VacationSelector
The cathedral of Santa Marta, Santa Marta
Santa MartaThe cathedral of Santa Marta
Gastown, Vancouver
VancouverGastown

Photos: Santa Marta by Oliver H, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Vancouver by Xicotencatl, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Santa Marta or Vancouver?

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

  • prices
  • beaches
  • nightlife

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

Choose Vancouver for

  • getting around
  • live music and the arts
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Vancouver’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, Vancouver 42: Santa Marta leads by 28 points.
Food & drink. Santa Marta 44, Vancouver 72: Vancouver leads by 28 points.
Culture & sights. Santa Marta 34, Vancouver 42: Vancouver leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Santa Marta 50, Vancouver 42: Santa Marta leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Santa Marta 84, Vancouver 97: Vancouver leads by 13 points.
Day trips. Santa Marta 38, Vancouver 45: Vancouver leads by 7 points.
Good for families. Santa Marta 40, Vancouver 72: Vancouver leads by 32 points.
Getting around. Santa Marta 38, Vancouver 73: Vancouver leads by 35 points.
Shopping & style. Santa Marta 27, Vancouver 55: Vancouver leads by 28 points.
Affordability. Santa Marta 80, Vancouver 27: Santa Marta leads by 53 points.
Live music & performing arts. Santa Marta 17, Vancouver 52: Vancouver leads by 35 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Santa Marta 30, Vancouver 50: Vancouver leads by 20 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Santa Marta and Vancouver.

Your match

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

Santa Marta
46match

Wins on prices and beaches with your weighting.

Vancouver
Best match
56match

Wins on getting around and live music and the arts 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

Vancouver in July

23 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
42 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
16 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Santa MartaVancouver

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). Vancouver: 1991-2020 normals, Vancouver Harbour CS (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSanta MartaVancouver
Official languageSpanishFrench, English
CurrencyColombian Peso (COP)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsAB110 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number123911
Elevation8 m2 m
Main airportSimón Bolívar International Airport (SMR)13 km from centre6 non-stop destinationsVancouver International Airport (YVR)9 km from centre109 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year19 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureSanta MartaVancouver
City population505,915662,248
People per km²1,7235,759
Museums within 10 km326
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 monthsNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Santa Marta or Vancouver 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

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.