Photos: Akumal by Alfonzo Buscemi, CC BY 3.0, cropped; Banff by bryan pascual, Pexels License.
Akumal or Banff?
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 Akumal for
- beaches
- day trips
- prices
What lies behind each score is written up on Akumal’s own page.
Choose Banff for
- getting around
- live music and the arts
- nightlife
What lies behind each score is written up on Banff’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: Akumal and Banff.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Too close to call, level with your weighting
Wins on beaches and day trips with your weighting.
Wins on getting around 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.
Akumal in July
Banff in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Akumal has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Akumal: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km. Banff: 1991-2020 normals, Banff (2 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Akumal | Banff |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Spanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya | French, English |
| Currency | Mexican Peso (MXN) | Canadian Dollar (CAD) |
| Sockets | AB127 V, 60 Hz | AB120 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC-5 | UTC-7, UTC-6 in summer |
| Emergency number | 911 | 911 |
| Elevation | 11 m | 1,400 m |
| Main airport | Cancún International Airport (CUN)85 km from centre135 non-stop destinations | Calgary International Airport (YYC)109 km from centre102 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 9 days | 13 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Akumal | Banff |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 2,154 | 8,305 |
| People per km² | - | 1,730 |
| Museums within 10 km | 0 | 4 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 0 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | - |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Akumal or Banff somewhere new.