Photos: Mombasa by Rob Oo, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Santa Monica by Domenico Convertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.
Mombasa or Santa Monica?
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 Mombasa for
- prices
- culture and sights
- beaches
What lies behind each score is written up on Mombasa’s own page.
Choose Santa Monica for
- families
- getting around
- shopping
What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Monica’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: Mombasa and Santa Monica.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Too close to call, 1 point apart
Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.
Wins on families 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.
Mombasa in July
Santa Monica in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Mombasa has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Mombasa: 1991-2020 normals, Mombasa (5.8 km from centre). Santa Monica: 1991-2020 normals, Los Angeles Airport (13.4 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Mombasa | Santa Monica |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | English, Swahili | - |
| Currency | Kenyan Shilling (KES) | US Dollar (USD) |
| Sockets | G240 V, 50 Hz | AB120 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Left | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+3 | UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer |
| Emergency number | Police 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999 | 911 |
| Elevation | 50 m | 32 m |
| Main airport | Moi International Airport (MBA)8 km from centre22 non-stop destinations | Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)11 km from centre177 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 10 days | 13 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Mombasa | Santa Monica |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 1,208,333 | 93,076 |
| People per km² | 4,100 | 4,270 |
| Museums within 10 km | 0 | 19 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 2 | 1 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | None |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Mombasa or Santa Monica somewhere new.