VacationSelector
The Iguazu Falls in the green jungle, Puerto Iguazu
Puerto IguazuThe Iguazu Falls in the green jungle
The cathedral of Santa Marta, Santa Marta
Santa MartaThe cathedral of Santa Marta

Photos: Puerto Iguazu by Muhammed Ballan, Pexels License; Santa Marta by Oliver H, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Puerto Iguazu or Santa Marta?

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 Puerto Iguazu for

  • getting around
  • families
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Puerto Iguazu’s own page.

Choose Santa Marta for

  • beaches
  • nightlife
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Marta’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. Puerto Iguazu 5, Santa Marta 70: Santa Marta leads by 65 points.
Food & drink. Puerto Iguazu 28, Santa Marta 44: Santa Marta leads by 16 points.
Culture & sights. Puerto Iguazu 9, Santa Marta 34: Santa Marta leads by 25 points.
Nightlife. Puerto Iguazu 14, Santa Marta 50: Santa Marta leads by 36 points.
Nature & outdoors. Puerto Iguazu 95, Santa Marta 84: Puerto Iguazu leads by 11 points.
Day trips. Puerto Iguazu 33, Santa Marta 38: Santa Marta leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Puerto Iguazu 55, Santa Marta 40: Puerto Iguazu leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Puerto Iguazu 54, Santa Marta 38: Puerto Iguazu leads by 16 points.
Shopping & style. Puerto Iguazu 17, Santa Marta 27: Santa Marta leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Puerto Iguazu 48, Santa Marta 80: Santa Marta leads by 32 points.
Live music & performing arts. Puerto Iguazu 7, Santa Marta 17: Santa Marta leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Puerto Iguazu 34, Santa Marta 30: Puerto Iguazu leads by 4 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Puerto Iguazu and Santa Marta.

Your match

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

Puerto Iguazu
33match

Wins on getting around and families with your weighting.

Santa Marta
Best match
46match

Wins on beaches and nightlife with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Puerto Iguazu in July

22 °Cdaytime high
11 °Cnight-time low
103 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
No seasea
11 hdaylight a day

Santa Marta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
59 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
28 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Puerto IguazuSanta Marta

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Puerto Iguazu: 1991-2020 normals, Iguazu Aerodrome (17.8 km from centre). Santa Marta: 1991-2020 normals, Santa Marta / Simon Bolivar (11.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePuerto IguazuSanta Marta
Official languageSpanishSpanish
CurrencyArgentine Peso (ARS)Colombian Peso (COP)
SocketsCI220 V, 50 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC-3UTC-5
Emergency number117 or 911123
Elevation162 m8 m
Main airportCataratas Del Iguazú International Airport (IGR)18 km from centre8 non-stop destinationsSimón Bolívar International Airport (SMR)13 km from centre6 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days19 days

By the numbers

MeasurePuerto IguazuSanta Marta
City population54,903505,915
People per km²-1,723
Museums within 10 km03
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
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 Puerto Iguazu or Santa Marta 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. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.