Photos: San Juan by Mohan Nannapaneni, Pexels License; Santa Marta by Oliver H, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.
San Juan 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 San Juan for
- live music and the arts
- culture and sights
- shopping
What lies behind each score is written up on San Juan’s own page.
Choose Santa Marta for
- prices
- nature and the outdoors
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.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: San Juan and Santa Marta.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on live music and the arts and culture and sights with your weighting.
Wins on prices 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.
San Juan in July
Santa Marta in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. San Juan: 1991-2020 normals, San Juan / Int., Puerto Rico (12.8 km from centre). Santa Marta: 1991-2020 normals, Santa Marta / Simon Bolivar (11.9 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | San Juan | Santa Marta |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Spanish, English | Spanish |
| Currency | US Dollar (USD) | Colombian Peso (COP) |
| Sockets | AB120 V, 60 Hz | AB110 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC-4 | UTC-5 |
| Emergency number | 911 | 123 |
| Elevation | 3 m | 8 m |
| Main airport | Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU)12 km from centre59 non-stop destinations | Simón Bolívar International Airport (SMR)13 km from centre6 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 21 days | 19 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | San Juan | Santa Marta |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 342,259 | 505,915 |
| People per km² | 2,847 | 1,723 |
| Museums within 10 km | 18 | 3 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 1 | 0 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | 12 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow San Juan or Santa Marta somewhere new.