VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
The tusks over Moi Avenue, Mombasa
MombasaThe tusks over Moi Avenue

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Mombasa by Rob Oo, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Auckland or Mombasa?

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

  • families
  • live music and the arts
  • getting around

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

Choose Mombasa for

  • prices
  • beaches
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Mombasa’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, Mombasa 82: Mombasa leads by 14 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Mombasa 60: Auckland leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Mombasa 55: Mombasa leads by 11 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Mombasa 46: Mombasa leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Mombasa 74: Auckland leads by 9 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Mombasa 45: Auckland leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Mombasa 45: Auckland leads by 25 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Mombasa 30: Auckland leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Mombasa 35: Auckland leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Mombasa 70: Mombasa leads by 38 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Mombasa 22: Auckland leads by 23 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Mombasa 40: Auckland leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Mombasa.

Your match

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

Auckland
Best match
53match

Wins on families and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Mombasa
50match

Wins on prices and beaches 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

Mombasa in July

28 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
63 mmrain in the month
26 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandMombasa

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.

Mombasa 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). Mombasa: 1991-2020 normals, Mombasa (5.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandMombasa
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriEnglish, Swahili
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Kenyan Shilling (KES)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC+3
Emergency number111Police 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999
Elevation196 m50 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsMoi International Airport (MBA)8 km from centre22 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandMombasa
City population1,470,1001,208,333
People per km²2,6304,100
Museums within 10 km150
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km02
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 Mombasa 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.