VacationSelector
The Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta
JakartaThe Istiqlal Mosque
The yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo, Merida
MeridaThe yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo

Photos: Jakarta by Antonyus Bunjamin, Pexels License; Merida by Mariposa2723, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Jakarta or Merida?

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 Jakarta for

  • nightlife
  • shopping
  • food and drink

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

Choose Merida for

  • day trips
  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Merida’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. Jakarta 28, Merida 50: Merida leads by 22 points.
Food & drink. Jakarta 78, Merida 72: Jakarta leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Jakarta 48, Merida 64: Merida leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Jakarta 66, Merida 42: Jakarta leads by 24 points.
Nature & outdoors. Jakarta 30, Merida 48: Merida leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Jakarta 45, Merida 80: Merida leads by 35 points.
Good for families. Jakarta and Merida are level on 50.
Getting around. Jakarta 36, Merida 45: Merida leads by 9 points.
Shopping & style. Jakarta 64, Merida 50: Jakarta leads by 14 points.
Affordability. Jakarta 80, Merida 75: Jakarta leads by 5 points.
Live music & performing arts. Jakarta 42, Merida 52: Merida leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Jakarta 46, Merida 40: Jakarta leads by 6 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Jakarta and Merida.

Your match

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

Jakarta
51match

Wins on nightlife and shopping with your weighting.

Merida
Best match
56match

Wins on day trips and beaches with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Jakarta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
85 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
29 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Merida in July

35 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
148 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
27 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
JakartaMerida

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Jakarta: 1991-2020 normals, Jakarta / Observatory (1.1 km from centre). Merida: 1991-2020 normals, Merida / lic Manuel Crecencio (5.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureJakartaMerida
Official languageIndonesianSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyRupiah (IDR)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsCF50 HzAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC-6
Emergency number112911
Elevation91 m12 m
Main airportSoekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK)20 km from centre89 non-stop destinationsManuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport (MID)5 km from centre22 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-9 days

By the numbers

MeasureJakartaMerida
City population11,135,191892,363
People per km²16,8211,010
Museums within 10 km445
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 Jakarta or Merida 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). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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.