Akumal or Puerto Escondido?

Both towns are about the beach, and the water is warm all year in both, but Akumal's sea is the easier one to swim in. Its bays lie calm and clear behind the reef, and you can snorkel straight from the sand over seagrass where turtles feed. The beaches themselves are small and partly seagrass or limestone, and in some summers sargassum seaweed washes in.

Puerto Escondido has the more dramatic shoreline, with the long golden curve of Zicatela, but the open Pacific beaches are for watching the surf, not for swimming. Swimmers go to the coves of Carrizalillo, Puerto Angelito and Manzanillo instead, so a good beach day there depends on choosing the right cove.

Akumal has a few sandy-floored restaurants along the bays that charge resort prices, and plainer Yucatecan kitchens in the pueblo across the highway, where cochinita pibil is the dish to look for. Many visitors cook in their villas and drive to Playa del Carmen or Tulum for a proper meal out.

Puerto Escondido eats noticeably better, thanks to Oaxacan cooking. There are moles, tlayudas and tamales at the market and the evening stalls, and fish grilled a la talla at the beach palapas. The surf neighbourhoods add bakeries and international kitchens, though there is no fine dining.

Neither town has sights of its own, so the difference lies in what is nearby. From Akumal, the Maya ruins of Tulum and Coba are a short drive, which gives a beach stay something solid to visit. In Puerto Escondido, culture means the market, the fishing beach, El Adoquin and the town's festivals, while museums and architecture are a long way inland in Oaxaca city.

Akumal goes to bed early. A margarita at a beach bar as the sun sets is about as far as it goes, and anyone wanting more takes a taxi to Playa del Carmen or Tulum. Many visitors choose Akumal for exactly that quiet.

Puerto Escondido has a real surf-town night out. The open-air bars of La Punta put on reggaeton and electronic nights that run late in the high season, and Zicatela has sunset and mezcal bars along the beach. There is no proper club scene, and things quieten down in the rainy season.

Both are superb for the outdoors, and in both the outdoors means water, but very different water. Akumal's is clear and still: the Mesoamerican reef lies just offshore, and inland the cenotes and flooded caves draw cave divers and snorkellers. The lagoons and mangroves of Sian Ka'an are to the south.

Puerto Escondido has the open Pacific, with Zicatela's world-famous big-wave break, gentler surf for learners and passing whales in winter. Along the coast are the bioluminescent Manialtepec lagoon and the mangrove channels of Chacahua. Neither place has much hiking, though the forested Sierra Sur gives Puerto Escondido a mountain backdrop that flat, jungle-covered Akumal lacks.

Akumal is much the better base for day trips. Tulum's cliff-top ruins are about twenty minutes away and Coba is under an hour. Playa del Carmen and the ferry to Cozumel are half an hour north, and Chichen Itza and Valladolid make a long but worthwhile day.

From Puerto Escondido, most day trips lead to more beaches: Mazunte, San Agustinillo and Zipolite an hour east, the bays of Huatulco about two hours away and Chacahua to the west. Oaxaca city and the mezcal valleys need an overnight stay.

Akumal is the more natural fit for children. The bays are shallow and calm, snorkelling beside turtles is a highlight children remember, the Yal-Ku lagoon suits small swimmers, and Xel-Ha and Xcaret add zip lines and underground rivers.

Puerto Escondido works for families who choose their beaches carefully. Its coves are safe for paddling, and turtle releases and surf lessons are great fun for older children. However, Zicatela's currents rule out swimming there, Carrizalillo means a long climb back up the steps, and nothing in town is designed for children.

Akumal is spread out along the highway, and there is little to walk to beyond your own bay. Colectivo vans stop on request but are awkward with children or gear, so most visitors hire a car, which also makes the cenotes and ruins much easier to reach.

Puerto Escondido is easier without a car. You can walk within each part of town, although the hills and heat make it tiring. Plenty of taxis and colectivos link the centre, Rinconada and Zicatela.

Akumal sells little beyond sunscreen, snorkel gear, groceries and a few beach clothes. If you want to shop, you go to Playa del Carmen's pedestrian street or the craft shops of Valladolid.

Puerto Escondido is no shopping town either, but it has more to browse. El Adoquin has stalls of embroidered blouses, alebrijes and hammocks, Zicatela and La Punta have surf shops and swimwear, and Oaxacan mezcal is the best thing to take home.

In Akumal the bill is shaped by the layout. There are hardly any modest rooms in the bays, so most stays mean a villa or condo, and because the cenotes, ruins and eco-parks are all a drive away, a hire car and a string of entry fees come on top. The main saving is the villa kitchen: shopping in Playa del Carmen, eating in the pueblo across the highway and swimming in the free bays keeps the days themselves cheap.

Puerto Escondido costs much less to run day to day. A car is not needed, so a short taxi ride between the centre and Zicatela does the job of a daily hire, and a palapa lunch on the beach costs a fraction of a meal on Akumal's bays. Spending climbs only in Zicatela and La Punta, whose design hotels and international kitchens are priced for foreign visitors, and when Mexican families fill the town at Christmas and Easter.

Neither town has a theatre or a concert hall. Akumal has at most a guitarist in a beach restaurant, and the nearest real show is the evening spectacle at Xcaret near Playa del Carmen. Puerto Escondido at least has live bands and the odd jazz or son jarocho night in the bars of Zicatela and La Punta, plus music and traditional dance at its November festival.

Both towns move at an unhurried pace and both offer the temazcal sweat lodge, but they feel different. In Akumal the calm comes with the place: no traffic in the bays, early nights and cool swims in cenotes, with spa treatments arranged through the resorts and villas.

Puerto Escondido makes more of yoga, with open-air studios and retreats in town and in nearby Mazunte, and massages are cheap. The drawback is noise, because La Punta stays loud late into the night, so light sleepers should stay elsewhere in town.