Huatulco or Valladolid, Mexico?

Here the two could hardly be further apart. Huatulco's nine bays give you sheltered coves with golden sand and calm, warm water, from Santa Cruz and Chahué beside town to La Entrega for easy snorkelling. Boat trips reach wilder beaches such as Cacaluta, which has no road at all.

Valladolid has no beach to speak of, since the sea is about two hours away at El Cuyo or on the Caribbean coast. Its swimming is in cenotes like Zací and X'keken, with cool, clear fresh water under rock ceilings. That makes a memorable dip, but not a beach stay.

Both towns eat well and simply rather than grandly, and neither has much fine dining. The difference is the regional kitchen. Huatulco cooks Oaxacan food with a coastal slant: mole, tlayudas, ceviche and whole fish grilled at palapas on the bays, with mezcal from the hills.

Valladolid is pure Yucatán, with its own longaniza and lomitos alongside cochinita pibil and sopa de lima, eaten in colonial courtyards or as marquesitas in front of the cathedral. Seafood lovers lean towards Huatulco, while those after slow-cooked pork and early market breakfasts lean towards Valladolid.

Valladolid has far more to look at. Its painted colonial streets, the twin-towered church of San Servacio and the Franciscan convent of San Bernardino de Siena at the end of the Calzada de los Frailes make a pleasant two days, before you even count the Maya sites nearby.

Huatulco is a planned resort. Its sights, the painted dome of La Crucecita's church and the small ceremonial site at Copalita, fit into one morning.

Neither town is built for a big night out, but Huatulco has a little more going on. La Crucecita has mezcal bars and a few places to dance, Santa Cruz adds beach bars by the marina, and things liven up in winter and during Mexican vacation periods.

Valladolid's evenings centre on the square, with marquesita carts and a handful of small mezcal and craft-beer bars. It is quiet by late evening, and an early start for Chichén Itzá usually ends the night anyway.

Huatulco has the richer outdoors. Its national park has dry forest meeting cliffs and coral, humpback whales pass offshore from December to March, and inland there is rafting on the Copalita River and there are waterfalls in the foothills of the Sierra Sur.

Valladolid sits on flat limestone scrub, and its natural wonders are underground in cenotes and caves, best reached by bike early in the morning. Its standout outing is the flamingos and mangroves of Ría Lagartos, but there are no hills and no walks of any real length.

Valladolid is by far the stronger base, and the trips out are the main reason to stay there. Chichén Itzá is close enough to arrive at opening, before the tour buses from the coast. Ek Balam and Cobá are each an hour or less away, and yellow-painted Izamal and Río Lagartos round out the list.

From Huatulco, the best day out is the string of coastal villages to the west: Mazunte, San Agustinillo and Zipolite, with Puerto Escondido further on. Oaxaca city, the region's great heritage draw, needs an overnight stay.

Huatulco is the easier choice with children, mainly because of its water. At La Entrega and Santa Cruz, young children can snorkel among fish close to shore, and the resorts in Tangolunda add pools and kids' clubs.

Valladolid suits older children who enjoy rope swings into cenotes and scrambling over ruins, but long walks in full sun and narrow pavements are hard on small ones. Neither town has a zoo, an aquarium or a theme park.

Valladolid is easier from day to day. Its flat, compact centre is a short walk from the square to San Bernardino, and a cycle path runs out to the nearer cenotes. The catch is the ruins further out, where a car, a taxi or a tour is close to essential.

Huatulco is spread across several bays. Beyond walkable La Crucecita and Santa Cruz you rely on taxis, which are plentiful, and on colectivos, with boats or a hire car for the remoter beaches.

For crafts, Valladolid is the somewhat better place to shop. Its stock is more its own, with fewer beach souvenirs mixed in. Huatulco's stalls around La Crucecita's plaza do have good Oaxacan black pottery and carved alebrijes, but you have to pick them out from the beachwear, and keen buyers save their money for Oaxaca city.

In Valladolid, the craft market beside the Zací cenote and the shops along the Calzada de los Frailes sell leather sandals made in the town and Xtabentún, the Yucatán's honey-and-anise liqueur. Neither town has fashion shops or department stores.

Valladolid is the cheaper stay. Guesthouses and courtyard hotels in the centre, market meals and bike hire cost little, and the main expenses are the boutique hotels and entry to the big sites and cenotes.

Huatulco can be kept reasonable if you sleep in La Crucecita and eat at fondas. Even so, the resorts in Tangolunda, the boat tours and the winter high season push a beach stay well above the cost of an inland colonial town.

On some evenings, jarana dancers perform the vaquería on Valladolid's main square, and Huatulco has nothing quite like it. What Huatulco has is mostly Oaxacan folk dance shows put on in the resorts, plus music and dancing on La Crucecita's plaza during festivals.

In Valladolid the dancers wear white embroidered dress and balance trays on their heads, often with a small brass band. The facade of San Bernardino also carries evening light projections about the town's history. Neither place has a theatre or a concert hall to plan a night around.

Huatulco is the better place to unwind properly. The resorts in Tangolunda and Conejos have full spas, massage is easy to find in town, and several spas and eco-centres offer temazcal steam baths, all on a quiet, uncrowded coast.

In Valladolid, the rest comes from slow afternoons and hammocks beside small courtyard pools. A temazcal can be arranged nearby, but there is no larger spa to build a stay around.