Nuevo Vallarta or Zihuatanejo?

On sand alone the two are evenly matched, but the beaches are different in shape. Nuevo Vallarta has one long, wide golden strand curving along Banderas Bay, lined with resorts almost the whole way. It is good for long walks and paddling on calm days, but it is rarely clear, and the river mouth can cloud the water after storms.

Zihuatanejo spreads its beaches around a deep, sheltered bay. There is the calm crescent of La Ropa, the small cove of Madera close to town, and Las Gatas, reached by water taxi, where an old stone reef keeps the water flat and clear enough to snorkel. The sea is also warmer there in winter.

Nuevo Vallarta's region has coastal cooking worth seeking out: zarandeado fish grilled over wood, sharp aguachile and ceviche in a coconut with a glass of raicilla. But most meals there are eaten inside the resorts, and finding the good food means taking a taxi to Bucerias or Puerto Vallarta.

Zihuatanejo eats better closer to home. The municipal market, the Thursday pozole and the family taquerías behind the waterfront are all walkable from the centre. Tiritas and pescado a la talla at the palapas on La Ropa and Las Gatas are a short taxi, colectivo or boat ride away.

Neither is a place to come for sights, but Zihuatanejo has at least a real town to explore. It has whitewashed streets, a church, a fishermen's pier and a small archaeology museum on the waterfront covering the pre-Hispanic peoples of the coast. Nuevo Vallarta is a planned resort zone with nothing historic of its own. For a cobbled old town and a landmark church, you have to go to Puerto Vallarta for the day.

Evenings in Nuevo Vallarta stay inside the hotel. The night usually ends at the lobby bar or the poolside show, and the strip is quiet by midnight. The malecon clubs and the well-known gay scene of Puerto Vallarta's Zona Romantica are there for a big night, but each one means a taxi ride, not a stroll out of the hotel.

In Zihuatanejo, evenings take place in the town itself: sunset drinks on the beach, long dinners and small bars in the centre with a local and long-stay crowd. Ixtapa, up the coast, adds louder beach bars and a few clubs that fill up in the winter season, though it is still thin for anyone wanting to stay out late.

Banderas Bay gives Nuevo Vallarta the richer outdoors. Humpbacks come into the bay to calve in winter, and the protected Marietas Islands offer snorkelling among arches and seabirds. The Ameca mangroves hold herons and crocodiles, and the Sierra Madre foothills inland have jungle walks, river canyons and zip-lines, with surf at Punta Mita and Sayulita.

Zihuatanejo's nature is mostly on the water, with diving at Las Gatas and Isla Ixtapa, kayaking in the calm bay and sport fishing for sailfish. On land you have the birdlife of the Barra de Potosí lagoon, but very little hiking.

Nuevo Vallarta is much better placed for days out. Puerto Vallarta's old town and malecon are about half an hour south. To the north lies a chain of towns that each make a good day: the galleries of Bucerias, the surf town of Sayulita, quieter San Pancho and Punta Mita. Further afield are the mountain silver village of San Sebastián del Oeste and the boat-only village of Yelapa.

Zihuatanejo's outings are smaller: a beach day at Troncones, lunch on the sand at Barra de Potosí, and the ball court at Xihuacan. Anything bigger is too far for a comfortable return trip.

Nuevo Vallarta is designed for families in a way Zihuatanejo is not. The resorts provide shallow pools, slides, kids' clubs and food all day inside a quiet, partly gated enclave. Outings include whale watching, turtle releases, Marietas boat trips for older children, water parks and a dolphin centre.

Zihuatanejo still works well for a simple beach vacation with children. La Ropa and Las Gatas are calm for paddling, and the town is easy to manage. Beyond that, there is little built for children, and families who want resort facilities have to stay in Ixtapa.

Zihuatanejo is easier to manage without a car. The centre is compact and walkable, and a waterfront path runs to Playa Madera. Taxis are plentiful, colectivos run to La Ropa and Ixtapa, and boats reach Las Gatas, although the steep hill roads make walking between beaches impractical.

Nuevo Vallarta spreads along a long boulevard of resorts and golf courses, so almost everything beyond the beach means a taxi, a shuttle or a hot walk to the highway buses. A hire car helps if you want to see the northern coast. The airport is close, though.

Both are modest for shopping, and the difference is where the good things are. Zihuatanejo has its own artisans' market in the centre, selling hammocks, embroidery, Taxco silver and lacquerware from Olinalá. In Nuevo Vallarta, the region's finest craft, Huichol beadwork and yarn painting, is found in the galleries of Bucerias and Puerto Vallarta rather than in the enclave's resort boutiques and small mall.

Zihuatanejo is clearly the cheaper vacation. Simple guesthouses in town, market meals, palapa lunches and colectivos all keep daily costs low, and prices only climb in the hillside boutique hotels and Ixtapa's big resorts.

Nuevo Vallarta is built for North American visitors staying in resorts and condos, and drinks, tours and meals inside the enclave are priced to match. All-inclusive packages at least make costs predictable, and the cheap buses and taquerías of Bucerias help anyone willing to step outside.

Neither has a stage worth planning around, and the little each offers is different in kind. Nuevo Vallarta's live performance is resort entertainment: poolside shows, mariachi dinners and one large acrobatic dinner theatre, with cabaret and drag in Puerto Vallarta. Zihuatanejo leans towards music in the streets, with trova singers and bands in restaurants during the season and an international guitar festival that brings concerts to the beach once a year.

Both are places to slow down, but they get there by different routes. In Nuevo Vallarta, the rest is organised. The larger resorts have full spas with hydrotherapy circuits, guided temazcal ceremonies, and yoga and massage under palapas on the beach, though how good it is depends on your hotel.

Zihuatanejo's calm comes mostly from the town's own unhurried pace: reading in the shade, swimming and long lunches. Spa treatments and temazcal are found mainly in the boutique hotels above La Ropa and in Ixtapa.