Los Cabos or Mazatlan?

Both are beach destinations above all, but the shores are very different. The best of Los Cabos lies on the sheltered Sea of Cortez side, where Medano Beach and coves such as Chileno Bay and Santa Maria Bay offer calm, clear water for swimming and snorkelling. The Pacific side, around Land's End, is for looking at only.

Mazatlan has a single, almost unbroken stretch of Pacific sand, from Olas Altas by the old town to the wide beaches at Cerritos. It feels more like a town beach, with fishing boats on Playa Norte and a village pace on Isla de la Piedra. The surf is stronger, though, and the calm water is mostly in the island coves.

Both cities live on seafood, but Mazatlan eats better. As a shrimp port it fills plastic-chair shacks with aguachile, smoked marlin tacos and coal-grilled pescado zarandeado, and the Pino Suárez market and the morning cocktail carts feed locals cheaply across the city.

In Los Cabos you have to look harder. San José del Cabo's taco stands and the farm restaurants in the hills are very good, but the marina and the resorts lean towards tourist grills and international menus. Los Cabos does have the better drinks list, with Baja wines and mezcal, where Mazatlan sticks to its local beer.

Mazatlan has a real historic centre that Los Cabos lacks. Streets of painted 19th-century port houses lead to the arcaded Plazuela Machado, the theatre, the twin-towered cathedral and the market hall. The malecón adds cliff divers and the El Faro lighthouse. Its museums are small, and a day or two covers it all.

In Los Cabos, culture means San José del Cabo's plaza, the mission church and a gallery district with an evening art walk. Cabo San Lucas has little old fabric, and its best-known landmark, the arch, is a rock formation rather than a building.

Los Cabos is the stronger party destination. In Cabo San Lucas, the streets behind the marina fill with loud bars and clubs until the early hours, and the Medano beach bars start drinking in the afternoon. The scene is all of one kind, though, and San José and the resort corridor are quiet.

Mazatlan has two moods: dance clubs in the Zona Dorada and quieter drinks around the Plazuela Machado, with banda playing everywhere. Outside Carnaval and weekends it goes to bed earlier. Carnaval itself, a week of parades along the malecón, has no equal in Los Cabos.

Los Cabos has the richer sea. Deep water off the cape makes it a famous marlin ground, whales can be watched from shore in winter, and boats visit the sea lion colony at Land's End. About two hours away, Cabo Pulmo National Park protects a living coral reef. Inland, the Sierra de la Laguna offers proper hikes through cactus desert into pine forest.

Mazatlan's outdoors is gentler and more varied: kayaking among the bay islands, herons and frigatebirds in the mangroves, and turtle hatchling releases in late summer and autumn. There is also the climb up to El Faro for the view.

Both have a short list of good days out, but in opposite directions. From Los Cabos you drive up the peninsula to the adobe streets and galleries of Todos Santos, the bayfront promenade of La Paz, or old mining villages such as El Triunfo, crossing open desert on the way.

From Mazatlan the road climbs into the Sierra Madre foothills, to the baroque church at Concordia, the cobbled silver-mining lanes of Copala and the gilded mission at El Rosario. The views are greener and the trips less of a drive.

In Los Cabos, a family vacation happens mostly inside the resort, with big pools, kids' clubs and easy outings to the calm water at Chileno Bay or on glass-bottom boats and whale-watching trips. Beyond the hotels there is little built for children.

Mazatlan has a slight edge because families are part of everyday life there, after generations of Mexican school vacations on this coast. Children are welcome in every beach restaurant and along the malecón, and the large aquarium is a good escape from the afternoon heat. The open beaches are rougher, though, so younger children are better off in the island coves and hotel pools.

Mazatlan is the easier place to get about without a car. A seafront promenade of about 20km links the compact old centre with the Zona Dorada, and you can walk or cycle it. Buses run along the coast road, taxis are plentiful, and the open-air pulmonía makes even a short ride fun.

Los Cabos is two towns joined by a 30km highway lined with resorts, and most hotels are spread out along it. Taxis are expensive, and a hire car is the practical way to reach Todos Santos or the East Cape.

Neither city is worth a trip for shopping, but Los Cabos offers a bit more choice. The marina malls carry international and duty-free brands, and San José del Cabo's galleries and design shops sell good Mexican folk art. Mazatlan sticks mostly to silver, hammocks and beachwear in the Zona Dorada, plus leather and local sweets in the Pino Suárez market.

Mazatlan costs far less, because so many visitors are Mexican families. Seafood shacks, market breakfasts, local buses and taxis are all cheap, and a room near the historic centre keeps the total low. Expect higher room prices at Carnaval, Easter and Christmas.

Los Cabos is one of the most expensive places to visit in Mexico, with luxury prices along the corridor and costly taxis. San José del Cabo's family restaurants help, but they do not close the gap.

Mazatlan is ahead here because of the Teatro Ángela Peralta, a restored 19th-century theatre that stages concerts, opera and dance and hosts the city's autumn cultural festival. Banda sinaloense, the local brass-band music, plays at beach restaurants and along the malecón. In Los Cabos, live entertainment means cover bands in the marina bars, mariachi at dinner and resort shows, with no real season of performances.

Los Cabos is far better for spa time. The luxury resorts along the corridor compete on their spas, with open-air treatment rooms facing the sea, temazcal ceremonies and beach yoga. The noise stays in Cabo San Lucas.

Mazatlan's calm is more homemade: hammock afternoons, sunset walks on the malecón and a quiet stay at Cerritos or on Isla de la Piedra. Treatments are limited to a few hotel spas and massage places in the Zona Dorada.