Huntington Beach or Sun Valley?

Huntington Beach is a true beach town, with about 14km of flat sand running from the dog beach past the pier to the state beaches, plus surf, volleyball nets and bonfires at dusk. The Pacific is cool for much of the year and rips are common, so swimmers stay by the lifeguard towers.

Sun Valley is high in the mountains of Idaho, far from the sea. Summer swimming means Redfish Lake, an hour north, where the water stays cold, or the heated pools in town.

Huntington Beach has more to offer at the table, though mostly casual: fish tacos by the pier, surfers' breakfast places and brewpubs on the coast highway. Its real strength is Little Saigon, just inland, with pho houses and banh mi bakeries that merit a trip of their own.

Ketchum does well for a small town, with après-ski grills and a few ambitious kitchens cooking trout, lamb and elk. There is no local food tradition to explore, cheap meals are scarce and some places close in the quiet months.

Neither is a sightseeing destination, and each has a single short story to tell. In Huntington Beach it is surfing: the pier, the International Surfing Museum and the Hall of Fame handprints on Main Street, with the museums of Los Angeles an hour away. In Sun Valley it is the 1930s resort with the world's first chairlifts, the Lodge's photographs of film stars, and Hemingway's grave in Ketchum.

Huntington Beach has a real Friday and Saturday night. Main Street's sports bars, rooftop decks and a few dance spots fill with a young local crowd, though weeknights are quiet and the scene is a single strip.

In Sun Valley, evenings mean après-ski in Ketchum's saloons, wine bars and hotel lounges, plus a couple of western bars that stay loud. There are no clubs, and outside the ski season and midsummer most nights end soon after dinner.

Sun Valley is built around the outdoors. It has Bald Mountain's long, steep runs and backcountry touring in winter, then singletrack, fly fishing at Silver Creek, rafting on the Salmon and the alpine lakes of the Sawtooths in summer, with elk, wildflowers and golden aspens in their seasons.

Huntington Beach's outdoors is mostly the ocean, with consistent surf, paddling in the harbour channels and excellent birding at the Bolsa Chica wetland. For hills you drive half an hour to Crystal Cove or the Laguna coast.

From Huntington Beach, with a car, much of Southern California is in range: Los Angeles in about an hour, Laguna Beach and Mission San Juan Capistrano to the south, the ferry to Catalina, and San Diego or the Temecula vineyards on a longer day.

Sun Valley has few places to visit nearby. Hailey's old main street, the log-cabin outpost of Stanley and Shoshone Falls, two hours south, are about it, and most outings go into the mountains instead.

Huntington Beach is the stronger family base by a distance. Disneyland is about half an hour away and Knott's Berry Farm closer still, and in town there are wide sandy beaches, pelicans at Bolsa Chica and the lakes of Central Park. Every outing means driving, though, and the surf is better for boogie boarding than for toddlers.

Sun Valley works well for families who ski, with a gentle beginners' hill away from the main mountain and quiet, safe streets. There is no zoo, aquarium or theme park, however, and the altitude and winter cold are hard on small children.

Sun Valley is the easier place to be without a car. Ketchum is small and flat, a free bus links the town, the village and the lift bases, and many skiers never drive all week. Trailheads and the Sawtooths still need a car.

In Huntington Beach you can walk around Main Street and the pier, and the beach path is good by bike. Everything else, from the theme parks to Little Saigon, means freeways, and beach parking fills on summer weekends.

Huntington Beach has more range. Its surf shops and board makers sell the town's most characteristic souvenirs, and South Coast Plaza, one of the country's great luxury malls, is about twenty minutes away. Sun Valley's few Ketchum blocks focus on western and fine art galleries, fly-fishing and ski gear, and expensive boutiques for second-home owners.

Neither is cheap, but Huntington Beach gives you more ways to spend less. Inland motels cost less than the beachfront, the beach is free, and Vietnamese and Mexican places nearby feed you well at modest cost. Car hire and parking need budgeting for, though.

In Sun Valley, its wealthy second-home community sets prices for rooms, meals and lift access, and there is little budget lodging. Staying down the valley or coming in spring or autumn helps a little.

The two are broadly level but work in opposite ways. Huntington Beach has little of its own beyond bar bands and park concerts, but Costa Mesa's Segerstrom Center and South Coast Repertory offer symphony, ballet, opera and theatre all year, a short drive away.

Sun Valley packs its stage life into summer, with a professional orchestra giving free concerts on the lodge lawn and figure skaters performing on the outdoor rink. The rest of the year there is almost nothing.

Sun Valley is the more restorative stay. It has full resort spas, outdoor heated pools that are at their best in falling snow, and rough natural hot springs beside the creek up Warm Springs valley.

Huntington Beach has no springs or bathing culture, only hotel spas and ordinary massage studios. Its way of unwinding is simpler: yoga on the sand, a sunset walk on the pier and an evening around a beach fire.