Cali or Guayaquil?

Neither city is on the sea, but Cali is further from it. The Western Cordillera stands between the city and the Pacific, so Juanchaco and Ladrilleros mean a drive of around three hours and then a boat. Day to day, Caleños swim in the river pools of the Pance instead.

Guayaquil sits on a tidal river where nobody swims, but the coast is close enough for a day out. Playas has a long grey-sand shore about an hour and a half away, and Salinas has a sheltered bay, with the warmest water early in the year.

Both cities eat well on their own regional cooking, but the cuisines are different. Cali's strengths are sweet and starchy: lulada and cholado from street carts, warm pandebono in the morning, and coconut stews from the Afro-Colombian coast eaten at the counters of the Galería Alameda.

Guayaquil's cooking is built on the sea and the mangroves. You start the day with encebollado, eat shrimp ceviche at lunch, and spend an evening cracking whole crabs with a mallet at long tables. Modern cooking with local cacao in Urdesa and Samborondón gives it a little more range at the top end.

Neither is a heritage city, and a day or two covers the sights in either. What you see is different. Cali keeps a small colonial core of whitewashed churches and the Mudéjar tower of San Francisco, with the low houses of San Antonio for walking, and La Tertulia gives it a respected modern art museum.

Guayaquil lost its wooden colonial town to fire in 1896, so its sightseeing happens along the river. You walk the Malecón, climb the painted hillside of Las Peñas to the lighthouse, and watch the iguanas in Parque Seminario, while the MAAC covers the pre-Columbian cultures of the coast.

This is where the two cities differ most. In Cali, going out means dancing salsa, and locals of every age do it with startling skill, from small salsotecas spinning old records to the big Juanchito halls that run until near dawn. A few lessons before you arrive pay off, and in December the Feria de Cali turns the whole city into a party.

Guayaquil goes out late too, but its bars and clubs are scattered between the terraces of Las Peñas, Urdesa's main avenue and the lounges of Samborondón. Reggaeton is as likely as salsa, and you need taxis between areas. It is fun with local friends, but it isn't a reason to visit.

Cali has the mountains. The Farallones de Cali national park climbs from the Pance valley into cloud forest, locals hike up to the Cerro de las Tres Cruces early in the morning, and the forests around Kilometre 18 are full of tanagers and hummingbirds. Lake Calima adds steady wind for windsurfing.

Guayaquil's landscape is flat delta. It has its own rewards: howler monkeys and macaws in the dry forest of Cerro Blanco, boardwalks on Isla Santay, and boat trips among dolphins in the mangrove channels near Puerto El Morro. Rainy-season humidity cuts long walks short, though.

Cali has the easier choice of outings close to town. Buga's basilica and tidy colonial centre are about an hour north, the old sugar estates along the way include the hacienda where the novel María is set, and the towns around Lake Calima make a breezy day out.

Guayaquil is more of a gateway than a base. The Santa Elena peninsula and its ancient burial museum are two hours west, and nearer cacao haciendas show how chocolate is made. But Cuenca, Montañita and the Galápagos all need at least a night away.

For children the two cities come out about even, and in both the heat and the taxi rides shape the day. Cali has one big outing, its riverside zoo of Colombian animals. Families add weekend picnics in the Pance river pools and water parks for rainy afternoons.\n\nGuayaquil has no major zoo, so its outings are smaller ones: feeding the iguanas in Parque Seminario, riverboats along the Malecón, the climb to the lighthouse on Cerro Santa Ana, and the native animals at the Parque Histórico in Samborondón.

In both cities most visitors use taxis or ride-hailing, and both have bus rapid transit that is crowded and takes some learning. Cali is the more spread-out of the two, though San Antonio, Granada and the riverside are close enough to walk between.

In Guayaquil the main sights sit in one flat, compact strip from downtown to Las Peñas, so it is easier to see on foot, heat permitting. The Aerovía cable car across the river is fun for the view but not much use for getting anywhere.

Both cities do most of their shopping in big malls, and neither has a boutique quarter. What you take home is different. Cali's distinctive buys are salsa shoes and dancewear, along with Colombian swimwear and leather.

Guayaquil's artisans' market sells toquilla straw hats, tagua-nut carvings and chocolate from local cacao, though the finest hats come from elsewhere in Ecuador. The Bahía street market is worth a look for the scene alone.

Both are cheap for eating and getting around, but Cali goes further. Its comfortable guesthouses in Granada and San Antonio cost little, and dance classes and nights out are cheap too.

In Guayaquil the extra cost is mainly the hotels, which are mostly business hotels priced for corporate travellers. Imported drinks and the international restaurants of Samborondón also add up, although the free riverfront sights and comedor lunches make up some of the difference.

Cali's stage is the dance floor, set to music. Cabaret-style salsa shows with full orchestras and dozens of dancers run regularly, and dance-school showcases put the footwork up close. In August the Petronio Álvarez festival brings the marimba and drums of the Pacific coast. The Teatro Experimental de Cali also has a long place in Latin American theatre.

Guayaquil offers less to plan an evening around. There are plays and touring acts at the Teatro Sánchez Aguilar and the Teatro Centro de Arte, and the city has a musical heritage of its own in the pasillo ballad, with the Julio Jaramillo museum in Las Peñas.

Cali has the gentler, greener setting for a slow day: a garden café on the slopes of San Antonio, or a weekend at a country house with a pool in the hills around Pance. Apart from that, both cities offer little more than hotel spas and day spas in the suburbs.\n\nGuayaquil's quiet moments are shorter. The best is the early evening breeze in the Malecón gardens, and visitors who want real rest leave for the coast or the cooler Andean valleys.