Tulum or Puerto Vallarta?

Both towns are built around their beaches, but the beaches are different. Puerto Vallarta's shore runs along a huge Pacific bay. The sand is golden and coarse, the water is mostly gentle, and town beaches such as Los Muertos sit right by the restaurants. Quieter coves like Yelapa and Las Animas are reached by water taxi, and surf beaches lie about an hour north.

Tulum has the postcard Caribbean: pale sand, palms and turquoise water below the cliff-top ruins, with Akumal's turtle bay nearby. The trade-offs are sargassum seaweed in some warmer months and a beach several kilometres from town, so you ride or take a taxi there each day.

Puerto Vallarta eats better and more widely. Fish is grilled over wood on the sand, ceviche and aguachile are everywhere, and taco carts fill the centre and the Zona Romántica at night. On top of that come chef-run dining rooms in the hills and raicilla, the local mountain spirit.

Tulum has good Yucatecan cooking, such as cochinita pibil, sopa de lima and achiote-grilled fish, in the fondas of the town centre. But it is a small place. The candlelit restaurants on the beach road often sell the setting more than the food, and menus tend to repeat each other.

Neither town is a sightseeing destination, and both can be covered in a short morning or afternoon. What they offer is different. Puerto Vallarta has the character of an old fishing town: red-tiled lanes climbing the hill, the crown-topped Guadalupe church, sculptures along the Malecón and a small museum on the Cuale river island.

Tulum has almost no old town at all, but it has one striking monument: the walled Maya port with El Castillo standing over the sea. It is best seen early in the morning, before the tour coaches arrive.

Puerto Vallarta has slightly more going on, and it is easier to drop into. Open-fronted clubs along the Malecón fill after midnight, and the Zona Romántica adds rooftop and mezcal bars and one of Latin America's best-established gay scenes. You can wander between them on foot any night of the season.

Tulum is known for something else: electronic music in jungle clearings, beach clubs that run from sunset into the night, and full-moon parties with a dressed-up crowd. Away from those big, expensive nights there is little more than a short strip of bars on the main avenue.

The landscapes are equally rewarding but nothing alike. Behind Puerto Vallarta the Sierra Madre rises in green ridges, so there are coastal trails, river canyons, zip-lines and mountain biking. Humpback whales calve in the bay in winter, and boats run to Los Arcos and the Marietas Islands for snorkelling.

Tulum is flat jungle on limestone, and its wonders are underground. Cenotes such as Gran Cenote and Dos Ojos offer some of the world's finest cavern snorkelling and cave diving, and the Sian Ka'an reserve has lagoons, mangroves and reef. There are no hills to walk.

Tulum has the better range of days out, mainly because of the Maya world. Coba's forest pyramid is under an hour away. Chichen Itza, paired with colonial Valladolid or Ek Balam, makes a full and memorable day, and ferries from Playa del Carmen cross to Cozumel.

From Puerto Vallarta, most trips follow the coast to beach villages such as Sayulita and San Pancho, or go by boat to Yelapa. The one notable inland outing is the mountain road to the old silver town of San Sebastián del Oeste.

Both work well with children, in different ways. Puerto Vallarta is the simpler base. The flat, calm sands of Nuevo Vallarta have family resorts with kids' clubs, there are whale and turtle trips, and evening strolls along the Malecón come with street performers and ice cream. The steep cobbled streets are hard work with a pushchair.

Tulum's appeal for children is the water: turtles in the shallows at Akumal, clear cenote pools, and the Xel-Ha and Xcaret parks up the coast. The town itself leans towards couples and adults-only hotels, so a pool and a hire car make a big difference.

Puerto Vallarta is the easier place to get about. The old centre and the Zona Romántica can be walked, linked by the Malecón and footbridges over the river. Cheap buses run along the coast road, taxis and ride-hailing cover the longer distances, and water taxis serve the south shore.

Tulum is spread along a highway, with the beach and hotel strip well away from the town grid. Cycling is the usual answer, but roads are unlit at night. Beyond that there are only colectivo vans and pricey taxis, so most visitors end up hiring a car or booking tours.

Puerto Vallarta offers more to buy that is worth taking home. The standout is Huichol beadwork and yarn paintings from the Sierra Madre, alongside many galleries in the old centre and silver, textiles and ceramics at the Mercado Municipal by the river.

Tulum's shopping is mostly a single style: linen, macramé and woven baskets in small, expensive boutiques on the beach road. The main avenue sells embroidered huipiles and hammocks for less.

Puerto Vallarta is much cheaper. Its seafront hotels and boat tours charge visitor prices, but taco stands, family restaurants inland, local buses and guesthouses in the old centre keep everyday costs low, especially outside winter.

Tulum is one of the costliest stays in Mexico. Beach-road hotels, restaurants, taxis, beach clubs and separate entry fees at every cenote add up fast. Staying in town and cycling to the sea helps, but it gives up the barefoot beach stay that brings most people here.

Puerto Vallarta has more live performance, though all of it is informal. In winter the Zona Romántica runs cabaret, drag and comedy revues. Mariachis play in the plazas, the Papantla flyers spin down their pole on the Malecón, and folkloric dance shows run in the centre.

Tulum has hardly any of this. Live music means bar bands on the main avenue and percussion over DJ sets, and traditional dance is mostly staged at the eco-parks up the coast.

Tulum is built for this kind of trip. Yoga shalas, retreat hotels, breathwork, sound baths and Maya temazcal sweat lodges fill the jungle and the beach road. To make sure you get real quiet, stay well away from the party clubs.

Puerto Vallarta is restful in a looser way, with long mornings and sunsets over the bay. Wellness there mostly means resort spas and beachside massage, with a few temazcal sessions and yoga retreats in the roadless south-shore villages.