Nuevo Vallarta or Puerto Vallarta?

Both face the same warm Banderas Bay, and in either place the beach is the centre of the stay. The difference is in the shape of it. Nuevo Vallarta has one long, wide strand of soft sand running for kilometres in front of the resorts, and its gentle slope is ideal for swimming laps and paddling.

Puerto Vallarta offers variety instead. There is the busy town beach of Los Muertos with its loungers and grills, the rock pools of Conchas Chinas, and coves such as Mismaloya and Las Animas where the jungle meets the sea, some of them reached only by water taxi. Its sand is coarser, and in both places the summer rains can cloud the water.

Puerto Vallarta is much the better place to eat, and the good food is right in the streets where you stay. You get wood-grilled pescado zarandeado on the beach and evening taco stands selling birria and marlin. There is also a wide range of restaurants, up to chef-run dining rooms in the hills.

Nuevo Vallarta shares the same Nayarit and Jalisco seafood tradition, including aguachile and ceviche served in a coconut. Inside the enclave, though, most meals come from the resorts and the marina terraces. To eat well you head out to the beach shacks of Bucerías or into Puerto Vallarta itself.

Neither is a sightseeing destination, but Puerto Vallarta at least has a town to look at. Its whitewashed hillside streets, the crown-topped Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the sculptures along the Malecón and the small museums on the Cuale river island fill a pleasant afternoon or two.

Nuevo Vallarta is a planned resort zone with no historic core, museums or landmarks. For any culture you take a day out to Puerto Vallarta or Bucerías.

This is where the two differ most. Puerto Vallarta goes out late. The open-fronted dance clubs along the Malecón fill up after midnight, and the Zona Romántica adds rooftop and mezcal bars and one of the largest gay scenes in Latin America.

Nuevo Vallarta is quiet by design: lobby bars, pool shows and a drink at the marina before an early night. You can stay there and go out in Puerto Vallarta, but every night out means a taxi there and back.

Both share the bay's wildlife: humpback whales calving from December to March, turtles nesting in summer and autumn, and boat trips to the Marietas Islands. The difference is what lies close by. Nuevo Vallarta is near the Ameca river mangroves with their herons and crocodiles, it is closer to the surf and whale boats of Punta Mita, and it has golf inside the enclave.

Puerto Vallarta has the mountains right behind it. The jungle, the botanical garden and the coastal trail along the roadless south shore towards Las Animas and Yelapa are easy to reach, and so is snorkelling at Los Arcos.

The two have almost the same list of outings, so the real difference is direction. Nuevo Vallarta is better placed for the northern coast. Bucerías is a short drive away, Sayulita, San Pancho and Punta Mita make easy days out, and Puerto Vallarta's old town is the best trip of all.

From Puerto Vallarta, the boat-only village of Yelapa and the south shore are closer, and the mountain road to San Sebastián del Oeste is a little shorter. Neither has major colonial or archaeological sites within easy reach.

Nuevo Vallarta has the edge for families, mainly because the whole place is built for them. The resorts have shallow pools, slides and kids' clubs, the enclave is calm and partly gated, and a broad, gently shelving beach lies right outside.

Puerto Vallarta works well too. It adds the jungle zoo at Mismaloya and evening walks on the Malecón with street performers, but its steep cobbled streets are hard going with a pushchair. The calmest family beaches it has to offer are, in fact, Nuevo Vallarta's.

Puerto Vallarta is easier to get about. The Malecón and footbridges over the Cuale link the old centre and the Zona Romántica, so you can do much of a stay on foot. Taxis, ride-hailing and water taxis cover the rest, though pavements are uneven and the back streets are steep.

Nuevo Vallarta is a long boulevard of resorts and gated condos where little beyond the beach is within walking distance, and reaching the highway buses means a hot walk. Expect to use taxis, shuttles or a hire car. In return, the airport is only about twenty minutes away.

In Nuevo Vallarta you can buy swimwear, sun cream and souvenirs from the resort boutiques and a modest mall, and not much else. To take home the region's real craft, the Huichol yarn paintings and beadwork of the Wixárika communities in the Sierra Madre, you need a trip to Bucerías or Puerto Vallarta.

Puerto Vallarta is the better place to shop. Galleries fill the old centre and the Zona Romántica. Among the mass-produced souvenirs, the Mercado Municipal and the stalls on the Cuale river island also sell silver, embroidered textiles, ceramics and hammocks. Malls near the marina cover everyday needs, but there is little fashion or luxury shopping.

Puerto Vallarta is the cheaper base. The tourist strip and the Malecón restaurants are expensive, but the old centre has simple guesthouses, family restaurants and taco stands at local prices, so you can choose how much to spend.

Nuevo Vallarta gives you fewer such choices. Almost all the accommodation is resorts and condos aimed at North Americans, and prices inside the enclave are set to match. An all-inclusive package at least makes costs predictable, and cheap buses and taxis put the cheaper food of Bucerías within reach.

Neither has opera, orchestras or serious theatre, but Puerto Vallarta has more going on in the evenings. The long-running cabaret scene in the Zona Romántica puts on drag, comedy and revues in winter, bars host Latin jazz and acoustic sets, and the Papantla flyers perform on the Malecón.

In Nuevo Vallarta, performance means resort entertainment: poolside shows, mariachi and folkloric dinners, and one large acrobatic dinner theatre production that brings in visitors from around the bay.

Both are made for slowing down. In both, the spas are mostly inside resorts, and the temazcal sweat lodge is the local tradition. Nuevo Vallarta's advantage is quiet: there is nothing to rush off to, and the big resorts have full hydrotherapy circuits.

Puerto Vallarta's centre can be noisy at night, but it has something Nuevo Vallarta lacks: yoga and retreat centres in the roadless villages of the south shore, and boutique hotel spas in the hills.