Photos: Kochi by Vis M, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Mombasa by Rob Oo, CC BY 2.0, cropped.
Kochi or Mombasa?
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 Kochi for
- wellness
- prices
- live music and the arts
What lies behind each score is written up on Kochi’s own page.
Choose Mombasa for
- beaches
- nightlife
- nature and the outdoors
What lies behind each score is written up on Mombasa’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: Kochi and Mombasa.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Too close to call, 2 points apart
Wins on wellness and prices with your weighting.
Wins on beaches and nightlife with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Kochi in July
Mombasa in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Kochi has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.
Mombasa 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. Kochi: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km. Mombasa: 1991-2020 normals, Mombasa (5.8 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Kochi | Mombasa |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Hindi, English | English, Swahili |
| Currency | Indian Rupee (INR) | Kenyan Shilling (KES) |
| Sockets | CM230 V, 50 Hz | G240 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Left | Left |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 | UTC+3 |
| Emergency number | 108 or 112 | Police 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999 |
| Elevation | 0 m | 50 m |
| Main airport | Cochin International Airport (COK)24 km from centre36 non-stop destinations | Moi International Airport (MBA)8 km from centre22 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | - | 10 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Kochi | Mombasa |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 677,381 | 1,208,333 |
| People per km² | 7,138 | 4,100 |
| Museums within 10 km | 4 | 0 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 2 |
| 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 Kochi or Mombasa somewhere new.