Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Playa del Carmen by lazyweaver, CC BY 3.0, cropped.
Auckland or Playa del Carmen?
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 Playa del Carmen for
- nightlife
- beaches
- prices
What lies behind each score is written up on Playa del Carmen’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Playa del Carmen.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Too close to call, 2 points apart
Wins on culture and sights and live music and the arts with your weighting.
Wins on nightlife 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
Playa del Carmen in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
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.
Playa del Carmen has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Auckland: 1961-1990 normals, Auckland Aerodrome Aws (17 km from centre). Playa del Carmen: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.
Before you go
| Measure | Auckland | Playa del Carmen |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | English, New Zealand Sign Language, Māori | Spanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya |
| Currency | New Zealand Dollar (NZD) | Mexican Peso (MXN) |
| Sockets | I230 V, 50 Hz | AB127 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Left | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+12, UTC+13 in summer | UTC-5 |
| Emergency number | 111 | 911 |
| Elevation | 196 m | 8 m |
| Main airport | Auckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinations | Cancún International Airport (CUN)50 km from centre137 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 12 days | 9 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Auckland | Playa del Carmen |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 1,470,100 | 304,942 |
| People per km² | 2,630 | - |
| Museums within 10 km | 15 | 0 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 0 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 1 month | 12 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Auckland or Playa del Carmen somewhere new.