Cancun or Gold Coast?

Both are great beach destinations, and Cancun has a slight edge for swimming. Its fine coral sand stays cool underfoot, and the water is a warm turquoise in every month. The calm northern bay at Playa Langosta and Playa Tortugas sits beside the open eastern shore, so gentle and rough water are a short bus ride apart. Sargassum can foul the eastern beaches in some summers.

The Gold Coast offers a longer and more varied shoreline of golden sand from Main Beach down to Coolangatta, but almost all of it faces open Pacific surf with rips. Patrolled flags make that manageable, and the sheltered points at Rainbow Bay and Greenmount or the Broadwater give calmer water. The sea is noticeably cooler in winter.

Neither is a place to travel for the food, and both require you to leave the main tourist strip to eat well. In Cancun that means going downtown for Yucatecan cooking, such as cochinita pibil, sopa de lima and habanero salsas from taco stands and the halls of Mercado 28.

On the Gold Coast the better eating is in the cafés and modern Australian restaurants of Burleigh Heads and Mermaid Beach. Expect long brunches, Moreton Bay bugs and prawns, and craft beer in the breweries behind the beaches. Cancun has the stronger regional cooking, and the Gold Coast is more reliable at the middle of the market.

Both are young resort cities with little sightseeing of their own. Cancun's best sight is the Maya Museum and the small San Miguelito ruins in its grounds, while the Gold Coast's is the HOTA gallery of Australian art and the view from SkyPoint. The real difference lies beyond the city: Cancun's heritage is the Maya sites out on the peninsula, while the Gold Coast's nearest museums are in Brisbane.

Cancun is the bigger party. The giant clubs of the Party Center put on acrobats, confetti and open bars, and they stay full until four or five in the morning for much of the year, not just at weekends. What it lacks is choice, and outside the resort crowd there is little beyond the cheaper bars downtown around Avenida Tulum.

The Gold Coast's party strip on Cavill and Orchid Avenues in Surfers Paradise is smaller and busiest at weekends. It makes up for that in range: wine and cocktail bars in Broadbeach and sunset taprooms and rooftops in Burleigh and Miami suit a drink more than an all-nighter.

The Gold Coast has far richer landscapes. An hour or so inland, the World Heritage rainforest of Springbrook and Lamington offers waterfalls, the glow-worm cave at Natural Bridge and long walks among ancient trees. On the coast, the point breaks at Snapper Rocks, Kirra and Burleigh are some of the best-known surf waves anywhere, and humpbacks pass offshore through winter and spring.

Cancun's outdoors is almost entirely water: snorkelling and diving on the Mesoamerican Reef, the MUSA underwater sculptures, swimming in cenotes and with whale sharks in summer, and kayaking in the Nichupte mangroves. On flat, hot scrubland there is no real hiking.

Cancun has the stronger list of day trips, mostly because of the Maya world on its doorstep. Chichen Itza with Valladolid and a cenote makes a long but memorable day, Coba and Ek Balam lie in the jungle, and Tulum's clifftop ruins pair with the coast. Isla Mujeres is a short ferry ride away, and Playa del Carmen is an easy hop south.

From the Gold Coast, the obvious trips are Brisbane by train for galleries and South Bank, and Byron Bay with its lighthouse and hinterland villages across the border. Beyond those and Tamborine Mountain, the options are mostly more rainforest and coast.

The Gold Coast is the more complete family destination. Dreamworld, Movie World, Sea World, Wet'n'Wild and WhiteWater World sit within reach of each other, and at Currumbin children can meet koalas and kangaroos. Apartments with kitchens and patrolled beaches with playgrounds make the days in between easy.

Cancun works well for families too, but mostly inside the resort, with kids' clubs, shallow pools and the calm bay beaches. The eco-parks down the coast are excellent days out, but everything beyond the hotel needs a taxi, bus or tour, and the eastern shore is too rough for small swimmers.

The Gold Coast is the easier city to get around without a car. The G:link light rail runs through Southport, Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach and connects with the train to Brisbane, and the flat beachfronts are pleasant to walk or cycle. You need a hire car for the hinterland.

Cancun comes down to one road, Boulevard Kukulcan, with frequent buses and plenty of taxis, but walking any distance in the heat is unpleasant. For longer journeys, ADO coaches to Playa del Carmen, Tulum and Valladolid are comfortable, and the peninsula's straight roads make driving to the ruins simple.

Shopping is similar in both places: mostly malls, with little in the way of design boutiques. Cancun's Hotel Zone centres lean towards luxury labels and duty-free, and downtown Mercado 28 sells hammocks, embroidered huipiles and silver, sold with bargaining but rarely made by the seller. The Gold Coast's Pacific Fair and the Harbour Town outlets serve chains and discounted brands, surfwear is the true local speciality, and the Carrara weekend market brings in genuine local makers.

Cancun is the cheaper of the two, but only if you leave the Hotel Zone, where beachfront rooms, resort meals and Party Center drinks are priced for foreigners. Downtown tacos, market food, local buses and small hotels cost a fraction of that, and an all-inclusive package at least makes the bill predictable.

On the Gold Coast, the many vacation apartments keep rooms reasonable outside school breaks, and cooking for yourself helps. Restaurants, alcohol and theme-park tickets all carry full Australian prices, though the beaches and national parks are free.

Neither place is worth a trip for the stage, but the Gold Coast has more going on. HOTA's theatres and outdoor stage host touring shows, comedy and concerts, pubs, surf clubs and breweries put on local bands, and festivals such as Blues on Broadbeach liven up the calendar. In Cancun, nearly everything is staged for tourists: mariachi dinner shows, resort entertainment and the big evening spectacles at the eco-parks.

Cancun is better for a pampering stay. The big Hotel Zone resorts have large spas with hydrotherapy circuits and massages on the sand, and the temazcal, a guided Maya sweat-lodge ritual, gives it a local tradition the Gold Coast lacks. For quiet, head to the southern end of the strip, Isla Mujeres or Puerto Morelos.

The Gold Coast's day spas are more ordinary, but its rainforest retreats around Tamborine Mountain and Currumbin Valley combine yoga with walking. The easy pace of Burleigh, Palm Beach and Coolangatta is restful in a simpler way.