VacationSelector
The cathedral of Santa Marta, Santa Marta
Santa MartaThe cathedral of Santa Marta
Ushuaia below snow-capped mountains, Ushuaia
UshuaiaUshuaia below snow-capped mountains

Photos: Santa Marta by Oliver H, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Ushuaia by Jan Tang, Pexels License.

Santa Marta or Ushuaia?

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 Santa Marta for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Marta’s own page.

Choose Ushuaia for

  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Ushuaia’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. Santa Marta 70, Ushuaia 3: Santa Marta leads by 67 points.
Food & drink. Santa Marta 44, Ushuaia 40: Santa Marta leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Santa Marta 34, Ushuaia 22: Santa Marta leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Santa Marta 50, Ushuaia 18: Santa Marta leads by 32 points.
Nature & outdoors. Santa Marta 84, Ushuaia 88: Ushuaia leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Santa Marta 38, Ushuaia 14: Santa Marta leads by 24 points.
Good for families. Santa Marta and Ushuaia are level on 40.
Getting around. Santa Marta 38, Ushuaia 45: Ushuaia leads by 7 points.
Shopping & style. Santa Marta 27, Ushuaia 22: Santa Marta leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Santa Marta 80, Ushuaia 42: Santa Marta leads by 38 points.
Live music & performing arts. Santa Marta 17, Ushuaia 10: Santa Marta leads by 7 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Santa Marta 30, Ushuaia 26: Santa Marta leads by 4 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Santa Marta and Ushuaia.

Your match

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

Santa Marta
Best match
46match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

Ushuaia
31match

Wins on getting around 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.

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

Ushuaia in July

4 °Cdaytime high
0 °Cnight-time low
36 mmrain in the month
2 hsunshine a day
No seasea
8 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
Santa MartaUshuaia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Santa Marta: 1991-2020 normals, Santa Marta / Simon Bolivar (11.9 km from centre). Ushuaia: 1991-2020 normals, Ushuaia Aerodrome (1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSanta MartaUshuaia
Official languageSpanishSpanish
CurrencyColombian Peso (COP)Argentine Peso (ARS)
SocketsAB110 V, 60 HzCI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-5UTC-3
Emergency number123117 or 911
Elevation8 m23 m
Main airportSimón Bolívar International Airport (SMR)13 km from centre6 non-stop destinationsUshuaia - Malvinas Argentinas International Airport (USH)4 km from centre9 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year19 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureSanta MartaUshuaia
City population505,91582,615
People per km²1,7233,592
Museums within 10 km35
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Santa Marta or Ushuaia 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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. 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.