Dahab or Petra?

There is no contest here. Dahab is built around a warm, clear sea, though swimming mostly means stepping off a jetty or rocks onto the reef at the Lighthouse, Eel Garden or the Blue Hole. For sand and shallow, calm water there is the Lagoon to the south.

Petra lies in the mountains of southern Jordan, and swimming there means a hotel pool, if yours has one. The Red Sea at Aqaba is a separate stop on a Jordan itinerary, not a beach day from Wadi Musa.

Neither is a place to travel to for food, but Dahab gives a little more to enjoy. Grilled fish chosen from the ice and eaten on cushions by the bay makes a pleasant evening, and the Egyptian places in Assala serve foul, falafel and koshary that beat the backpacker menus on the promenade.

Wadi Musa relies on hotel buffets and roadside restaurants serving mezze, mansaf, maqluba and zarb, the Bedouin dish cooked in a pit. The best moments there are simpler: sage tea at a stall inside the site, or a class on cooking Jordanian dishes.

This is where Petra leaves Dahab far behind. The Nabataean city carved into rose sandstone, from the Siq and the Treasury to the Royal Tombs and the climb to the Monastery, deserves two or three days, and the Petra Museum and Little Petra round it off.

Dahab has no museums or monuments. Its Bedouin roots show in Assala and in the camel herders and tea stops rather than in anything you can visit. The nearest real heritage, St Catherine's Monastery, is a full day's outing inland.

Both towns go to bed early, but Dahab at least offers a night out of sorts. There are a few promenade bars with music and a crowd of divers and instructors, beer or shisha on cushions by the water, and the odd party that runs late. Wadi Musa is a conservative town where evenings mean dinner, a shisha on a terrace and sleep before an early start, and beer is limited to some hotels and one or two other places.

Both are outstanding for the outdoors, in different directions. Dahab has the edge because it pairs the sea with the desert. It has shore diving at the Canyon and the Blue Hole, is a world centre for freediving and has steady wind on the Lagoon for kitesurfing. Behind it lie the South Sinai granite, the Coloured Canyon, Ras Abu Galum and the night climb up Mount Sinai.

Petra's strength is entirely on foot. Trails run to the High Place of Sacrifice and Jebel Haroun, the back route from Little Petra to the Monastery is a superb walk, and the Jordan Trail passes through. Dana's ibex slopes and the red sand valleys of Wadi Rum are within reach.

Neither is much of a base for outings, but the choice differs in kind. From Dahab, St Catherine's is the single trip that stands out, and the only towns in reach are other Red Sea resorts: Sharm el-Sheikh to the south, which has big hotels and malls, and sleepy Nuweiba to the north. Once you have climbed Mount Sinai, a further day away means more reef or more wadi.

Petra gives you more to mix. Shobak's hilltop castle pairs with the stone village of Dana on its ridge above the reserve, and the Crusader stronghold at Kerak is a good stop on the King's Highway when you drive to or from Amman. Southwards there is a choice between the sand valleys of Wadi Rum and Aqaba's seafront. Jerash, Madaba and the Dead Sea are better seen on a stay in the north.

Dahab is the easier choice with children, as long as they swim confidently. The sandy, sheltered shallows of the Lagoon, snorkelling straight from shore and a camel ride into the desert make a simple, unhurried vacation. Reef shoes are essential, though, and serious medical care is in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Petra appeals to older, sturdy children, who will treat the tombs and the Siq as an adventure. The walks are long, there is little shade, and strollers are useless off the main path. Neither town has anything built for children, and in both the summer heat is hard on small ones.

Both are hard work beyond a small core, and neither has public transport worth relying on. In Dahab the core is the flat 2km promenade from the Lighthouse to Mashraba, largely free of cars and lined with everything a visitor needs. The Lagoon, Assala and the Blue Hole mean a taxi or a transfer.

At Petra the effort is inside the site, where a day from the gate to the Monastery and back is long and steep, all on foot. Wadi Musa also climbs uphill away from the entrance. Beyond town you need a driver or a rental car, while Dahab's mountain outings are always organised trips.

Shopping is a small affair in both. Dahab's promenade stalls sell scarves, Bedouin embroidery, spices and beachwear, and the one really useful purchase is dive and freediving gear.

Petra's stalls along the trails offer silver and bead jewellery and bottles of coloured sand, and the women's cooperative shops selling embroidery are the best buys. For anything more, it means Sharm's malls from Dahab, or waiting for Amman from Petra.

Dahab is far cheaper. Guesthouses and camps cost very little, meals in Assala even less, and dive courses are cheap enough that many visitors stay for weeks. Only alcohol and the waterfront restaurants push the bill up.

Petra's everyday prices are moderate, but the entry fee for foreign visitors is among the steepest of any heritage site, and drivers to Wadi Rum, Dana or the castles add up. A multi-day ticket or a pass bought before arriving in Jordan softens this, and falafel and shawarma in Wadi Musa stay cheap.

Dahab has nothing staged at all. For music you have whatever band or DJ a promenade bar has booked that night, or a Bedouin song by the fire if you spend an evening at a desert camp.

Petra has one event that gives it a slight edge: Petra by Night. You walk down the gorge in the dark with only small candles to light the way, then sit before the Treasury while Bedouin musicians play traditional string and reed instruments. A large audience that won't stay quiet can spoil it. Apart from this, neither town has a theatre or a concert hall.

Dahab is by far the more restful of the two. Its slow pace, cushioned seafront cafés, sunsets over the Sinai mountains and a long-stay community built on yoga, breathwork and freediving make it easy to unwind. Classes and massage are cheap, though spas are limited to the bigger hotels.

Petra's days are physically demanding, and relaxing there means a Turkish-style bathhouse in Wadi Musa for steam, a scrub and a massage on tired legs. These are built for tourists, but they offer a kind of bathing that Dahab has no tradition of.