Granada, Nicaragua or Santa Teresa, Costa Rica?

Granada has a lakeside promenade but nowhere to swim in town. Swimming days are spent at Laguna de Apoyo, a calm, clear crater lake about half an hour away, with docks and lodges. That makes for a lovely lazy day, but it isn't the sea, and the Pacific sand around San Juan del Sur is a separate trip two hours south.

In Santa Teresa the beach is the whole point: a long stretch of pale sand running into Playa Carmen and Mal País, with forest reaching almost to the tideline. The catch is the surf, because rip currents make open swimming risky on many days, so careful swimmers stick to the Mal País rock pools at low tide or the sheltered corners near the points.

Neither town is somewhere you would travel to for the food, but they eat in very different ways. Granada is about cheap street food and local dishes: vigorón on a banana leaf by the central park, nacatamales, fritanga grills in the evening and fresh cacao drinks. The restaurants on La Calzada are hit and miss.

Santa Teresa has almost no street food or market. What it has instead is an international strip of thatched cafés serving wood-fired pizza, poke, Israeli plates and good coffee, along with local sodas for a casado with the fish of the day.

Granada is a place where the streets are the main sight. Most of a day goes on wandering: catching a courtyard through an open doorway, climbing a church tower for the view over the rooftops, walking from Xalteva to the little La Pólvora fortress to see how a Spanish colonial grid was laid out. It suits people who enjoy looking around a town at their own pace. If you are after major museums, you will find the town's few highlights easy to fit into a long weekend.

In Santa Teresa, a sightseer will find nothing to put on a list: no old buildings, no landmarks, no collections. The interest is in how people live there, a surf village shaped by people who arrived from around the world and stayed, set against the forest and the open coast. If history and architecture matter on your trip, plan them for another stop and let Santa Teresa be the part where you put the guidebook away.

Both are small and easy-going after dark, but the evenings feel different. In Granada, nights mean tables out on La Calzada, cheap rum, hostel bars and some salsa and reggaeton at weekends. You can walk it all, and it goes quiet early on weeknights.

Santa Teresa begins with sunset drinks on the sand, then follows a party circuit that moves between a few venues during the week, with DJ nights and jungle parties that can run late. Getting home means a quad or a taxi on unlit roads, and plenty of surfers are in bed early anyway.

Santa Teresa has a slight edge for outdoor days, mainly because of the water. It has dependable surf from beginner breaks at Playa Carmen to reef and point waves, snorkelling trips to Isla Tortuga, the forest trail through Cabo Blanco reserve to a remote beach, and Montezuma's waterfalls close by. Howler monkeys and coatis often turn up in the dry forest behind the beach.

Granada's strength is volcanic scenery, which the flat Nicoya coast doesn't have. You can walk Mombacho's cloud forest among orchids and misty craters, drive to the steaming rim of Masaya's active crater, and kayak around Las Isletas past herons and fishing villages.

Granada is much the better base for outings. Masaya's craft market and the Monimbó quarter are half an hour away, the Pueblos Blancos offer pottery workshops at San Juan de Oriente and the Catarina lookout over Apoyo, and Managua and the Pacific coast are both manageable in a day.

Santa Teresa sits near the remote tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. Apart from an afternoon in Montezuma, nearly every excursion goes to a reserve, an island or a waterfall rather than another town, and anything further away means a ferry and a long day.

Both work best for outdoorsy families with older children, and both have basic medical care and no attractions built for children. Granada's highlights are a carriage ride around the centre, the boat to the islet where monkeys live, a calm swim at Apoyo and peering into Masaya's crater, but the narrow broken pavements and constant heat are hard work with toddlers.

Santa Teresa offers monkeys in the trees, rock pools and surf lessons in the gentle white water. On the other hand, the open sea is often too rough for young swimmers, and the main road has no pavements and a steady stream of quads.

Getting around is far easier in Granada. The compact grid means the cathedral, Xalteva and the lakefront are all a few minutes' walk apart, with cheap taxis or a horse carriage when the afternoon gets too hot. Going further afield by painted school bus takes some working out, which is why most visitors use shuttles or drivers.

In Santa Teresa everything is strung along one rough road with no pavements and no local transport, so most visitors rent a quad or scooter. Even getting there takes effort, by car ferry to Paquera or a small plane to Tambor.

Granada is the better place to shop, as long as you want crafts. Hammocks, Pueblos Blancos pottery, rocking chairs, cigars, coffee and rum are sold around the park and on La Calzada, and the artisan market in Masaya has a wider choice. Santa Teresa's boutiques are fine for swimwear, linen and a new surfboard, but there is little local craft to take home.

Granada is far cheaper. Courtyard guesthouses, street food, taxis, buses and volcano or island tours all cost little, and even the boutique hotels in restored mansions seem reasonable to visitors from Europe or North America.

Santa Teresa is expensive even by Costa Rican standards. Villas, boutique hotels and international cafés charge close to North American prices, and the journey there, quad hire, surf lessons and boat trips all add to the bill. You can keep costs down with hostels, shared surf houses and the sodas, but it never becomes a budget destination.

Neither town has a theatre or concert season, but Granada has a little more on. Marimba players and folkloric dancers perform around the park and on La Calzada, and processions and patron saint festivities bring out music and costumed dances. In Santa Teresa, live music means an acoustic set in a beach bar, fire dancing and drumming at sunset, or a DJ at the weekly parties.

Santa Teresa is the place for a restorative trip. Yoga shalas sit in the forest above the beach, retreat centres run week-long programmes, and breathwork and massage are easy to find. Days settle into a calm pattern of surf, rest and sunset, which is most peaceful if you stay up the hill away from the dusty main road.

Granada offers a slow pace rather than a wellness scene: a rocking chair in a shaded courtyard, a dip in the hotel pool and an evening walk once the heat lifts. For yoga and massage you go to the lodges at Laguna de Apoyo.