Akumal or Valladolid, Mexico?

This is where the two differ most. Akumal is a beach destination first and last. Akumal Bay has soft sand and resident green turtles, Yal-Ku lagoon is good for gentle floating, and Xcacel and the long Tulum beaches are a short drive away for more space. The bays are small, and sargassum can arrive in some summers.

Valladolid has no beach within easy reach. Its swimming happens in cenotes such as Zací, right in town, and X'keken and Suytun just outside. The water there is cool and fresh under rock ceilings, which makes a good break from sightseeing but not a beach day.

Valladolid eats better. It has dishes of its own, longaniza and lomitos, and mornings at the municipal market and evening marquesitas in front of the cathedral. Its courtyard restaurants serve honest regional cooking at fair prices, though there is little beyond Yucatecan food.

In Akumal, the beach restaurants offer grilled fish and ceviche at resort prices. The better plain cooking is at the pueblo's taco stands across the highway. Many visitors cook in their villas or drive to Playa del Carmen or Tulum for dinner.

Valladolid is a sight in itself. It has pastel colonial houses around the square, the church of San Servacio, and the walk along the Calzada de los Frailes to the sixteenth-century convent of San Bernardino. All of it fills two easy days before the ruins outside town.

Akumal began as a coconut plantation and a divers' base, and its one institution is a small ecological centre. Any culture there means driving to Tulum, Cobá or Muyil.

Neither town is for a night out, but Valladolid has a little more going on. Families stroll the lit-up main square, and a few mezcal and craft-beer bars around the plaza and the Calzada stay open into the late evening.

Akumal's evenings come down to a sunset drink at a beach bar before an early night. Anyone wanting clubs takes a taxi to Playa del Carmen or Tulum.

Akumal has the richer outdoors, and most of it is underwater. You can snorkel the Mesoamerican reef straight from the bays, dive sites are a short boat ride out, and the cenotes towards Tulum and Cobá draw cave divers. Sian Ka'an's lagoons and mangroves lie to the south.

Valladolid's nature is quieter and on land. You cycle along flat paths to cenotes in the scrub, watch birds in the forest, or take a boat among the flamingos and pink salt flats of Ría Lagartos. Neither place has hills or real hiking.

Valladolid has the edge for ruins. Chichén Itzá is close enough to reach before the coach tours arrive, and Ek Balam, Cobá and the yellow town of Izamal are all within a comfortable day.

From Akumal, Tulum is twenty minutes away and Cobá under an hour. Playa del Carmen and the Cozumel ferry are easy too, but Chichén Itzá and Valladolid itself are a long two-hour day out.

Akumal is the easier choice with children. The bays are shallow and sheltered, the Yal-Ku lagoon is gentle, and swimming with turtles is something they will remember. Xel-Ha and Xcaret add zip lines and underground rivers, and villas with pools give families room.

Valladolid is calm and welcoming, and older children enjoy the cenote rope swings and climbing the ruins. But it has nothing built for children, the pavements are narrow, and long walks round the ruins in full sun tire small legs.

Valladolid is easier without a car. The flat historic centre is a short walk end to end, bikes take you to the nearer cenotes, and buses reach Chichén Itzá. A car still helps for Ek Balam or Río Lagartos.

Akumal is spread along the highway in scattered bays, with colectivo vans the only public option. Most visitors hire a car from the start.

Valladolid is the better place to shop, mostly for Yucatecan crafts. Look for embroidered huipiles, hammocks, sandals made in town, honey and Xtabentún liqueur at the market beside the Zací cenote and along the Calzada. In Akumal there is little beyond snorkel gear and groceries, so shoppers head to Playa del Carmen's pedestrian street, or to Valladolid itself.

Valladolid costs far less. Its guesthouses and courtyard hotels are much cheaper than comparable rooms on the coast, and market meals, colectivos and bike hire cost little. The main extras are the entrance fees at Chichén Itzá and at each cenote.

Akumal is expensive for Mexico. Its lodging is mostly villas and resorts, and car hire and eco-park tickets add up over a week. Cooking for yourself and eating in the pueblo help, and the bays themselves cost nothing.

There is little to see in either town, but Valladolid offers something of its own. On some evenings jarana dancers perform the vaquería on the main square with a brass band, there are light projections on the San Bernardino convent, and trova singers play in restaurants. Akumal has at most a guitarist in a beach restaurant, with the Xcaret evening show the nearest real performance.

Akumal is the better place to unwind. Days pass between the sea, hammocks and still cenotes with no traffic. Yoga, beach massage and resort spas are easy to book, and temazcal ceremonies are held along the coast.

Valladolid is restful in a town way, with shuttered afternoons, cool evenings on the square and courtyard pools. Massage and temazcal can be arranged, but the sightseeing schedule rarely leaves days to do nothing.