VacationSelector
The Grand Lisboa above the Macau skyline, Macau
MacauThe Grand Lisboa above the Macau skyline
A bright beach on turquoise water at Montego Bay, Montego Bay
Montego BayA bright beach on turquoise water at Montego Bay

Photos: Macau by tian Jin, Pexels License; Montego Bay by Dre Dawkcide, Pexels License.

Macau or Montego Bay?

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

  • getting around
  • culture and sights
  • shopping

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

Choose Montego Bay for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Montego Bay’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, Montego Bay 84: Montego Bay leads by 60 points.
Food & drink. Macau 77, Montego Bay 50: Macau leads by 27 points.
Culture & sights. Macau 62, Montego Bay 28: Macau leads by 34 points.
Nightlife. Macau 40, Montego Bay 42: Montego Bay leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Macau 5, Montego Bay 65: Montego Bay leads by 60 points.
Day trips. Macau 52, Montego Bay 50: Macau leads by 2 points.
Good for families. Macau and Montego Bay are level on 48.
Getting around. Macau 60, Montego Bay 20: Macau leads by 40 points.
Shopping & style. Macau 58, Montego Bay 25: Macau leads by 33 points.
Affordability. Macau 44, Montego Bay 38: Macau leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Macau 36, Montego Bay 32: Macau leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Macau 40, Montego Bay 45: Montego Bay leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Macau and Montego Bay.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Macau
46match

Wins on getting around and culture and sights with your weighting.

Montego Bay
44match

Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors 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

Montego Bay in July

34 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
75 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
MacauMontego Bay

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Macau: 1991-2020 normals, Taipa (3.9 km from centre). Montego Bay: 1991-2020 normals, Montego Bay / Sangster (3.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMacauMontego Bay
Official languagePortuguese, Cantonese, Standard ChineseEnglish, Jamaican Patois
CurrencyPataca (MOP)Jamaican Dollar (JMD)
SocketsFGM220 V, 50 HzAB116 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+8UTC-5
Emergency number999Police 110/112/119/911, ambulance 110, fire 110
Elevation22 m19 m
Main airportMacau International Airport (MFM)7 km from centre41 non-stop destinationsSangster International Airport (MBJ)4 km from centre48 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-10 days

By the numbers

MeasureMacauMontego Bay
City population682,100123,994
People per km²5,916-
Museums within 10 km280
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 Montego Bay 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. Ground elevations sampled from the Mapzen terrain tiles via OpenTopoData, merging SRTM, ASTER, NED, EU-DEM and national sources. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.