VacationSelector
The skyline and yachts on the canals, Fort Lauderdale
Fort LauderdaleThe skyline and yachts on the canals
The Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica
Santa MonicaThe Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier

Photos: Fort Lauderdale by KeanoManu, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Santa Monica by Domenico Convertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Fort Lauderdale 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 Fort Lauderdale for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • nightlife

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

Choose Santa Monica for

  • getting around
  • food and drink
  • nature and the outdoors

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.

Beaches & swimming. Fort Lauderdale 88, Santa Monica 66: Fort Lauderdale leads by 22 points.
Food & drink. Fort Lauderdale 47, Santa Monica 60: Santa Monica leads by 13 points.
Culture & sights. Fort Lauderdale 28, Santa Monica 35: Santa Monica leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Fort Lauderdale 52, Santa Monica 38: Fort Lauderdale leads by 14 points.
Nature & outdoors. Fort Lauderdale 62, Santa Monica 72: Santa Monica leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Fort Lauderdale 58, Santa Monica 64: Santa Monica leads by 6 points.
Good for families. Fort Lauderdale 66, Santa Monica 70: Santa Monica leads by 4 points.
Getting around. Fort Lauderdale 32, Santa Monica 52: Santa Monica leads by 20 points.
Shopping & style. Fort Lauderdale 52, Santa Monica 56: Santa Monica leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Fort Lauderdale 32, Santa Monica 14: Fort Lauderdale leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Fort Lauderdale 42, Santa Monica 38: Fort Lauderdale leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Fort Lauderdale 40, Santa Monica 45: Santa Monica leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Fort Lauderdale and Santa Monica.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Fort Lauderdale
50match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

Santa Monica
51match

Wins on getting around and food and drink with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Fort Lauderdale in July

32 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
166 mmrain in the month
29 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Santa Monica in July

24 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
20 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Fort LauderdaleSanta Monica

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Fort Lauderdale: 1991-2020 normals, Fort Lauderdale (7.1 km from centre). Santa Monica: 1991-2020 normals, Los Angeles Airport (13.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureFort LauderdaleSanta Monica
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation11 m32 m
Main airportFort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (FLL)7 km from centre138 non-stop destinationsLos Angeles International Airport (LAX)11 km from centre177 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureFort LauderdaleSanta Monica
City population182,76093,076
People per km²1,8294,270
Museums within 10 km619
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 monthsNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Fort Lauderdale or Santa Monica 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). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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. 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 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.