Photos: Playa del Carmen by lazyweaver, CC BY 3.0, cropped; San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0.
Playa del Carmen or San Jose, Costa Rica?
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 Playa del Carmen for
- beaches
- families
- nightlife
What lies behind each score is written up on Playa del Carmen’s own page.
Choose San Jose, Costa Rica for
- culture and sights
- live music and the arts
- nature and the outdoors
What lies behind each score is written up on San Jose, Costa Rica’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Playa del Carmen and San Jose, Costa Rica.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.
Wins on culture and sights and live music and the arts with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Playa del Carmen in July
San Jose, Costa Rica in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Playa del Carmen has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.
San Jose, Costa Rica's station stands 241 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Playa del Carmen: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km. San Jose, Costa Rica: 1991-2020 normals, Juan Santamaria (16.8 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Playa del Carmen | San Jose, Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Spanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya | Spanish |
| Currency | Mexican Peso (MXN) | Costa Rican Colon (CRC) |
| Sockets | AB127 V, 60 Hz | AB120 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC-5 | UTC-6 |
| Emergency number | 911 | 911 |
| Elevation | 8 m | 1,161 m |
| Main airport | Cancún International Airport (CUN)50 km from centre137 non-stop destinations | Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 9 days | 11 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Playa del Carmen | San Jose, Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 304,942 | 335,007 |
| People per km² | - | 7,511 |
| Museums within 10 km | 0 | 9 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 0 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | - |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Playa del Carmen or San Jose, Costa Rica somewhere new.