VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
The Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica
Santa MonicaThe Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Santa Monica by Domenico Convertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Nairobi 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 Nairobi for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Santa Monica for

  • beaches
  • day trips
  • getting around

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.

Beaches & swimming. Nairobi 4, Santa Monica 66: Santa Monica leads by 62 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Santa Monica 60: Santa Monica leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi and Santa Monica are level on 35.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Santa Monica 38: Nairobi leads by 20 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Santa Monica 72: Nairobi leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Santa Monica 64: Santa Monica leads by 36 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Santa Monica 70: Santa Monica leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Santa Monica 52: Santa Monica leads by 32 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Santa Monica 56: Santa Monica leads by 11 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Santa Monica 14: Nairobi leads by 46 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Santa Monica 38: Santa Monica leads by 3 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Santa Monica 45: Santa Monica leads by 20 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nairobi and Santa Monica.

Your match

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

Nairobi
41match

Wins on prices and nightlife with your weighting.

Santa Monica
Best match
51match

Wins on beaches and day trips 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 Monica in July

24 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
20 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiSanta Monica

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 Monica: 1991-2020 normals, Los Angeles Airport (13.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiSanta Monica
Official languageEnglish, Swahili-
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999911
Elevation1,661 m32 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsLos Angeles International Airport (LAX)11 km from centre177 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiSanta Monica
City population5,545,00093,076
People per km²7,9674,270
Museums within 10 km419
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Nairobi or Santa Monica 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. 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.