Big Bear Lake or Monterey?

Neither is a beach destination, and the water is the difference. Big Bear's lake reaches around 19°C in high summer, so it is the more comfortable swim, but the shore is mostly rocky and only the small beach at Meadow Park is supervised.

Monterey has the better sand: Del Monte Beach, the white crescent at Carmel and the dunes at Asilomar. The Pacific stays near 14°C and many stretches have rip currents, so its beaches are for walking and picnics rather than swimming.

Monterey eats noticeably better. Local squid, Dungeness crab and sand dabs come off the boats, artichokes and greens come from the Salinas Valley, and Carmel Valley Pinot Noir is poured nearby. The best tables are in Old Monterey's side streets, Pacific Grove and Carmel rather than on the wharf.

Big Bear offers mountain comfort food: diner breakfasts, burgers, barbecue and a brewpub pint after the slopes. Many visitors simply cook in their cabins.

There is a real gap here. Monterey was the capital of Spanish and Mexican Alta California, and you can walk between its adobes, the Custom House and Colton Hall, where the state's first constitution was drafted. The Carmel Mission and the Steinbeck-era canneries add to that. None of it is on a grand scale, but it fills a few rewarding days.

Big Bear's history is a small museum and a dirt-road drive past gold-rush remains in Holcomb Valley, and the chalet-style Village is modern.

Both towns go to bed early, but Monterey keeps a little more going. A short run of pubs, wine bars and brewpubs on Alvarado Street draws students from the language and naval schools, and Cannery Row livens up at weekends. Big Bear's evenings come down to some après-ski in winter and a sports bar, and then usually the hot tub and the fire back at the cabin.

Both are superb outdoor bases, in completely different settings. Big Bear is alpine: pine forest around a high lake, two ski areas in winter, mountain-bike trails and the Pacific Crest Trail in summer, and bald eagles over the water in the cold months. San Gorgonio, the highest summit in Southern California, is close by.

Monterey's draw is the ocean. Thanks to a deep submarine canyon offshore, whales pass close to the harbour, and otters float in the kelp beside the shore path. Point Lobos and the redwood canyons and cliffs of Big Sur are just to the south. Choose by whether you want snow and summits or wildlife and coastline.

Monterey has many more easy outings. Carmel-by-the-Sea and Victorian Pacific Grove are minutes away, Carmel Valley's wineries and Steinbeck's Salinas are a short drive, and Santa Cruz's boardwalk is under an hour north.

Big Bear sits at the end of slow mountain roads. Lake Arrowhead takes about an hour, and the Oak Glen orchards and old citrus-era Riverside take longer still, so most visitors stay up the mountain.

Both work well with children, and Monterey has the edge. Its aquarium, with its kelp forest, otters and hands-on galleries, can fill a day on its own, and the tide pools, whale-watching boats and Dennis the Menace Park round out a stay.

Big Bear wins on snow. Sledding hills and beginner ski lessons are a big draw for lowland children, and the alpine zoo, alpine slide and pedal boats cover the summer. Roomy cabins make the logistics easy, though thin air and winter traffic take some patience.

Monterey is a little easier without a car. The flat coastal trail links the wharf, downtown, Cannery Row and the aquarium, and you can walk or cycle it all the way to Pacific Grove. Big Sur and Carmel Valley still need wheels.

At Big Bear the car is essential from the start. The only way up is by steep highways that may require snow chains, and cabins are scattered on hilly forest roads. Only the Village itself is walkable, with a bus and a seasonal trolley out to the slopes.

Monterey's advantage comes from its neighbour. Carmel-by-the-Sea's lanes of galleries, independent boutiques and tasting rooms, plus Pacific Grove's antique shops, make a proper afternoon of browsing, even if Monterey itself sells mostly taffy and otter souvenirs. Big Bear's Village has gift and fudge shops and outfitters renting ski and lake gear, and little more.

Big Bear Lake is the easier place to keep costs down. A cabin shared by a group or family, booked midweek or outside school vacations and stocked from the town's supermarkets, can be fairly economical. Winter weekends, lift tickets and equipment hire change that quickly.

Monterey is expensive almost throughout. Peninsula and Carmel hotels and resort-priced dinners stretch any budget. Thrifty visitors stay in Seaside or Marina inland and live on free pleasures such as the coastal trail and tide pools.

Monterey has a genuine musical heritage. The jazz festival has filled the fairgrounds every September since 1958, on the same site as the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. The Carmel Bach Festival and the open-air Forest Theater take over the summer. Between festivals there is the symphony and the restored Golden State Theatre.

Big Bear's stage is a community arts centre, free lakeside concerts in summer and the oompah bands of its autumn Oktoberfest.

Neither has thermal baths, and both relax you through their setting, but Monterey offers more. Carmel Valley's resort spas sit among sunny vineyards, the Pebble Beach golf resorts have spas of their own, and the slow shore walks in Pacific Grove suit unwinding.

Big Bear's version of rest is private: a wood stove, a deck among the pines and the hot tub that comes with many cabins. It is best midweek, because winter weekends crowd the town.