Los Cabos or Tulum?

Both are serious beach destinations, but the water is very different. Los Cabos sits where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific. Medano Beach and the coves at Chileno and Santa Maria are calm and good for snorkelling, while the Pacific side has dangerous surf, and the water is fairly cool in winter and spring.

Tulum has one long Caribbean shore of pale sand and turquoise water that stays warm all year, with turtles to swim with at Akumal. The downsides are sargassum seaweed in some warmer months and a ride from town to the sand each day.

The two are about level, and both work best away from the tourist strips. In Los Cabos the food comes from the sportfishing catch: shrimp tacos, aguachile, grilled fish, plus farm restaurants in the hills above San José and Baja wine.

Tulum cooks Yucatecan: cochinita pibil, sopa de lima and fish grilled with achiote. Its candlelit fire-cooking restaurants on the beach road are often more about the setting than the food.

Tulum has more, mainly thanks to one outstanding site: the walled Maya port on the cliff, with El Castillo above the sea. You can see it in a morning, and it is worth the visit.

Los Cabos has nothing on that level. Its sights are the plaza and mission church in San José del Cabo, plus a gallery district with an evening art walk in season. Neither town has a museum worth planning around.

Los Cabos is the easier place for a big night out on any night of the week. The streets behind the Cabo San Lucas marina are full of loud bars and dance clubs that stay open into the early hours, and the Medano beach bars start in the afternoon. The music is mostly mainstream party fare.

Tulum's reputation rests on electronic music: DJ sets in jungle clearings, beach clubs and full-moon parties, at their busiest in winter. On other nights there are only a few mezcal bars along the main avenue.

Both are strong for nature, but in very different landscapes. Los Cabos looks out to deep sea and up to mountains: whales off the cape in winter, marlin grounds, the sea lion colony, the living reef at Cabo Pulmo, and hikes into the oak and pine of the Sierra de la Laguna.

Tulum is flat jungle with its best features underground. Its cenotes, such as Gran Cenote and Dos Ojos, are world-class for cavern snorkelling and cave diving. The Sian Ka'an reserve adds mangroves, lagoons and dolphins, but there are no hills to walk.

Tulum is a much better base for day trips. Coba and Muyil are close, Chichen Itza pairs with Valladolid or Ek Balam, ferries from Playa del Carmen cross to Cozumel, and the lagoon at Bacalar is a longer but rewarding day.

From Los Cabos the choice is shorter: adobe-built Todos Santos, the bayfront in La Paz, and a driving loop through El Triunfo and Miraflores. Beyond those, it is open desert.

Both work for children if you choose the right base, Tulum slightly more so. In Los Cabos families do best in an all-inclusive resort with a kids' club, with calm swimming at Chileno Bay and glass-bottom boat trips. There are no attractions built for children, and the Pacific surf needs watching.

Tulum has the large eco-parks at Xel-Ha and Xcaret, turtles in the shallows at Akumal and calm cenote pools. Against that, many beach hotels are aimed at adults, and you need to plan for mosquitoes and sargassum.

Neither is easy without a car. Los Cabos is two walkable centres joined by a 30km resort corridor, served mainly by taxis and shuttles, and the airport is well north of San José.

In Tulum a bicycle covers the flat stretch from town to the ruins and beach, while colectivo vans run along the highway. For cenotes and inland sites you will want a car, a tour or the Tren Maya.

Neither is a shopping destination, and what is on sale differs. Los Cabos offers duty-free brands in the marina malls, silver and tequila, and better galleries and folk art in San José del Cabo. Tulum's beach road sells one look of linen, macramé and woven baskets, while the main avenue in town has embroidered huipiles and hammocks at fairer prices.

Both are among the most expensive places to visit in Mexico, at similar levels. In Los Cabos, staying in San José del Cabo, eating at taco stands and using local buses brings costs down. In Tulum, a guesthouse in town and a hired bicycle do the same, though entry fees at each cenote and park soon add up.

Neither has a theatre or a concert season. Los Cabos offers cover bands in the Cabo San Lucas bars, mariachi at dinner and resort shows. In Tulum, live music means acoustic sets on the main avenue and saxophone and drums over DJ nights, and staged ceremonial dance is found at the eco-parks rather than in town.

Tulum is built around wellness in a way Los Cabos is not. Yoga shalas, retreat hotels, sound baths and breathwork fill the jungle strip, temazcal ceremonies are everywhere, and the southern beach moves at a hammock pace, as long as you stay away from the party venues.

In Los Cabos, wellness means the spas of the luxury corridor hotels, some with sea-facing treatment rooms and a temazcal. The calm stays inside the resorts and around San José, not in noisy Cabo San Lucas.