VacationSelector
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower
Palms on Waikiki Beach, Honolulu
HonoluluPalms on Waikiki Beach

Photos: Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License; Honolulu by Jess Loiterton, Pexels License.

Colombo or Honolulu?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Colombo for

  • prices
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Colombo’s own page.

Choose Honolulu for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • families
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Honolulu’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Colombo 55, Honolulu 91: Honolulu leads by 36 points.
Food & drink. Colombo 66, Honolulu 70: Honolulu leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Colombo 45, Honolulu 55: Honolulu leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Colombo 35, Honolulu 45: Honolulu leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Colombo 32, Honolulu 88: Honolulu leads by 56 points.
Day trips. Colombo 50, Honolulu 38: Colombo leads by 12 points.
Good for families. Colombo 35, Honolulu 80: Honolulu leads by 45 points.
Getting around. Colombo 35, Honolulu 52: Honolulu leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Colombo 45, Honolulu 60: Honolulu leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Colombo 78, Honolulu 15: Colombo leads by 63 points.
Live music & performing arts. Colombo 30, Honolulu 40: Honolulu leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Colombo 48, Honolulu 50: Honolulu leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Colombo and Honolulu.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Colombo
46match

Wins on prices and day trips with your weighting.

Honolulu
Best match
57match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and families with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Colombo in July

30 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
128 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
28 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Honolulu in July

31 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
13 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
26 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ColomboHonolulu

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre). Honolulu: 1991-2020 normals, Honolulu International Airport (10.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureColomboHonolulu
Official languageTamil, Sinhala-
CurrencySri Lanka Rupee (LKR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsGM230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:30UTC-10
Emergency numberPolice 119, ambulance 110, fire 110911
Elevation1 m12 m
Main airportBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsDaniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)7 km from centre56 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-13 days

By the numbers

MeasureColomboHonolulu
City population647,557350,964
People per km²17,3611,981
Museums within 10 km1012
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Colombo or Honolulu somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.