VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
Colourful houses in the old town, Mazatlan
MazatlanColourful houses in the old town

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Mazatlan by Gzzz, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Auckland 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 Auckland for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • shopping
  • day trips

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

Choose Mazatlan for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • beaches

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. Auckland 68, Mazatlan 80: Mazatlan leads by 12 points.
Food & drink. Auckland and Mazatlan are level on 62.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Mazatlan 42: Auckland leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Mazatlan 55: Mazatlan leads by 13 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Mazatlan 66: Auckland leads by 17 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Mazatlan 45: Auckland leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Mazatlan 60: Auckland leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Auckland and Mazatlan are level on 42.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Mazatlan 30: Auckland leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Mazatlan 70: Mazatlan leads by 38 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Mazatlan 40: Auckland leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Mazatlan 35: Auckland leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Mazatlan.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Auckland
53match

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

Mazatlan
52match

Wins on prices and nightlife 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
No recordsunshine a day
14 °Csea
10 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
AucklandMazatlan

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.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Auckland: 1961-1990 normals, Auckland Aerodrome Aws (17 km from centre). Mazatlan: 1991-2020 normals, Colonia Juan Carras-Co Mazatlan, Sin. (2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandMazatlan
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC-7
Emergency number111911
Elevation196 m139 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsGeneral Rafael Buelna International Airport (MZT)16 km from centre23 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days9 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandMazatlan
City population1,470,100441,975
People per km²2,630-
Museums within 10 km153
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Auckland 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). 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.