Cairns or Phuket?

Phuket has much the stronger beaches. Its west coast runs from crowded Patong to the broader sands of Karon and Kata, quiet Nai Harn and the near-empty length of Mai Khao, and from November to April the sea is calm and clear almost everywhere. Its weakness is the monsoon, when rip currents close the west coast.

Cairns has no beach in town, only the Esplanade lagoon pool facing the mudflats, so a beach day means a trip to Palm Cove, Trinity Beach or the other northern coves. From about November to May you swim inside stinger nets in a suit, and crocodiles are always a caution. Its best water lies offshore at Green and Fitzroy islands.

Phuket eats much better, mostly thanks to Phuket Town, where thick Hokkien noodles, peppery moo hong and morning dim sum in shophouse cafés make up a cuisine of its own. The beach towns add night markets, roadside grills and upmarket resort dining.

Cairns makes good use of its produce: coral trout, mud crab and tropical fruit from the Tablelands, sold at Rusty's Markets. But it has no local cooking tradition and little fine dining. Expect pleasant seafood on the Esplanade rather than meals worth planning a day around.

Neither is a cultural destination, but Phuket has more to show. The Sino-Portuguese shophouses of Thalang Road and Soi Romanee, the Chinese clan houses, Wat Chalong and the Big Buddha fill a day or two and give a real sense of the tin-mining past.

Cairns covers its own story in a day, with the Cairns Art Gallery, a small museum and a few Queenslander houses. Its strongest thread is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, which Phuket has nothing to match.

Phuket goes out harder and later. Bangla Road in Patong becomes a street of neon, beer bars and clubs every night, open until dawn. Away from it, Bang Tao and Kamala have sunset beach clubs and Phuket Town has a few quiet shophouse bars.

Cairns has a smaller version of the party around Shields Street and the Esplanade, driven by backpackers and dive crews. Beyond that there are marina bars and resort lounges at Palm Cove, and because the reef boats leave early, many evenings end soon after dinner.

Cairns is the stronger base for the outdoors, because two World Heritage areas meet there. Day boats leave the marina each morning for outer reef moorings such as Moore and Norman Reefs, where you snorkel among turtles, giant clams and reef sharks. Behind the town, the Wet Tropics rainforest runs from Barron Gorge on the edge of the suburbs to the crater lakes of the Tablelands and the Daintree at Cape Tribulation. Along the way there is white-water rafting, and you may see platypus and cassowaries.

Phuket's nature is mostly on the water. You can kayak among the limestone towers and hidden lagoons of Phang Nga Bay, and in the dry season you can dive at the Similan Islands. There is much less to do on land: Khao Phra Thaeo has short trails and a gibbon project, but the heat keeps walks short, and nothing on the island compares with a day in the Queensland rainforest.

The two offer a similar number of outings, but of different kinds. Days out from Cairns are mostly overland: the Kuranda Scenic Railway up to the rainforest village with the cableway back down, the coast road to Port Douglas, the Tablelands villages and the jungle ruin of Paronella Park.

From Phuket nearly everything goes by boat, to Ko Phi Phi or the quieter Koh Yao islands, while Krabi and Ao Nang are a longer road trip away. Neither has historic towns within reach.

Both work well for children, in different ways. Cairns is about doing things: the free, lifeguarded Esplanade Lagoon, crocodile parks and koala sanctuaries, and reef pontoons with underwater observatories for children too young to snorkel. The drawbacks are the wet-season heat and stinger suits for sea swimming.

Phuket suits families who settle into one resort with a kids' club and big pools at Kata, Karon or Nai Harn, and head out to water parks or elephant sanctuaries. Every outing needs a taxi, though, and in the monsoon months the west-coast rips rule out sea swimming for children.

Cairns is the easier of the two. Its centre is compact and flat, the reef terminal is a short walk from most hotels, and tours usually collect you from your door. You only need a car for the Tablelands or the Daintree.

Phuket is a big, hilly island. One infrequent bus links the west-coast beaches, and the songthaews run only between Phuket Town and individual beaches. Most visitors end up paying for taxis, and riding a scooter on its steep roads is a real risk.

Phuket has more to browse. Malls near Phuket Town and in Patong, a huge weekend night market, made-to-measure tailors and the Sunday walking-street market on Thalang Road, with small design shops in the old quarter, give it a range Cairns cannot match.

Cairns is mostly tour desks, dive gear and opal souvenirs. Its best buys are specific ones: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, plus local honey and coffee from Rusty's Markets.

Phuket costs clearly less. Street food, markets, massages and guesthouses in Phuket Town are cheap. What pushes the bill up is taxis, beachfront resorts and room rates in the peak season.

Cairns has reasonable hostels and free pleasures in the lagoon and along the waterfront, but meals follow Australian prices. The things you came for, such as outer reef boats, dives, rainforest tours and car hire, take most of the budget.

Neither is a place to plan your evenings around shows, but the offer differs. Cairns has proper stages: the Cairns Performing Arts Centre for touring theatre and concerts, open-air evenings in the Munro Martin Parklands, gigs in the old wartime fuel tanks of the Tanks Arts Centre, and Indigenous dance.

Phuket's evening entertainment is cabaret revues, staged Thai cultural shows for tour groups and cover bands in beach bars.

Phuket is far better for unwinding. Thai massage is everywhere, from beach-road shopfronts to spa pavilions in the jungle, and there are retreats for yoga, meditation and detox, plus Muay Thai camps in Chalong for anyone who would rather train. Quiet bases such as Mai Khao, Nai Harn and Rawai keep the pace slow.

Cairns has resort spas using native botanicals at Palm Cove and Port Douglas. In town, though, rest comes down to an evening walk on the Esplanade, and the early boat departures and backpacker noise work against it.