Nuevo Vallarta or Sayulita?

Both towns exist because of their beaches, and both are excellent, but they feel very different. Nuevo Vallarta has a long, wide strand of soft sand running for kilometres in front of the resorts. It slopes gently and the water is usually calm, so it is better for long walks and easy swimming with children.

Sayulita's beach is a smaller curved bay right in front of the village, with gentle rolling waves that suit surfing more than floating. It gets crowded, so swimmers who want calmer water walk to the cove at Playa de los Muertos or along the jungle path to Playa Carricitos. In both places, a river mouth can cloud the sea after summer rain.

The two are much alike for food, and both send serious eaters to Puerto Vallarta. The difference is where you find a good meal. In Nuevo Vallarta most people eat in their resort, and the grilled fish, aguachile and raicilla of the Nayarit coast mean a taxi to Bucerias.

In Sayulita the fish tacos, ceviche and evening al pastor stands are a short walk from wherever you stay. There is also a layer of cafés and smoothie bowls for the surf and yoga crowd, which is pleasant if you don't mind a menu that can feel the same from place to place.

Neither town is a place for sightseeing. Nuevo Vallarta is a planned enclave of hotels and golf courses with no town centre at all. Sayulita at least has a small plaza, a modest church, streets hung with papel picado, the hillside cemetery and galleries selling Huichol art. For real historic streets, both rely on Puerto Vallarta, which is about half an hour from Nuevo Vallarta and twice that from Sayulita.

Sayulita has the better nights out. In Nuevo Vallarta the evening means a lobby bar, poolside entertainment or a drink at the marina, and the strip is mostly asleep by midnight. Anything bigger means a taxi to Puerto Vallarta's malecon or the Zona Romantica.

Sayulita has only a few blocks of bars, but in the winter season they fill up after sunset drinks on the beach, and some keep DJs going past midnight for a young surf and backpacker crowd. Summer is much quieter, and for proper clubs both towns send you to Puerto Vallarta.

Both share the wildlife of Banderas Bay, from the humpback whales that calve there in winter to the protected Marietas Islands. What differs is the outdoors on your doorstep. Nuevo Vallarta has the Ameca river mangroves with herons and crocodiles, turtles nesting on its beaches, zip-lines in the Sierra Madre foothills and golf inside the enclave.

Sayulita's outdoor life is more active and closer to the sea. You can surf from the beach, take footpaths over the headlands to the next cove, or go mountain biking in the jungle-covered hills behind the village.

Nuevo Vallarta is the better base for day trips because it sits in the middle of the bay. Puerto Vallarta's old town is about half an hour south, and Bucerias, San Pancho and Punta Mita are short hops north. The boat-only village of Yelapa and the mountain silver town of San Sebastian del Oeste are also within reach.

From Sayulita, Puerto Vallarta is a full hour away. Its best outings run north instead, to fishing villages such as Chacala and to the old port of San Blas, with its colonial ruins and mangrove boat trips, though that makes a long day.

Nuevo Vallarta is clearly the better choice for children. The resorts are designed for families, with shallow pools, water slides, kids' clubs and food all day. The gated enclave is quiet, and water parks, a dolphin centre and turtle releases are close by.

Sayulita works best for older children who like the water and want surf lessons or the sheltered cove at Playa de los Muertos. Younger children have less to do. There are no attractions built for them, and the uneven streets with no pavements make pushchairs a struggle.

Sayulita is easier to get around once you have arrived. You can cross the whole village on foot in about ten minutes, although the cobbles, dirt lanes and golf carts make walking slower than in a town with pavements. Hopping to nearby beaches means a taxi or a rented golf cart.

Nuevo Vallarta is spread along a long resort boulevard where little is within walking distance, and the highway buses can be a hot walk from the beachfront. In practice that means taxis and shuttles. It does have the airport about twenty minutes away, while Sayulita is an hour from it.

Sayulita is the more enjoyable place to browse. Its small boutiques sell loose linen, embroidered dresses, handmade jewellery and surf gear, and stalls near the plaza carry textiles and hats. Nuevo Vallarta has little beyond resort boutiques and a modest mall. In both towns the craft worth buying is Huichol beadwork and yarn painting, but from Nuevo Vallarta you go to Bucerias or Puerto Vallarta's river market to find it.

The two cost about the same, and both are priced for North American visitors. The difference is in how you keep costs down. Nuevo Vallarta's all-inclusive packages make spending predictable, and cheap tacos are a bus or taxi ride away in Bucerias. In Sayulita the fondas, fruit carts and taco stands are in the village itself, and coming in the summer low season makes rooms noticeably cheaper.

Neither town has a theatre or concert scene, but Nuevo Vallarta offers slightly more staged entertainment. Its resorts put on nightly shows, mariachi and folkloric dinners, and one large complex runs a permanent acrobatic dinner theatre. Sayulita's live music is a band in a bar, buskers near the plaza or the odd mariachi in high season, so for anything more both rely on Puerto Vallarta's cabaret and drag stages.

Both towns are good for unwinding, in different ways. In Nuevo Vallarta it happens inside your resort, with spa hydrotherapy circuits, massages under palapas and a guided temazcal ceremony. The quality depends almost entirely on where you stay.

Sayulita is more about yoga than spas. Hillside studios hold daily classes, and villas host week-long retreats with sound healing and temazcal. The village centre gets noisy in high season, though, so for real quiet you need to stay on the hillsides.