VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
The cathedral of Santa Marta, Santa Marta
Santa MartaThe cathedral of Santa Marta

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Santa Marta by Oliver H, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Nairobi or Santa Marta?

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 Nairobi for

  • shopping
  • live music and the arts
  • families

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

Choose Santa Marta for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Marta’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. Nairobi 4, Santa Marta 70: Santa Marta leads by 66 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Santa Marta 44: Nairobi leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Santa Marta 34: Nairobi leads by 1 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Santa Marta 50: Nairobi leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi and Santa Marta are level on 84.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Santa Marta 38: Santa Marta leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Santa Marta 40: Nairobi leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Santa Marta 38: Santa Marta leads by 18 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Santa Marta 27: Nairobi leads by 18 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Santa Marta 80: Santa Marta leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Santa Marta 17: Nairobi leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Santa Marta 30: Santa Marta leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nairobi and Santa Marta.

Your match

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

Nairobi
41match

Wins on shopping and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Santa Marta
Best match
46match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Nairobi in July

24 °Cdaytime high
12 °Cnight-time low
11 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
12 hdaylight a day

Santa Marta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
59 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
28 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiSanta Marta

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Nairobi: 1991-2020 normals, Nairobi ACC/FIC/RCC/MET/COM/ (13.3 km from centre). Santa Marta: 1991-2020 normals, Santa Marta / Simon Bolivar (11.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiSanta Marta
Official languageEnglish, SwahiliSpanish
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)Colombian Peso (COP)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC-5
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999123
Elevation1,661 m8 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsSimón Bolívar International Airport (SMR)13 km from centre6 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days19 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiSanta Marta
City population5,545,000505,915
People per km²7,9671,723
Museums within 10 km43
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C-12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Nairobi or Santa Marta 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.