Acapulco or Puerto Escondido?

Both towns live for the beach on the same warm Pacific, and they are close to level. The difference is in the shape of the coast. Acapulco has one large curved bay lined with sand, from the hotel strip at Condesa and Icacos to the family coves of Caleta and Caletilla, with Puerto Marqués for sheltered swimming when the main bay is cloudy.

Puerto Escondido is a string of separate beaches, each with its own character. Zicatela is for watching big surf rather than swimming, while small clear coves such as Carrizalillo and Puerto Angelito give calmer water and better snorkelling than anything in Acapulco's bay. On both coasts the open beaches have dangerous currents.

Acapulco eats better, mainly because it is bigger. Its Guerrero dishes, such as tomato-based ceviche and the Thursday ritual of green pozole, give it a stronger local identity, and a few clifftop restaurants offer a smarter dinner, even though the Costera itself is full of chains.

Puerto Escondido cooks from the Oaxacan kitchen, with tlayudas, moles and mezcal, as well as wood-fired pizza and poke bowls for the surf crowd. It is pleasant and fresh, but it has the range of a small town and no smart restaurants to speak of.

Neither is a sightseeing destination, but Acapulco at least fills a day. The Fuerte de San Diego tells the story of the Manila galleons, the La Quebrada divers are worth seeing, and Diego Rivera's mosaics and the domed cathedral sit close together. Puerto Escondido has a pleasant pedestrian street and a lighthouse, and no museums at all, so its culture is in the market and fishing beach, or a long way inland in Oaxaca city.

Acapulco offers the bigger and later night out of the two. Its scene is the size of a city, spread for kilometres along the Costera, and it draws a mainly Mexican crowd that comes to dance to loud, mainstream music in large venues. It follows the domestic calendar, so it is busiest on long weekends and during the vacation weeks. On an ordinary weeknight it can be thin, and you need taxis to get from one venue to the next.

Puerto Escondido is a smaller, barefoot affair. Its crowd is younger and more international, many of them surfers staying for weeks. Most of the late nights are packed into La Punta, where you can walk between open-air bars playing reggaeton and electronic music, while Zicatela's mezcal bars are better for a slower drink at sunset. The busy time is a whole winter season, not a string of weekends. There is nothing like Acapulco's big clubs.

Puerto Escondido is much the stronger choice for time outdoors, because its ocean is something to do as well as to look at. Zicatela is a world-famous big-wave break with gentler waves nearby for learners, whales pass in winter, and the bioluminescent Manialtepec lagoon and the crocodile-filled channels of Chacahua are close.

Acapulco's natural appeal lies more in its scenery. The green hills around the bay are best seen from the Scenic Highway, and there is good sport fishing for marlin, diving off Roqueta and boat rides through the Coyuca mangroves.

Puerto Escondido has more within reach. Mazunte, San Agustinillo and Zipolite are about an hour away and make a varied day of beach villages, and Huatulco's bays and the lagoon village of Chacahua offer more outings. Acapulco's easy outings are half-days to Pie de la Cuesta and Barra Vieja on its own edges, and Taxco, its one real cultural trip, is about three hours away and works better with an overnight stay.

For families the two are about even, and they suit different kinds of family. Acapulco is built for an easy resort stay, with kids' clubs, the CICI water park, the shallow coves at Caleta and boat trips to Roqueta. The traffic and noise mean most families stay inside their hotel.

Puerto Escondido has nothing built for children. Instead, older children get memorable experiences: releasing baby turtles, dolphin trips and gentle surf lessons, along with safe paddling at Puerto Angelito and Manzanillo.

Puerto Escondido is a little easier to get around, simply because it is smaller. Its centre, Rinconada and Zicatela are each walkable, and taxis or colectivo vans cover the short hops between them. Acapulco spreads for long distances along the Costera and up steep hills, so getting between the old town and Diamante means a bus or taxi. In neither place is long walking in the heat pleasant.

Acapulco has a little more choice. Its large artisan market sells Taxco silver and Olinalá lacquerware, and the Diamante malls cover everyday needs. Puerto Escondido's shopping is limited to Oaxacan craft stalls on El Adoquin, surf shops in Zicatela and good bottles of mezcal to take home. In both towns the serious buying is done inland.

Both are cheap by international standards, and Acapulco is a little easier on the budget overall. Its older bay-view hotels and good-value all-inclusives are priced for Mexican families, and costs rise mainly in Diamante and Las Brisas.

Puerto Escondido varies more with how you stay. Market meals, guesthouses and taxis cost little, but the design hotels and international restaurants in Zicatela and La Punta are aimed at foreign visitors and charge well above local prices.

Neither town has much of a stage, but Acapulco gives you a bit more to go to. Mariachis play around the zócalo, hotels put on folk dance shows, and touring Latin pop stars perform at the big venue in Diamante. The Acapulco Philharmonic Orchestra also gives occasional concerts at home between its tours of Guerrero.

Puerto Escondido has bands in the bars, the odd son jarocho night and its November festival. Anyone who wants to see Oaxacan music and dance properly has to go inland to Oaxaca city.

Puerto Escondido is the place to unwind. Yoga is part of everyday life in Zicatela, La Punta and nearby Mazunte, the temazcal sweat lodge offers a ritual with Mesoamerican roots, and the town's pace follows the tides.

In Acapulco, calm usually comes at a price, in a resort spa in Diamante or a clifftop hotel, away from the noise of the Costera. Pie de la Cuesta is the easiest escape there.