VacationSelector
Palms on Waikiki Beach, Honolulu
HonoluluPalms on Waikiki Beach
The yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo, Merida
MeridaThe yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo

Photos: Honolulu by Jess Loiterton, Pexels License; Merida by Mariposa2723, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Honolulu or Merida?

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 Honolulu for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • families

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

Choose Merida for

  • prices
  • day trips
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Merida’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. Honolulu 91, Merida 50: Honolulu leads by 41 points.
Food & drink. Honolulu 70, Merida 72: Merida leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Honolulu 55, Merida 64: Merida leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Honolulu 45, Merida 42: Honolulu leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Honolulu 88, Merida 48: Honolulu leads by 40 points.
Day trips. Honolulu 38, Merida 80: Merida leads by 42 points.
Good for families. Honolulu 80, Merida 50: Honolulu leads by 30 points.
Getting around. Honolulu 52, Merida 45: Honolulu leads by 7 points.
Shopping & style. Honolulu 60, Merida 50: Honolulu leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Honolulu 15, Merida 75: Merida leads by 60 points.
Live music & performing arts. Honolulu 40, Merida 52: Merida leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Honolulu 50, Merida 40: Honolulu leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Honolulu and Merida.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Honolulu
57match

Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Merida
56match

Wins on prices and day trips with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Honolulu in July

31 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
13 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
26 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Merida in July

35 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
148 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
27 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
HonoluluMerida

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Honolulu: 1991-2020 normals, Honolulu International Airport (10.1 km from centre). Merida: 1991-2020 normals, Merida / lic Manuel Crecencio (5.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHonoluluMerida
Official language-Spanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-10UTC-6
Emergency number911911
Elevation12 m12 m
Main airportDaniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)7 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsManuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport (MID)5 km from centre22 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days9 days

By the numbers

MeasureHonoluluMerida
City population350,964892,363
People per km²1,9811,010
Museums within 10 km125
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Honolulu or Merida 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.