Puerto Escondido or Valladolid, Mexico?

Puerto Escondido has proper beach days. Sheltered coves such as Carrizalillo, Puerto Angelito and Manzanillo give calm swimming and snorkelling in warm Pacific water. Zicatela's long golden sand is for watching the surf and walking at sunset, not for swimming.

Valladolid is two hours from any sea. Its swimming happens in cenotes: Zací in the middle of town, and X'keken and Samulá just outside, cool and clear under limestone ceilings. They make a memorable hour between ruins rather than a day on the sand.

Both eat well at a regional level, and neither has a fine-dining layer. What differs is the kitchen. In Puerto Escondido it is the sea and Oaxaca: fish grilled a la talla and ceviche at the palapas, tlayudas and moles in the market, and mezcal everywhere. Zicatela adds pizza and poke for the surfers who stay for weeks.

Valladolid cooks Yucatecan food, built on pork and with dishes of its own, such as longaniza, lomitos, cochinita pibil and sopa de lima. It is at its best at the morning market and the marquesita carts by the cathedral. There are fewer international options, and more meals in colonial courtyards.

Valladolid is the place for sights. The Calzada de los Frailes runs past some of the best-kept colonial streets in the Yucatán to the sixteenth-century convent of San Bernardino, and the Casa de los Venados adds a house full of Mexican folk art. Two days covers the town, and the great Maya cities lie beyond it.

Puerto Escondido has almost nothing in that line: a small church, a lighthouse and the pedestrian El Adoquin. Its culture lives in the market, the fishing beach and the festivals. For museums you face the long road to Oaxaca city.

Puerto Escondido goes out properly for a small town. La Punta has barefoot bars and reggaeton and electronic nights that run late in the winter season, and the Zicatela beachfront has sunset mezcal bars. Valladolid's evening is a stroll round the lit square and a drink in a courtyard bar. It is over by late evening, and an early start for Chichén Itzá usually ends the night anyway.

Puerto Escondido's outdoors is in and on the water. Zicatela is a world-famous big-wave break, with gentler breaks nearby for learners. Boat trips go out to dolphins, turtles and, in winter, whales, and the bioluminescent Manialtepec lagoon and the Chacahua mangroves are close by.

Valladolid's landscape is flat limestone forest, with its wonders underground: cenotes and caves reached by bike. Its high point is the flamingos and pink salt flats of Ría Lagartos. Neither town suits serious hikers.

Valladolid is a base made for day trips. Chichén Itzá is close enough to reach at opening, before the coaches arrive. Ek Balam is half an hour away, Cobá about an hour, and yellow Izamal and Río Lagartos fill other days.

From Puerto Escondido the options run along the coast. The beach villages of Mazunte and Zipolite are an hour east, Huatulco's bays lie further on and Chacahua is to the west. Oaxaca city and the mezcal valleys need an overnight stay.

Both suit families who want simple pleasures, and neither has anything built for children. In Puerto Escondido the draws are the calm coves at Manzanillo and Puerto Angelito, turtle releases and gentle surf lessons, but you need to keep children away from Zicatela's currents.

Valladolid swaps the sea for cenotes with rope swings and ladders, ruins to climb on and a square to run around in the evening. The long walks at the sites in full sun are hard on small children.

The two are awkward in opposite ways. Puerto Escondido is a string of separate pockets: the centre, Rinconada, and Zicatela down to La Punta. Plentiful taxis and colectivos link them, because walking between them is too hilly and too hot.

Valladolid has a flat, compact centre you can cross on foot or by rented bike. The ruins and outlying cenotes it is known for, though, mostly need a hire car, a driver or a tour.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Valladolid's crafts have more local character. Huipiles, hammocks, sandals made in town, honey and Xtabentún liqueur are sold along the Calzada and at the craft market by the Zací cenote. Puerto Escondido offers Oaxacan embroidery and alebrijes on El Adoquin, mezcal to take home, and surf shops and swimwear in Zicatela.

Valladolid is the cheaper stay overall. Its courtyard guesthouses cost far less than rooms on the Caribbean coast, and the main extra costs are the entry fees at the ruins and cenotes.

Puerto Escondido can be just as cheap if you eat at the market and stay in simple rooms. The design hotels and international restaurants of Zicatela and La Punta push the cost up quickly, though, and room rates climb in the Mexican vacation weeks around Christmas and Easter.

There is little to attend in either. In Puerto Escondido it is music in the bars, with bands and DJs in Zicatela and La Punta and traditional dance at the November festival. Valladolid's offering is more traditional: jarana dancers perform the vaquería on the main square, and history is projected in light onto the San Bernardino convent.

Puerto Escondido makes the better slow trip. Yoga is part of town life, with open-air studios and retreats in Zicatela and nearby Mazunte, and temazcal ceremonies and beach massages are easy to find. Just sleep away from La Punta.

Valladolid's rest comes from its pace: hammocks and small pools in courtyard hotels, shuttered afternoons and a temazcal that can be arranged nearby. There is little to build a wellness stay around.