Mazatlan or Puerto Vallarta?

Both are true beach cities, and the difference is in the water. Mazatlan faces the open Pacific along an almost unbroken run of sand from the little bays of Olas Altas to wide, quiet Cerritos. Surf on the exposed stretches can be strong, so the calm swimming is on Isla de la Piedra and in the coves of Isla de Venados.

Puerto Vallarta sits inside the shelter of Banderas Bay, where the sea is usually gentler and the coves at Mismaloya, Las Animas and Yelapa are backed by jungle hills. Its sand is coarser and golden, and its winter sea is a few degrees warmer.

The two eat equally well, and much of the menu is shared: aguachile, ceviche and pescado zarandeado grilled over coals. Mazatlan is the plainer, more local table, a shrimp port of street-cart cocktails, market breakfasts at Pino Suárez and cold lager with seafood platters, with little fine dining.

Puerto Vallarta has the wider range. Evening taco carts serve birria and al pastor, raicilla is the local spirit to try, and chef-run dining rooms in the hills look out over the bay. Along its Malecón, though, the food turns to pricier tourist fare.

Mazatlan has the more rewarding old town. Its brightly painted 19th-century streets lead to the arcaded Plazuela Machado, the Teatro Ángela Peralta and the twin-towered cathedral, and the malecón adds cliff divers and the hilltop lighthouse of El Faro. It takes a day or two to see.

Puerto Vallarta's sights are mostly atmosphere: whitewashed, red-tiled lanes, the crown-topped tower of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Malecón's bronze sculptures. With the small Naval Museum and the Cuale island, that fills an afternoon.

Puerto Vallarta goes out later and in more styles. Its seafront dance clubs fill after midnight, and the Zona Romántica adds rooftop and mezcal bars, beach clubs and one of Latin America's largest gay scenes.

Mazatlan's nights centre on the big open-fronted bars of the Zona Dorada, loud on weekends and full of students in spring, or on quiet drinks around the Plazuela Machado. On weeknights out of season it winds down early. Carnaval, though, takes over its malecón for most of a week.

Puerto Vallarta has the grander setting. The Sierra Madre rises straight from the bay in jungle ridges, humpback whales calve right in Banderas Bay, and boats reach Los Arcos and the protected Marietas Islands for snorkelling. On land there are south-shore coastal trails, river canyons, zip-lines and a large botanical garden.

Mazatlan's outdoors is mostly at sea. You can kayak around Isla de Venados, fish for marlin, watch whales passing in winter or look for herons in the mangroves south of the harbour. The pine-clad sierra is about two hours inland rather than right behind the town.

Puerto Vallarta has more choice. The beach villages of Bucerías, Sayulita and San Pancho are each within an hour, Yelapa is a boat ride away, and the old silver town of San Sebastián del Oeste sits among coffee farms in the pines.

Mazatlan's outings almost all go one way, inland to Concordia's baroque church and furniture workshops, cobbled Copala or the gilded church at El Rosario. Most visitors take one such trip and spend the rest of the stay on the coast.

Both are easy with children, and Mexican families are welcome everywhere in each. Puerto Vallarta has the calmer swimming on the flat sands of Nuevo Vallarta, along with water parks and a jungle zoo at Mismaloya. Its steep cobbled streets are hard work with a pushchair.

Mazatlan's draw is its large aquarium by the seafront, which suits a hot afternoon, but its open beaches can be rough for small children. Families there tend to stay at the island coves and hotel pools.

Getting around is much the same in both: long towns strung along the coast with a walkable old centre at one end. Mazatlan's malecón runs for about 20km and is good for walking or cycling, and the open-air pulmonía taxi makes even short rides fun.

In Puerto Vallarta most visitors take taxis or ride-hailing between districts, because bus routes are marked only on the windscreen. Water taxis reach the south-shore villages, and the hilly lanes behind the centre are steep on foot.

Puerto Vallarta is the better place to buy something worth taking home. It has Huichol yarn paintings and beadwork from the nearby sierra, many galleries in the old centre and the Zona Romántica, and textile and silver stalls on the Cuale island. A few independent boutiques round it out.

Mazatlan offers mainly silver, hammocks and beachwear in the Zona Dorada and everyday goods and local sweets at the Pino Suárez market.

Mazatlan is the cheaper stay overall, since most of the town is priced for Mexican families. Staying near the historic centre and eating at beach shacks and the market keeps costs low, and only beachfront hotels and the Zona Dorada add up.

Puerto Vallarta sets many prices for foreign visitors, especially resorts, boat tours and Malecón restaurants in winter. Taco stands and guesthouses a few streets inland still bring it down to good value.

Mazatlan has a proper stage. The restored Teatro Ángela Peralta hosts opera, concerts and dance, and it anchors the city's autumn cultural festival. Elsewhere banda sinaloense, the brass music born in this state, plays at beach restaurants and along the malecón.

Puerto Vallarta's performances are more casual but easier to drop into on any winter evening. There are drag and comedy cabaret in the Zona Romántica, Latin jazz in bars, mariachis in the plazas and the Papantla flyers on the Malecón. Classical music and serious theatre are scarce.

Puerto Vallarta offers more for a restorative stay. Beyond resort spas and beachside massage, you can join a temazcal sweat-lodge ceremony, stay in a boutique hotel in the hills or book into a yoga retreat in the roadless villages of the south shore.

In Mazatlan, rest comes mostly from the pace of a beach stay, with a few resort spas and massage places in the Zona Dorada. For real quiet, stay out at Cerritos or on Isla de la Piedra.