Photos: Los Cabos by Jules Clark, Pexels License; Playa del Carmen by lazyweaver, CC BY 3.0, cropped.
Los Cabos or Playa del Carmen?
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 Los Cabos for
- culture and sights
- nature and the outdoors
- wellness
What lies behind each score is written up on Los Cabos’s own page.
Choose Playa del Carmen for
- day trips
- getting around
- prices
What lies behind each score is written up on Playa del Carmen’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: Los Cabos and Playa del Carmen.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on culture and sights and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.
Wins on day trips and getting around with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Los Cabos in July
Playa del Carmen in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Los Cabos 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.
Playa del Carmen 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.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Los Cabos: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km. Playa del Carmen: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.
Before you go
| Measure | Los Cabos | Playa del Carmen |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Spanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya | Spanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya |
| Currency | Mexican Peso (MXN) | Mexican Peso (MXN) |
| Sockets | AB127 V, 60 Hz | AB127 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC-7 | UTC-5 |
| Emergency number | 911 | 911 |
| Elevation | 11 m | 8 m |
| Main airport | Los Cabos International Airport (SJD)35 km from centre54 non-stop destinations | Cancún International Airport (CUN)50 km from centre137 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 9 days | 9 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Los Cabos | Playa del Carmen |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 202,694 | 304,942 |
| Museums within 10 km | 1 | 0 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 0 |
| 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 Los Cabos or Playa del Carmen somewhere new.