Newport Beach or Santa Monica?

Both have long sandy beaches, and in both the cool Pacific suits wading or a wetsuit better than floating about. Newport's shore is more varied. There are surf breaks by the piers, the notoriously dangerous Wedge, the rocky coves of Corona del Mar, and sheltered strips of sand inside the harbour where small children can paddle.

Santa Monica has one very wide, lifeguarded band of pale sand with the pier in the middle. Swimmers do better a little way from the pier, where the water is cleaner. The more scenic beaches are up the coast in Malibu, at Zuma, El Matador and the coves of Point Dume.

Santa Monica eats better, largely because of its Wednesday farmers market, which supplies many kitchens in the region. It sets the tone for seasonal Californian cooking, good seafood and reliable Italian and Japanese places along Main Street and Montana Avenue, and Venice next door adds more creative options.

In Newport you pay as much for the setting as for the food: harbour dining rooms with views of the boats, fish tacos by the sand and frozen bananas on Balboa Island. Its best meals are a drive away, in the Vietnamese kitchens of Little Saigon in Westminster.

Neither is a sightseeing town, but Santa Monica has more within reach. The Getty Center in Brentwood and the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades are both a short drive away, and Bergamot Station gathers commercial galleries in an old trolley depot.

Newport has old resort charm and one architectural landmark. You can see the Balboa Pavilion of 1905, Schindler's Lovell Beach House and the quiet Sherman Library & Gardens. For a serious art museum you go to Costa Mesa.

Both towns go to bed early and send clubbers elsewhere: from Newport to Los Angeles or Costa Mesa, from Santa Monica to Hollywood. Newport is split in two. Loud dive bars by the piers fill with young locals on summer weekends, while the harbour wine bars and lounges are dressier, and the town goes quiet out of season.

Santa Monica's evenings lean towards rooftop hotel bars over the ocean around the Third Street Promenade and British-style pubs on Main Street. Venice next door brings a looser, more local crowd.

Santa Monica has mountains on its doorstep. Trails in Temescal Canyon, Topanga and Will Rogers State Historic Park climb through chaparral and oak canyons to views over the whole bay, the wilder Malibu canyons lie beyond, and the beach path runs for about 35km.

Newport's outdoors are flatter and more about the water. There is birdwatching and cycling around the Upper Newport Bay estuary, kayaking and sailing in the harbour, and bluff paths at Crystal Cove. Both have whale-watching boats, and real elevation is an hour inland in the Santa Ana Mountains.

Newport is closer to the best of the surrounding coast. Laguna Beach and Mission San Juan Capistrano are each under half an hour away, the Catalina ferry leaves from Balboa itself, and both Los Angeles and San Diego can be done in a day.

From Santa Monica, Catalina means driving to Long Beach or San Pedro first, and Laguna is a long haul. Malibu is close, though, and Santa Barbara and Ojai lie to the north. From both towns, the freeway traffic decides how far you get.

Newport is the easier choice with children. Shallow water on Balboa Island, the ferris wheel at the Fun Zone, the car ferry and the tide pools at Crystal Cove make for simple days, and Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm are about half an hour away.

Santa Monica works well too, with wide lifeguarded sand, the pier's rides and small aquarium, and flat bike rides along the beach. Theme parks are a far longer drive from here, though, and some parents find the visible homelessness downtown unsettling.

Santa Monica is far easier without a car. Downtown, the pier and Main Street are all walkable, the city's blue buses cover the rest of town, and the E Line runs to downtown Los Angeles in about an hour.

In Newport you really need a car. The buses are slow and infrequent, and the town spreads along the coast and up the hills. Only the flat Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Island, linked by the little ferry, work well on foot or by bike, and beach parking is hard to find on summer weekends.

Newport is better for luxury. Designer names fill the open-air centre above the harbour, and one of the country's largest luxury malls is ten minutes away in Costa Mesa. Santa Monica sends label hunters to Rodeo Drive, but it has the more independent streets: boutiques on Montana Avenue, surf shops on Main Street and design-led stores on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice.

Both are expensive even by Californian standards, with ocean-view hotels and restaurants that charge for the setting. Santa Monica gives you a few more ways to save, because cheap buses and light rail can stand in for a rental car, whereas in Newport the car, fuel and parking are hard to avoid. In both towns, staying inland brings room costs down.

Newport borrows its stage from Costa Mesa, ten minutes away. The Segerstrom Center hosts touring Broadway musicals, ballet and the Pacific Symphony, and South Coast Repertory next door stages new American plays.

Santa Monica's own scene is smaller: the Broad Stage, a few small playhouses and intimate folk rooms. Its big nights mean crossing Los Angeles to the Hollywood Bowl or Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Neither town has thermal springs or bathhouses, so relaxing in either means spas, yoga and sunsets. Newport's calm comes from bluff walks, coffee by the harbour and the resort spas on the hills, and it is at its best outside summer weekends. Santa Monica has the stronger fitness culture, with yoga on the sand, juice bars and morning runs beside the ocean.