VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
Cocoa Beach Pier behind yellow parasols, Cocoa Beach
Cocoa BeachCocoa Beach Pier behind yellow parasols

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Cocoa Beach by Benoît Prieur, CC0.

Auckland or Cocoa Beach?

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 Auckland for

  • culture and sights
  • live music and the arts
  • food and drink

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

Choose Cocoa Beach for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Cocoa Beach’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. Auckland 68, Cocoa Beach 80: Cocoa Beach leads by 12 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Cocoa Beach 32: Auckland leads by 30 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Cocoa Beach 12: Auckland leads by 32 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Cocoa Beach 27: Auckland leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Cocoa Beach 62: Auckland leads by 21 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Cocoa Beach 52: Auckland leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Cocoa Beach 72: Cocoa Beach leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Cocoa Beach 22: Auckland leads by 20 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Cocoa Beach 20: Auckland leads by 25 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Cocoa Beach 40: Cocoa Beach leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Cocoa Beach 14: Auckland leads by 31 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Cocoa Beach 30: Auckland leads by 15 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Cocoa Beach.

Your match

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

Auckland
Best match
53match

Wins on culture and sights and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Cocoa Beach
39match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Auckland in July

14 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
135 mmrain in the month
14 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Cocoa Beach in July

30 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
147 mmrain in the month
28 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandCocoa Beach

Where the figures come from

Auckland's station stands 189 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Cocoa Beach has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Auckland: 1961-1990 normals, Auckland Aerodrome Aws (17 km from centre). Cocoa Beach: 1961-1990 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Cocoa / Patrick Air Force Base (11.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandCocoa Beach
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, Māori-
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number111911
Elevation196 m0 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsOrlando International Airport (MCO)68 km from centre170 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandCocoa Beach
City population1,470,10011,354
People per km²2,630290
Museums within 10 km153
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month11 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Auckland or Cocoa Beach 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). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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. 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.