Cairns or Honolulu?

Honolulu is the clear choice for beach time. Waikiki's calm, reef-sheltered water is a walk from almost every hotel, Ala Moana and Kaimana offer quieter sand nearby, and Lanikai, Kailua and the snorkelling bowl at Hanauma Bay are all within a short drive.

Cairns faces mudflats, so in-town swimming means the Esplanade Lagoon pool. The palm-fringed coves from Trinity Beach to Palm Cove are pretty, but from about November to May you swim inside stinger nets, and crocodiles are a lasting caution. The finest swimming here is offshore, on Green and Fitzroy islands.

Food is a real reason to choose Honolulu. Its Hawaiian, Japanese, Korean, Filipino and Portuguese mix shows up in poke counters, plate lunches, malasadas and excellent ramen and izakaya, with Kaimuki, Kapahulu and Chinatown where locals eat.

Cairns is more about ingredients than cooking: coral trout, mud crab, mangoes and rambutans from Rusty's Markets, and Tablelands coffee and cheese. Meals are casual, and the choice is thin once you move past seafood terraces and cheap Asian food.

Honolulu has the stronger sightseeing by a wide margin. Iolani Palace, the only royal palace on American soil, and the Bishop Museum's Polynesian collections tell the story of the Hawaiian kingdom, while Pearl Harbor's Arizona Memorial and the Missouri make a moving half-day.

Cairns is a 20th-century working town, and its art gallery, small museum and Queenslander houses fill a day at most. Its most rewarding thread is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, which is better represented here than anywhere on Oahu.

Neither city is a big night out, but they cater for different crowds. Cairns keeps its late drinking to a few loud blocks of the centre, where backpackers and off-duty dive crews trade rounds and a couple of clubs keep going well past midnight. If that crowd isn't for you, there's little else beyond a waterfront terrace or a quiet resort bar at Palm Cove.

Honolulu goes out earlier and more gently. The evening starts with a mai tai on the sand at sunset, then perhaps a cocktail in Chinatown or a craft beer in Kakaako, and most places close long before the Cairns clubs do. It suits a relaxed evening of drinks with a partner or friends. Travellers who want to dance until late will find more of a party in Cairns.

Both are superb for the outdoors, but Cairns has the edge because two World Heritage areas meet there. Day boats reach the outer Great Barrier Reef for turtles, giant clams and reef sharks. On land you have Barron Gorge, the Crystal Cascades swimming holes, platypus creeks and crater lakes on the Tablelands, and the Daintree running down to the sea at Cape Tribulation.

Honolulu's landscapes sit closer together and are easier to reach: the Diamond Head rim, the Manoa Falls rainforest and the fluted Koolau cliffs all lie within a short ride of the beach. In the water, Oahu offers turtle snorkelling, surfing and winter humpbacks, but nothing to match a day out on the Barrier Reef's coral gardens.

Cairns offers slightly more variety beyond the city. The Kuranda Scenic Railway up the gorge and the cableway back over the canopy make a classic loop, and Port Douglas, the ruined castle at Paronella Park and the Tablelands villages each make a different kind of day.

On Oahu, the island loop takes in surfing Haleiwa, Kailua, the Byodo-In temple and the Polynesian Cultural Center, which together make one fine drive rather than many outings. The other Hawaiian islands need a flight and deserve more than a day.

Honolulu is the easier family base. Calm reef-protected beaches, the Ko Olina lagoons, the zoo and aquarium at the quiet end of Waikiki, Sea Life Park and resort kids' clubs cover every age, and older children get surf lessons and the Pearl Harbor ships.

Cairns works well for outdoorsy families, with the lifeguarded Esplanade Lagoon, glass-bottomed boats at Green Island and wildlife parks with crocodiles and koalas. Wet-season humidity and stinger suits are real drawbacks, though, and it is a smaller place with less to fill rainy days.

Honolulu is a little easier without a car. Waikiki is flat and walkable, and TheBus reaches Pearl Harbor, Chinatown and even the North Shore, although longer rides are slow. A car for a day or two covers the rest.

Cairns has a short, flat walkable centre, and most reef and rainforest tours collect you from your hotel. Beyond that, buses to the northern beaches are infrequent, so the Tablelands, Port Douglas and the Daintree really call for hire-car days.

Honolulu is a proper shopping destination, with luxury fashion houses lining Kalakaua Avenue, the huge open-air Ala Moana Center and independent design and surf shops in Kakaako and Kaimuki. Aloha shirts, koa bowls and ukuleles make the most memorable local buys.

In Cairns, shopping is mostly dive gear, opals and crocodile-leather souvenirs. The one strong reason to shop there is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art from Cape York, alongside craft stalls at Kuranda and tropical produce from Rusty's Markets.

Cairns is the cheaper of the two, though neither is a bargain. Hostels and apartment hotels keep beds reasonable, but the outer reef trips, dives and rainforest tours that justify the journey cost a lot.

Honolulu is expensive almost across the board, from Waikiki rooms and resort fees to restaurants and car hire. Poke counters, plate lunches, the cheap bus and the free beaches and hikes soften the cost, but a week there still costs noticeably more.

Honolulu has more to see, mostly because its own traditions are alive: slack-key guitar, falsetto singing and hula, from free shows at Kuhio Beach to festivals and competitions. The restored Hawaii Theatre and short seasons from the symphony and opera add a modest formal scene.

Cairns relies on touring shows at its Performing Arts Centre, gigs at the Tanks Arts Centre in old wartime fuel tanks, and pub cover bands. Indigenous dance and music are what set it apart, but there is no resident company of note.

Neither has a bathing tradition, and both reserve their best rest for the edges of town. In Cairns that means Palm Cove's resort spas under the melaleucas, using native botanicals, while the early reef starts and the backpacker blocks make the centre a poor base for rest.

Honolulu brings lomilomi massage, open-air resort treatment rooms and dawn yoga on the sand, though Waikiki is dense. For real quiet, base yourself at Kahala, Ko Olina or on the windward side.