Santa Teresa, Costa Rica or Tulum?

Both have a long stretch of pale sand with palms growing almost to the water and a warm sea, so the difference lies in what the water does. Santa Teresa faces the open Pacific. It is a surf beach first, with rip currents on many days, so careful swimmers head for the rock pools at Mal País at low tide or the calmer corners near the points.

Tulum's Caribbean water is calmer and turquoise, with the cliff-top ruins behind it and a sheltered bay at Akumal. Sargassum can pile up on the sand in the warmer months, though, and the town is a few kilometres inland. In Santa Teresa the village runs right along the shore.

Santa Teresa eats well for a village on a dirt road, but almost everything on the menu has come from somewhere else: wood-fired pizza, poke, Israeli plates and Argentine grills served under thatched roofs along the main road. The Costa Rican part is casados in the small sodas, and fresh seafood is the best local produce. There is no market and no street food.

Tulum goes further because it has a regional kitchen to draw on. The taco stands and evening stalls in the town centre serve al pastor and cochinita pibil, and sopa de lima and fish grilled with achiote are worth seeking out. Both have their own sameness, though. Santa Teresa's strip repeats one laid-back café after another, and many of Tulum's menus fall back on smoothie bowls and ceviche, so neither is a reason to travel for food.

Tulum has one major sight: the walled Maya port on the cliff edge, where El Castillo stands above the sea. A visit takes a couple of hours and is best done early. Santa Teresa grew from a fishing hamlet into a surf town and has nothing to visit. Its appeal is its setting and its relaxed international community.

Tulum's nightlife is known well beyond Mexico. DJs play in jungle clearings, beach clubs run from late afternoon into the night, and big outdoor events peak in winter and around New Year. Santa Teresa has a smaller version: a few venues take turns hosting DJ nights and beach or jungle parties through the week.

On most nights Santa Teresa offers little choice, and many visitors go to bed early to surf at dawn. Neither place has a proper bar district. Tulum's mezcal bars on the main avenue are as close as either comes.

Both are excellent for the outdoors and both are flat, but in different ways. Santa Teresa's outdoors is on and above the water. There is consistent surf, howler monkeys and coatis in the dry forest, a trail through Cabo Blanco to a remote beach, the waterfalls at Montezuma and snorkelling trips to Isla Tortuga.

Tulum's best is underwater. Cenotes and flooded caves around the town are among the best places on earth for cavern snorkelling and cave diving. The lagoons and mangroves of Sian Ka'an, explored by boat, add dolphins and wading birds.

This is where the two differ most. From Tulum, the forest pyramid at Coba is under an hour away. Chichen Itza, paired with colonial Valladolid, is about two hours, and Playa del Carmen, with ferries to Cozumel, is under an hour up the coast. You can reach them by car, on a tour or by the Tren Maya.

Santa Teresa is near the remote tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. Montezuma's small seafront, about forty minutes away, is the only town worth an afternoon. Other outings go to reserves, islands and waterfalls rather than towns.

Tulum is easier with children. It has the warm, calm sea, shallow snorkelling with turtles at Akumal, cenotes with wooden steps into clear water, and the purpose-built eco-parks at Xel-Ha and Xcaret a short drive away. Santa Teresa suits outdoorsy families who will enjoy monkeys, rock pools and gentle surf lessons.

In Santa Teresa the open sea is often unsafe for young swimmers, the main road has no pavements and carries a steady stream of quads, and medical care is basic and some distance away. In both places, a pool at your villa or resort does much of the work.

Neither is easy, but Tulum takes a little less effort. Its centre is walkable, the flat roads suit bicycles for reaching the beach and ruins, and colectivo vans run along the highway. Santa Teresa stretches along one rough road with no pavements and no public transport, so visitors rent quads or scooters, take taxis or walk along the beach.

Getting there differs too. Tulum is on the main highway down the Riviera Maya. Santa Teresa means a car ferry across the gulf to Paquera, a long drive around the peninsula, or a small plane to Tambor followed by a transfer.

Tulum has more to browse. Boutiques on the beach road sell linen dresses, woven bags and macramé, and the town's main avenue has silver jewellery, embroidered huipiles and hammocks that make proper Mexican souvenirs. Santa Teresa's boutiques sell swimwear, surf brands and boards, which is handy for gear but has little local craft. Neither has a real market.

Both are among the most expensive places to stay in their countries, with boutique hotels and restaurants priced for foreign visitors. They differ in where you can save. In Tulum the cheaper option is the inland town, with guesthouses, taco stands and bicycle hire, as long as you accept riding to the beach each day.

In Santa Teresa you can save with hostels, shared surf houses and local sodas, often close to the sand. The journey there, quad rental, surf lessons and boat trips add up quickly, though.

Neither has a theatre or a concert season, but Tulum offers a little more. There are bands and acoustic sets in bars on the main avenue, and staged ceremonial dance at the eco-parks up the coast. In Santa Teresa, live music means a set at a beach bar, drumming and fire dancing at sunset, or a DJ at the weekly parties.

Yoga is what the two share, and in Santa Teresa it is nearly the whole offer: shalas in the forest above the beach, week-long retreats, drop-in breathwork and massage. Spa treatments mostly happen in small studios and hotel spas. Tulum offers more depth. It has a bathing tradition of its own in the temazcal, the domed Maya sweat lodge used for cleansing ceremonies, and open-air spas, sound baths and retreat hotels line the beach road and the jungle behind it.

What breaks the calm differs. In Santa Teresa it is the dust and quad traffic on the main road, so the quietest stays are up the hill. In Tulum it is party nights and highway noise, and the scene can feel commercial, so choose somewhere well away from the clubs.