Akumal or Oaxaca?

Akumal is built around its bays. Akumal Bay, Half Moon Bay, Jade Bay and the Yal-Ku lagoon offer warm, clear, reef-calmed water with turtles on the seagrass, though the beaches are small and sargassum can spoil some summer days.

Oaxaca sits in a mountain valley at about 1,550m with ranges between it and the Pacific. Getting to Puerto Escondido or Huatulco is a separate trip, so beach lovers either skip Oaxaca or add a few coastal days at the end.

Oaxaca is one of the great eating cities of Mexico: the moles, tlayudas over charcoal, the grill aisle of the Mercado 20 de Noviembre, village mezcal and hot chocolate in the morning, with serious chefs cooking tasting menus from local maize.

Akumal offers a few sandy-floored places for grilled fish and ceviche at resort prices, plus plainer Yucatecan cooking in the pueblo across the highway. Many visitors cook in their villas and drive to Playa del Carmen or Tulum for a proper night out.

Oaxaca has a full itinerary of its own: a green-stone colonial grid listed by UNESCO, the gilded interior of Santo Domingo, the Tomb 7 gold in the former monastery, a strong printmaking and painting tradition, and Monte Albán twenty minutes away.

Akumal began as a coconut plantation and a divers' base, and its only institution is a small ecological centre. Its history lies in the Maya sites of Tulum, Coba and Muyil, all a drive away.

Oaxaca's evenings centre on mezcal: tasting bars in the centre and Jalatlaco, rooftop terraces facing Santo Domingo, and a few salsa or DJ nights at weekends. It is sociable rather than big, with few clubs.

Akumal goes quiet after a sunset drink by the bay, and many people come for exactly that. Anyone wanting bars has to take a taxi to Playa del Carmen or Tulum.

Akumal has the stronger outdoors, and nearly all of it is in the water. The Mesoamerican reef sits just off the bays, so snorkelling starts at the water's edge and diving is a short boat ride away. Inland, the cenotes and flooded caves along the road to Tulum and Coba are a magnet for serious cave divers, and they are just as good for an easy float over stalactites. Turtles nest on the protected beaches from May to October, and boats run through the mangroves and lagoons of Sian Ka'an.

On land, though, it is flat jungle with little to walk.\n\nOaxaca's outdoors is in the mountains and on foot. In the Sierra Norte, about an hour and a half away, Zapotec villages run trails and cabins through pine-oak and cloud forest up to about 3,000m. The mineral cliffs of Hierve el Agua make an easy half-day, and guided mountain bike rides cross the agave fields of the valley. Walkers will prefer it, but for most visitors the reef and cenotes are the bigger draw.

Both make good bases, for different outings. From Akumal the trips are headline names: the cliff-top ruins of Tulum, Coba's forest pyramid, the ferry from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel, and a long day to Chichen Itza and Valladolid.

Oaxaca's trips are smaller and closer together: the Tule cypress, Teotitlán's weavers, the fretwork of Mitla, mezcal distilleries and craft villages, with the Mixteca monasteries further out. Colectivos and tours easily cover two or three in a day, whereas from Akumal a car helps.

Akumal is the easier choice with children. Shallow, sheltered bays, turtles a few metres out, the gentle Yal-Ku lagoon, villas with pools and the zip lines and underground rivers at Xel-Ha and Xcaret give plenty to do, even if summer heat and constant driving wear thin.

Oaxaca welcomes children in its zócalo and pedestrian streets, and older ones enjoy painting alebrijes or making chocolate. With no zoo or theme park, shadeless ruins and cobbles that defeat pushchairs, it suits older children better than toddlers.

Oaxaca's centre is compact and walkable, with Santo Domingo, the zócalo, Jalatlaco and Xochimilco all a short stroll apart. Cheap taxis, colectivos and day drivers cover the valley.

Akumal is a scatter of bays off a highway. Colectivo vans stop on request, but they are awkward with snorkel gear or children, so most visitors hire a car for the cenotes and ruins.

Oaxaca is a place to fill a suitcase: handwoven textiles, huipiles, black pottery and alebrijes along the Macedonio Alcalá, rugs bought straight from Teotitlán's looms, and the weekly markets at Tlacolula and Ocotlán. Fashion brands are absent.

In Akumal, shopping means sunscreen, snorkels and groceries. For anything more, people go to Playa del Carmen's pedestrian street.

A week in Akumal costs far more than the same week in Oaxaca. Almost every bed by the bays is in a villa, condo or resort aimed at foreign visitors, meals by the water carry beach-resort mark-ups, and the hire car, eco-park and cenote entries and snorkelling guides all go on the bill. A rental with a kitchen, the pueblo's taco stands and the colectivos trim the total, and the bays themselves cost little to enjoy.\n\nIn Oaxaca everyday spending stays low.

Market tlayudas, set lunches in family fondas, simple guesthouses, cheap taxis out to the valley villages and modest entry at the ruins barely dent a budget. Costs only climb at the top end, with restored colonial boutique hotels and chef-led tasting menus, and when rooms fill up for Guelaguetza and the Day of the Dead.

Oaxaca has a genuine performing tradition. In July the Guelaguetza brings regional dance delegations to the hillside auditorium, the Day of the Dead fills the streets with comparsas, and the state band, marimbas and the Teatro Macedonio Alcalá keep music going the rest of the year.

Akumal has at most a guitarist in a beach restaurant. The nearest show is the evening spectacle at Xcaret, a drive up the coast.

Both are restful, in different ways, and both offer the temazcal sweat lodge. Akumal's calm comes from water and stillness: hammocks, cenote swims, beach massage and yoga at the villas, with no traffic in the bays.

In Oaxaca the temazcal is a living Zapotec and Mixtec practice led by traditional healers, and the city's calm comes from shaded courtyards and slow mornings over chocolate. Festival weeks bring fireworks and crowds that a quiet bay never does.