Guadalajara or Huatulco?

This is Huatulco's whole reason for being. Nine bays along about 35km of coast give you sheltered coves with clear, calm water, from La Entrega's gentle swimming over coral to wilder Cacaluta, which you reach by boat or a forest path.

Guadalajara offers nothing comparable. Its swimming means hotel pools and spring-fed balnearios, and Lake Chapala is for looking at, not swimming in. Anyone basing themselves there and wanting sand has to add days on the coast.

Guadalajara is where several of Mexico's best-known dishes come from: birria, the torta ahogada, carne en su jugo and jericalla. You can eat them in the stalls upstairs at San Juan de Dios or from street stands, and there is a modern cooking scene in Providencia and Americana as well.

Huatulco eats well but simply. You get Oaxacan mole, tlayudas and grilled fish at La Crucecita's market and the beach palapas, but there are only a few serious restaurants, and the resort tables rely on buffets.

Guadalajara has a real historic centre. Its plazas form a cross around the twin-spired cathedral and lead to the Hospicio Cabañas, a UNESCO site whose chapel dome holds Orozco's Man of Fire. Add Colonia Americana's mansions and Tlaquepaque, and you have two or three full days.

Huatulco is a planned resort with a handful of sights: the painted dome of La Crucecita's church, the small pre-Hispanic site at Copalita and a colonial church inland. One morning is enough for all of them.

As a big university city, Guadalajara stays out late. There are mezcal and craft-beer bars and cantinas around Avenida Chapultepec, one of Mexico's best-known LGBTQ+ scenes, and dressier clubs in Providencia and Zapopan that keep going past 3am.

In Huatulco, an evening usually means dinner and a drink on La Crucecita's plaza, or a beachfront bar by the Santa Cruz marina. It livens up in high season, but people who want to party head up the coast to Zipolite.

Huatulco has the stronger outdoors. Dry tropical forest in its national park runs down to cliffs and coral you can snorkel. Humpback whales pass offshore in winter, turtles nest nearby, and inland the Copalita River offers rafting and the hills have waterfalls and coffee farms.

Guadalajara's nature is mostly on land. The Bosque La Primavera forest offers trails and mountain biking, the Huentitán canyon makes a hard hike, and Lake Chapala is good for birdwatching. All of this is good for a day away from the city, but none of it is why you would choose Guadalajara.

Guadalajara has the better choice of outings. They include the agave fields and distilleries of Tequila, painted Ajijic on Lake Chapala, the round stepped pyramids of the Guachimontones, and the cool mountain villages of Tapalpa and Mazamitla.

From Huatulco the choice is narrower. The main day out is the string of small villages to the west: Mazunte's turtle centre, Puerto Ángel and Zipolite, with Puerto Escondido further on. Oaxaca city needs an overnight stay.

Both work for families, but in different ways. Guadalajara has things built for children: a large zoo above the canyon, Selva Mágica's rides, a freshwater aquarium and the hands-on Trompo Mágico museum. The catch is that they are spread across a city with heavy traffic.

Huatulco is simpler: calm bays where small children can snorkel near the shore, resort kids' clubs and a small, easy town. Once the beach loses its appeal there is little else, which older children may notice after a week.

Guadalajara is a little easier for a visitor without a car. The historic centre and Americana are pleasant on foot, and light rail and Mi Macro buses reach Zapopan and Tlaquepaque. Elsewhere the city sprawls, and ride-hailing fills the gaps.

Huatulco is small, but it isn't walkable beyond La Crucecita and Santa Cruz. You need taxis or colectivos to move between bays, and a boat or hire car for the remoter ones.

Guadalajara is the place to buy things. Tlaquepaque's galleries sell glass, ceramics and furniture, Tonalá has its pottery market, and San Juan de Dios fills three floors with leather and boots. For brands, there are the malls of Andares.

Huatulco's shopping is a few craft stalls around the plaza: Oaxacan textiles, black pottery, alebrijes and mezcal, alongside plenty of beach souvenirs.

Guadalajara costs less day to day. Street and market food is very cheap, ride-hailing is inexpensive, and central hotels carry few tourist premiums. Only Providencia and Andares cost noticeably more.

Huatulco can be kept cheap if you stay in La Crucecita and eat at fondas. The Tangolunda resorts, boat tours and high-season prices push the bill up quickly.

Guadalajara is the home of mariachi, a music that grew up in the Jalisco countryside and is still part of everyday life in the city. Groups play for tips in the Plaza de los Mariachis and around the bandstand of El Parián in Tlaquepaque, and the Teatro Degollado adds the Jalisco Philharmonic and the Ballet Folclórico, though opera and drama are thin.

In Huatulco there is little to plan an evening around beyond resort folk-dance shows, the occasional festival on La Crucecita's plaza and a few bar bands.

Huatulco is the more restful place. It is low-rise and quiet, with full spas in the Tangolunda and Conejos resorts and temazcal steam baths offered by several eco-centres.

Guadalajara is a busy metropolis, and you have to leave town to relax properly. The draws are the thermal balnearios near La Primavera and Lake Chapala, which Huatulco lacks, and a few slow days in Ajijic.