VacationSelector
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda
The Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica
Santa MonicaThe Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier

Photos: Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Santa Monica by Domenico Convertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Phnom Penh 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 Phnom Penh for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • nightlife

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

Choose Santa Monica for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • families

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. Phnom Penh 6, Santa Monica 66: Santa Monica leads by 60 points.
Food & drink. Phnom Penh 62, Santa Monica 60: Phnom Penh leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Phnom Penh 62, Santa Monica 35: Phnom Penh leads by 27 points.
Nightlife. Phnom Penh 58, Santa Monica 38: Phnom Penh leads by 20 points.
Nature & outdoors. Phnom Penh 28, Santa Monica 72: Santa Monica leads by 44 points.
Day trips. Phnom Penh 34, Santa Monica 64: Santa Monica leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Phnom Penh 32, Santa Monica 70: Santa Monica leads by 38 points.
Getting around. Phnom Penh 35, Santa Monica 52: Santa Monica leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Phnom Penh 46, Santa Monica 56: Santa Monica leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Phnom Penh 86, Santa Monica 14: Phnom Penh leads by 72 points.
Live music & performing arts. Phnom Penh 32, Santa Monica 38: Santa Monica leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Phnom Penh 50, Santa Monica 45: Phnom Penh leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Phnom Penh and Santa Monica.

Your match

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

Phnom Penh
44match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Santa Monica
Best match
51match

Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Phnom Penh in July

33 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
168 mmrain in the month
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Santa Monica in July

24 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
20 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
Phnom PenhSanta Monica

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre). Santa Monica: 1991-2020 normals, Los Angeles Airport (13.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhnom PenhSanta Monica
Official languageKhmer-
CurrencyRiel (KHR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsACG230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 117, ambulance 119, fire 118911
Elevation11 m32 m
Main airportTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinationsLos Angeles International Airport (LAX)11 km from centre177 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year21 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhnom PenhSanta Monica
City population2,129,37193,076
People per km²3,1384,270
Museums within 10 km319
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
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 Phnom Penh 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.