta is the place to find a slower pace.