Photos: Destin by #KenFL74, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Santa Monica by Domenico Convertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.
Destin or Santa Monica?
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
- beaches
- prices
- families
What lies behind each score is written up on Destin’s own page.
Choose Santa Monica for
- getting around
- culture and sights
- day trips
What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Monica’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 Santa Monica.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.
Wins on getting around and culture and sights 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
Santa Monica 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.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Destin: 2006-2020 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Destin (0.8 km from centre). Santa Monica: 1991-2020 normals, Los Angeles Airport (13.4 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Destin | Santa Monica |
|---|---|---|
| Currency | US Dollar (USD) | US Dollar (USD) |
| Sockets | AB120 V, 60 Hz | AB120 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC-6, UTC-5 in summer | UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer |
| Emergency number | 911 | 911 |
| Elevation | 8 m | 32 m |
| Main airport | Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport (VPS)11 km from centre45 non-stop destinations | Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)11 km from centre177 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 11 days | 13 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Destin | Santa Monica |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 13,931 | 93,076 |
| People per km² | 636 | 4,270 |
| Museums within 10 km | 1 | 19 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 1 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 7 months | None |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Destin or Santa Monica somewhere new.