Huntington Beach or Palm Springs?

This is the widest gap between the two. Huntington Beach is built along about 14km of flat sand, with the pier, surf breaks, volleyball nets and fire rings, and the beach shapes every day of a stay. The Pacific is cool for much of the year, though, and rip currents mean swimming near the lifeguard towers.

Palm Springs is two hours from the nearest ocean. Swimming there means the pool that nearly every hotel and rental house is built around, and the salty Salton Sea is a place to look at rather than swim in.

Huntington Beach is a little ahead, mostly because of what lies just inland. Little Saigon in Westminster and Garden Grove has pho houses and banh mi bakeries worth a special trip, while the town itself serves fish tacos, surfers' breakfasts and seafood with ocean views.

In Palm Springs, eating out means long patio brunches and poolside cocktails, with the date shakes of the Indio groves and the Mexican taquerias further down the valley as the local touches. Neither town is strong on fine dining, which means a drive to Newport or Costa Mesa from the coast.

Palm Springs gives a curious visitor much more to see. Its mid-century modern neighbourhoods, with Albert Frey's houses, Neutra's Kaufmann House and the folded roofs of Twin Palms, fill a rewarding day by bike or car. The art museum and the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum, which tells the story of the Cahuilla people, round it out.

In Huntington Beach, sightseeing comes down to the pier, the International Surfing Museum and the handprints of the Surfers' Hall of Fame. Anyone wanting museums from there drives to Los Angeles.

Both towns offer a modest night out on one main strip. What differs is the crowd. Main Street in Huntington Beach draws young locals to sports bars, rooftop beach bars and a few dance spots, and summer weekends can get rowdy.

Arenas Road in Palm Springs is a long-established LGBTQ scene of patio bars and drag nights, with retro cocktail lounges on Palm Canyon Drive and hotel pool parties in spring. It is friendlier and more sociable, but it empties in the summer heat.

Huntington Beach keeps its outdoor life mostly in the water. You can surf the breaks either side of the pier, paddle the harbour channels and cycle the beach path. The Bolsa Chica wetland is excellent for herons and terns, but the land around it is flat suburb, and the nearest hill trails, at Crystal Cove, are half an hour south.

Palm Springs has much the grander landscape. The aerial tramway climbs to about 2,600m on Mount San Jacinto, where pine forest and wilderness trails sit right above the town. Lower down, the Indian and Tahquitz canyons hide palm oases and a waterfall, Joshua Tree's boulders and night skies are an hour away, and from autumn to spring the valley is good for cycling and golf.

Huntington Beach makes the better base for touring. Los Angeles is about an hour away, Laguna Beach and Mission San Juan Capistrano are close by, ferries cross to Catalina Island, and San Diego is reachable in a long day.

From Palm Springs the outings are smaller and odder: the pine village of Idyllwild, the old film set at Pioneertown, and Salvation Mountain and the abandoned resorts of the Salton Sea. Los Angeles and San Diego are too far for a comfortable return trip.

For children the coast is far ahead. Disneyland, California Adventure and Knott's Berry Farm are all within about half an hour of Huntington Beach, the Long Beach aquarium makes an easy morning, and the town has sand, lakes and playgrounds. The waves suit boogie boarding better than toddlers.

Palm Springs works as a pool vacation with a few good outings, such as the Living Desert zoo, the tramway up to winter snow and the Air Museum. Many boutique hotels there are adults-only, though, and the midday heat from late spring rules out a lot.

Both towns need a car beyond a small walkable centre, and their buses are slow and infrequent. In Huntington Beach, the flat beachfront path makes a rented bike the nicest way to travel along the coast, but freeway traffic and summer beach parking are the trouble.

Palm Springs has a compact downtown and quiet mid-century streets made for cycling in winter, and its airport sits right at the edge of town. In summer, though, walking at midday is out of the question.

The two are about even, with different specialities. Huntington Beach sells surf culture: board makers, swimwear and surf-brand clothing along Main Street. South Coast Plaza, about twenty minutes away in Costa Mesa, gathers the major luxury fashion houses under one roof.

Palm Springs is the place for mid-century furniture, lighting and vintage clothing in the Uptown Design District. It adds the Village Fest street fair, El Paseo's polished boutiques and the big Cabazon outlets.

Both are expensive American resort towns, and both get dearer still with a hire car and restaurant tips. The real difference is timing. Huntington Beach is priciest in summer and at weekends, when its beach is at its best, so a cheap stay there means motels along the inland boulevards and Vietnamese or Mexican meals around the county.

Palm Springs charges most from winter into spring, and festival weekends push prices higher. In the hottest months rooms fall sharply, which suits budget travellers who can take the heat.

Palm Springs has the livelier live programme. The Coachella and Stagecoach festivals fill the Indio polo grounds each April, the McCallum Theatre and the valley's casinos bring touring shows and well-known acts, and drag cabaret and piano bars give the town its own kind of evening. Most of this stops in summer.

Huntington Beach itself offers little more than bar bands and summer concerts in the park. Lovers of classical music will still find a short drive to Costa Mesa rewarding, for the Pacific Symphony, ballet and opera at the Segerstrom Center and the theatre season of South Coast Repertory.

Palm Springs was built around a hot spring, and the town still lives by it. You can soak at the Agua Caliente bathhouse downtown or in the mineral-fed pools of the spa motels at Desert Hot Springs, then take treatments at the valley's resort spas. All of it comes with dry winter sun and very quiet streets.

Huntington Beach has no bathing tradition, only hotel spas and ordinary day spas. Its way of relaxing is simpler: yoga on the sand, a sunset walk on the pier and an evening by a beach fire.