VacationSelector
Palms on Waikiki Beach, Honolulu
HonoluluPalms on Waikiki Beach
A lifeguard stand on South Beach, Miami
MiamiA lifeguard stand on South Beach

Photos: Honolulu by Jess Loiterton, Pexels License; Miami by Radomianin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Honolulu or Miami?

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

  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around
  • families

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

Choose Miami for

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Miami’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, Miami 90: Honolulu leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Honolulu 70, Miami 72: Miami leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Honolulu 55, Miami 57: Miami leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Honolulu 45, Miami 82: Miami leads by 37 points.
Nature & outdoors. Honolulu 88, Miami 64: Honolulu leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Honolulu 38, Miami 42: Miami leads by 4 points.
Good for families. Honolulu 80, Miami 64: Honolulu leads by 16 points.
Getting around. Honolulu 52, Miami 35: Honolulu leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Honolulu 60, Miami 71: Miami leads by 11 points.
Affordability. Honolulu 15, Miami 27: Miami leads by 12 points.
Live music & performing arts. Honolulu 40, Miami 55: Miami leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Honolulu 50, Miami 44: Honolulu leads by 6 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Honolulu and Miami.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Honolulu
57match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and getting around with your weighting.

Miami
59match

Wins on nightlife and live music and the arts 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
26 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Miami in July

33 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
186 mmrain in the month
29 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
HonoluluMiami

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Honolulu: 1991-2020 normals, Honolulu International Airport (10.1 km from centre). Miami: 1991-2020 normals, Miami International Airport (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHonoluluMiami
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-10UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation12 m2 m
Main airportDaniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)7 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsMiami International Airport (MIA)7 km from centre198 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureHonoluluMiami
City population350,964442,241
People per km²1,9813,046
Museums within 10 km1217
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 Miami 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.