Photos: Destin by #KenFL74, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Gold Coast by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.
Destin or Gold Coast?
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 Destin for
Destin does not lead in any category we score.
What lies behind each score is written up on Destin’s own page.
Choose Gold Coast for
- nature and the outdoors
- getting around
- nightlife
What lies behind each score is written up on Gold Coast’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Destin and Gold Coast.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Has no clear advantage with the weighting you have chosen.
Wins on nature and the outdoors and getting around with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Destin in July
Gold Coast in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Destin has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.
Gold Coast's sunshine is measured 75 km from the centre, at Brisbane Airport.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Destin: 2006-2020 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Destin (0.8 km from centre). Gold Coast: 1991-2020 normals, Gold Coast Seaway (13 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Destin | Gold Coast |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | - | English |
| Currency | US Dollar (USD) | Australian Dollar (AUD) |
| Sockets | AB120 V, 60 Hz | I230 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Left |
| Time zone | UTC-6, UTC-5 in summer | UTC+10 |
| Emergency number | 911 | 000 |
| Elevation | 8 m | 12 m |
| Main airport | Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport (VPS)11 km from centre45 non-stop destinations | Gold Coast Airport (OOL)20 km from centre19 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 11 days | 11 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Destin | Gold Coast |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 13,931 | 607,665 |
| People per km² | 636 | 433 |
| Museums within 10 km | 1 | 2 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 1 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 7 months | 12 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Destin or Gold Coast somewhere new.