Photos: Ho Chi Minh City by trungydang, CC BY 3.0, cropped; Tamarindo by Jarle Naustvik, CC BY 2.0, cropped.
Ho Chi Minh City or Tamarindo?
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 Ho Chi Minh City for
- prices
- culture and sights
- food and drink
What lies behind each score is written up on Ho Chi Minh City’s own page.
Choose Tamarindo for
- beaches
- nature and the outdoors
- families
What lies behind each score is written up on Tamarindo’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: Ho Chi Minh City and Tamarindo.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.
Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Ho Chi Minh City in July
Tamarindo in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Ho Chi Minh City 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.
Tamarindo's temperatures are measured 54 km from the centre, at Liberia.
Tamarindo 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. Ho Chi Minh City: 1991-2020 normals, Ho Chi Minh (6 km from centre). Tamarindo: 1991-2020 normals, Liberia (53.8 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Ho Chi Minh City | Tamarindo |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Vietnamese | Spanish |
| Currency | Dong (VND) | Costa Rican Colon (CRC) |
| Sockets | ACFG220 V, 50 Hz | AB120 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+7 | UTC-6 |
| Emergency number | Police 113, ambulance 115, fire 114 | 911 |
| Elevation | 13 m | 27 m |
| Main airport | Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN)7 km from centre90 non-stop destinations | Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (LIR)43 km from centre30 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | - | 11 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Ho Chi Minh City | Tamarindo |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 14,002,598 | 7,132 |
| People per km² | 2,068 | 57 |
| Museums within 10 km | 9 | 0 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 0 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | 12 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Ho Chi Minh City or Tamarindo somewhere new.