VacationSelector
The Grand Lisboa above the Macau skyline, Macau
MacauThe Grand Lisboa above the Macau skyline
Colourful houses in the old town, Mazatlan
MazatlanColourful houses in the old town

Photos: Macau by tian Jin, Pexels License; Mazatlan by Gzzz, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Macau or Mazatlan?

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 Macau for

  • shopping
  • culture and sights
  • getting around

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

Choose Mazatlan for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Mazatlan’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. Macau 24, Mazatlan 80: Mazatlan leads by 56 points.
Food & drink. Macau 77, Mazatlan 62: Macau leads by 15 points.
Culture & sights. Macau 62, Mazatlan 42: Macau leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Macau 40, Mazatlan 55: Mazatlan leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Macau 5, Mazatlan 66: Mazatlan leads by 61 points.
Day trips. Macau 52, Mazatlan 45: Macau leads by 7 points.
Good for families. Macau 48, Mazatlan 60: Mazatlan leads by 12 points.
Getting around. Macau 60, Mazatlan 42: Macau leads by 18 points.
Shopping & style. Macau 58, Mazatlan 30: Macau leads by 28 points.
Affordability. Macau 44, Mazatlan 70: Mazatlan leads by 26 points.
Live music & performing arts. Macau 36, Mazatlan 40: Mazatlan leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Macau 40, Mazatlan 35: Macau leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Macau and Mazatlan.

Your match

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

Macau
46match

Wins on shopping and culture and sights with your weighting.

Mazatlan
Best match
52match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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.

Macau in July

32 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
281 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Mazatlan in July

34 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
153 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
MacauMazatlan

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Macau: 1991-2020 normals, Taipa (3.9 km from centre). Mazatlan: 1991-2020 normals, Colonia Juan Carras-Co Mazatlan, Sin. (2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMacauMazatlan
Official languagePortuguese, Cantonese, Standard ChineseSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyPataca (MOP)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsFGM220 V, 50 HzAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC-7
Emergency number999911
Elevation22 m139 m
Main airportMacau International Airport (MFM)7 km from centre41 non-stop destinationsGeneral Rafael Buelna International Airport (MZT)16 km from centre23 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-9 days

By the numbers

MeasureMacauMazatlan
City population682,100441,975
People per km²5,916-
Museums within 10 km283
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C8 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Macau or Mazatlan 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). 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). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.