VacationSelector
The Explanada de España, Alicante
AlicanteThe Explanada de España
Colourful houses in the old town, Mazatlan
MazatlanColourful houses in the old town

Photos: Alicante by Emilio Sánchez Hernández, Pexels License; Mazatlan by Gzzz, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Alicante or Mazatlan?

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 Alicante for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Alicante’s own page.

Choose Mazatlan for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Mazatlan’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Alicante 82, Mazatlan 80: Alicante leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Alicante 67, Mazatlan 62: Alicante leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Alicante 46, Mazatlan 42: Alicante leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Alicante 60, Mazatlan 55: Alicante leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Alicante 63, Mazatlan 66: Mazatlan leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Alicante 72, Mazatlan 45: Alicante leads by 27 points.
Good for families. Alicante 68, Mazatlan 60: Alicante leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Alicante 66, Mazatlan 42: Alicante leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Alicante 44, Mazatlan 30: Alicante leads by 14 points.
Affordability. Alicante 60, Mazatlan 70: Mazatlan leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Alicante 37, Mazatlan 40: Mazatlan leads by 3 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Alicante 40, Mazatlan 35: Alicante leads by 5 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Alicante and Mazatlan.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Alicante
Best match
59match

Wins on day trips and getting around with your weighting.

Mazatlan
52match

Wins on prices and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Alicante in July

30 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
3 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Mazatlan in July

34 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
153 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
AlicanteMazatlan

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Alicante: 1991-2020 normals, Alicante (2.8 km from centre). Mazatlan: 1991-2020 normals, Colonia Juan Carras-Co Mazatlan, Sin. (2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAlicanteMazatlan
Official languageSpanishSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-7
Emergency number112911
Elevation3 m139 m
Main airportAlicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport (ALC)10 km from centre126 non-stop destinationsGeneral Rafael Buelna International Airport (MZT)16 km from centre23 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days9 days

By the numbers

MeasureAlicanteMazatlan
City population366,221441,975
People per km²1,819-
Museums within 10 km83
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km20
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Alicante or Mazatlan somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.