Photos: Santa Monica by Domenico Convertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Sayulita by Luisalvaz, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.
Santa Monica or Sayulita?
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 Monica for
- culture and sights
- families
- live music and the arts
What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Monica’s own page.
Choose Sayulita for
- prices
- beaches
- wellness
What lies behind each score is written up on Sayulita’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: Santa Monica and Sayulita.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on culture and sights and families with your weighting.
Wins on prices and beaches with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Santa Monica in July
Sayulita in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Sayulita has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Santa Monica: 1991-2020 normals, Los Angeles Airport (13.4 km from centre). Sayulita: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.
Before you go
| Measure | Santa Monica | Sayulita |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | - | Spanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya |
| Currency | US Dollar (USD) | Mexican Peso (MXN) |
| Sockets | AB120 V, 60 Hz | AB127 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer | UTC-6 |
| Emergency number | 911 | 911 |
| Elevation | 32 m | 2 m |
| Main airport | Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)11 km from centre177 non-stop destinations | Puerto Vallarta International Airport (PVR)29 km from centre52 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 13 days | 9 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Santa Monica | Sayulita |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 93,076 | 3,390 |
| People per km² | 4,270 | - |
| Museums within 10 km | 19 | 0 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 1 | 1 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | None | 12 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Santa Monica or Sayulita somewhere new.