VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
A bright beach on turquoise water at Montego Bay, Montego Bay
Montego BayA bright beach on turquoise water at Montego Bay

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Montego Bay by Dre Dawkcide, Pexels License.

Auckland or Montego Bay?

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
  • getting around
  • shopping

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

Choose Montego Bay for

  • beaches
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Montego Bay’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, Montego Bay 84: Montego Bay leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Montego Bay 50: Auckland leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Montego Bay 28: Auckland leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Auckland and Montego Bay are level on 42.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Montego Bay 65: Auckland leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Montego Bay 50: Auckland leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Montego Bay 48: Auckland leads by 22 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Montego Bay 20: Auckland leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Montego Bay 25: Auckland leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Montego Bay 38: Montego Bay leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Montego Bay 32: Auckland leads by 13 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland and Montego Bay are level on 45.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Montego Bay.

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 getting around with your weighting.

Montego Bay
44match

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
No recordsunshine a day
14 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Montego Bay in July

34 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
75 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandMontego Bay

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). Montego Bay: 1991-2020 normals, Montego Bay / Sangster (3.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandMontego Bay
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriEnglish, Jamaican Patois
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Jamaican Dollar (JMD)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzAB116 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC-5
Emergency number111Police 110/112/119/911, ambulance 110, fire 110
Elevation196 m19 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsSangster International Airport (MBJ)4 km from centre48 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandMontego Bay
City population1,470,100123,994
People per km²2,630-
Museums within 10 km150
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 Montego Bay 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. Ground elevations sampled from the Mapzen terrain tiles via OpenTopoData, merging SRTM, ASTER, NED, EU-DEM and national sources. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.