Photos: Huatulco by Gzzz, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Punta Cana by Mary Mark Ockerbloom, CC0.
Huatulco or Punta Cana?
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 Huatulco for
- nature and the outdoors
- getting around
- prices
What lies behind each score is written up on Huatulco’s own page.
Choose Punta Cana for
- nightlife
- families
- shopping
What lies behind each score is written up on Punta Cana’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: Huatulco and Punta Cana.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on nature and the outdoors and getting around with your weighting.
Wins on nightlife and families with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Huatulco in July
Punta Cana in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Huatulco's temperatures are measured 42 km from the centre, at Puerto Angel, Oax..
Huatulco's station stands 177 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.
Huatulco 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.
Punta Cana 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. Huatulco: 1991-2020 normals, Puerto Angel, Oax. (42.2 km from centre). Punta Cana: 1993-2020 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Punta Cana (0.9 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Huatulco | Punta Cana |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Spanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya | Spanish |
| Currency | Mexican Peso (MXN) | Dominican Peso (DOP) |
| Sockets | AB127 V, 60 Hz | AB110 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC-6 | UTC-4 |
| Emergency number | 911 | 911 |
| Elevation | 220 m | 28 m |
| Main airport | Bahías de Huatulco International Airport (HUX)15 km from centre13 non-stop destinations | Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ)1 km from centre93 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 9 days | 13 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Huatulco | Punta Cana |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 7,409 | 138,919 |
| People per km² | - | 292 |
| Museums within 10 km | 0 | 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 Huatulco or Punta Cana somewhere new.