VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
Playa de los Muertos below the green hills, Puerto Vallarta
Puerto VallartaPlaya de los Muertos below the green hills

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Puerto Vallarta by RL0919, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Auckland or Puerto Vallarta?

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
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Puerto Vallarta for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Puerto Vallarta’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, Puerto Vallarta 85: Puerto Vallarta leads by 17 points.
Food & drink. Auckland and Puerto Vallarta are level on 62.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Puerto Vallarta 28: Auckland leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Puerto Vallarta 66: Puerto Vallarta leads by 24 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Puerto Vallarta 76: Auckland leads by 7 points.
Day trips. Auckland and Puerto Vallarta are level on 55.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Puerto Vallarta 65: Auckland leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Puerto Vallarta 45: Puerto Vallarta leads by 3 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Puerto Vallarta 42: Auckland leads by 3 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Puerto Vallarta 60: Puerto Vallarta leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Puerto Vallarta 32: Auckland leads by 13 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Puerto Vallarta 52: Puerto Vallarta leads by 7 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Puerto Vallarta.

Your match

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

Auckland
53match

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

Puerto Vallarta
Best match
56match

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
14 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Puerto Vallarta in July

34 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
209 mmrain in the month
30 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandPuerto Vallarta

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.

Puerto Vallarta 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). Puerto Vallarta: 1991-2020 normals, TerraClimate 4 km grid at the town, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasureAucklandPuerto Vallarta
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-6
Emergency number111911
Elevation196 m101 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsPuerto Vallarta International Airport (PVR)5 km from centre52 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days9 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandPuerto Vallarta
City population1,470,100224,166
People per km²2,6304,311
Museums within 10 km152
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
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 Puerto Vallarta 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. Temperature and rainfall for destinations with no weather station are from the NASA POWER 2001-2020 climatology, derived from MERRA-2. 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.