Puerto Escondido or Zihuatanejo?

Both coasts are excellent, so the difference is in what kind of water you get. Puerto Escondido has a split character: Zicatela is a long golden beach for watching surfers, not for swimming, and calm water is found in small coves such as Carrizalillo, Puerto Angelito and Manzanillo.

Zihuatanejo turns that around. Its whole bay is sheltered, so Playa La Ropa gives you a long, calm crescent to swim from every day, with Las Gatas and its old reef across the water. The open, rougher beaches are the exception here, out at Ixtapa's El Palmar.

Both towns eat at much the same level: fish grilled a la talla at beach palapas, honest market cooking, and no real fine dining. The difference is in the regional kitchen. Puerto Escondido cooks from Oaxaca, with tlayudas, moles and plenty of mezcal, and its surf quarters add pizza, poke and bakeries for long-stay visitors.

Zihuatanejo cooks from Guerrero. Look for tiritas of lime-cured fish and the Thursday pozole that families sit down to across the state, with a few dining rooms looking over the bay from the hills and in Ixtapa.

Neither town is a place for sightseeing, but Zihuatanejo has a little more to show. Its waterfront archaeological museum introduces the pre-Hispanic peoples of the Costa Grande, and the whitewashed grid around the fishermen's pier has the feel of a real working town. Puerto Escondido has no museum at all, only El Adoquin, a small church and the lighthouse, and its culture is found at the market and festivals rather than in buildings.

Puerto Escondido is the livelier of the two by some distance. La Punta draws a young, barefoot crowd to open-air bars with reggaeton and electronic nights that run late in high season, and Zicatela's beachfront has sunset bars and mezcal spots.

In Zihuatanejo, an evening usually means a sunset drink, a long dinner and a few small bars full of locals and long-stay visitors. For anything louder you have to go up the coast to Ixtapa's beach bars and handful of clubs, which mostly fill up in winter.

Both towns live on the water, but Puerto Escondido has more of it to explore. Zicatela's heavy beach break is known among surfers worldwide, and the coast around it has the bioluminescent Manialtepec lagoon and the mangroves and empty sands of the Chacahua national park.

Zihuatanejo's outdoors is calmer and more about what lies under the water. There is snorkelling and diving at Las Gatas and Isla Ixtapa, sport fishing for sailfish and marlin, kayaking on the bay and birdwatching at Barra de Potosí. In winter, humpback whales pass both coasts.

Puerto Escondido has the better coast within reach. Mazunte, San Agustinillo and Zipolite are each about an hour away, and each has a different character, from yoga retreats to bohemian beach life. The bays of Huatulco and the lagoon village of Chacahua give you further options.

Zihuatanejo's outings are smaller. You can spend a beach day at Troncones, have lunch on the sand at Barra de Potosí, or visit the Xihuacan ball court with its site museum. That is roughly where the choice ends.

Puerto Escondido asks more of parents. Zicatela and the other open beaches have heavy surf and currents that rule out swimming with children, the town is split into pockets linked by taxi, and nothing there is built for children, so days revolve around a few sheltered coves. Older children get the most from it, with gentle surf lessons on the learner waves at La Punta, dolphin boat trips and turtle hatchling releases.

Zihuatanejo is less work for a family. Its main beaches lie inside a calm bay where small children can paddle, and Ixtapa's hotel pools are a short ride away when they tire of the sand. Both towns have turtle releases and boat outings, but the trips here are shorter and gentler: a few minutes by boat to the quiet coves of Isla Ixtapa, or a look at the crocodiles in the mangroves near Playa Linda, rather than a long drive west to Chacahua.

Neither town is easy to walk around, and taxis do most of the work in both. Zihuatanejo has a compact centre and a waterfront path to Playa Madera, buses run to La Ropa and Ixtapa, and boats carry you across the bay to Las Gatas.

Puerto Escondido is spread over separate pockets: the centre, Rinconada, and Zicatela down to La Punta. You will take a cab or colectivo between them, and hills, heat and patchy pavements make walking within them hard work.

Both towns are good for souvenirs and not much more, but the crafts reflect different states. Puerto Escondido's El Adoquin sells Oaxacan embroidery, alebrijes and mezcal to take home, along with surf shops in Zicatela. Zihuatanejo's artisans' market brings in silver from Taxco and lacquerware from Olinalá, and Ixtapa adds a small shopping plaza.

Costs are much the same in both: market meals, taxis and simple guesthouses are cheap, and prices climb sharply at the top end. In Puerto Escondido, those dear pockets are the design hotels and international restaurants of Zicatela and La Punta. In Zihuatanejo, they are the boutique hotels above La Ropa and the large Ixtapa resorts, and staying down in town keeps a trip cheap.

Neither town has any theatre or concert life. Puerto Escondido has bands and DJs in the bars of Zicatela and La Punta, and its November festival brings traditional dance. Zihuatanejo's highlight is its long-running international guitar festival, held once a year, with trova and mariachi in restaurants during high season.

Puerto Escondido is the better place to make rest an actual plan. Yoga is part of everyday life there, with open-air studios in Zicatela and the hills and more in Mazunte, and massages and temazcal ceremonies are easy to find. Light sleepers should avoid La Punta, though.

Zihuatanejo restores you in a quieter way. It has a slow pace, shade and swimming, with spas mostly inside the hotels above La Ropa and in Ixtapa, and only a little yoga.