Cabo or Cancun : Which Mexican Beach City is Better?

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Its a question that has plagued humans since the dawn of time: Cabo or Cancun?

They are probably two of the most well-known Mexican destinations, especially for Western and American tourists. Both locations have miles upon miles of beaches, amazing food, and lively bars. It’s a hard choice!

WHICH ONE DO YOU PICK?!?! Well, lucky for you, I’ve been to both! And while I enjoyed Cancun AND Cabo, there are definitely some key differences that you want to keep in mind when choosing between the two cities.

*sidenote: I know “Cabo” can mean Cabo San Lucas or Los Cabos. Since they are like 20 minutes from each other anyway, I’ll just collectively call the area Cabo. I’ll have to do an entirely separate post comparing their slight differences!

Vacation Duration

Well, there first question you need to ask yourself : HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU HAVE?? Time plays into two important roles. Flight path and itinerary. Both of these things are probably the biggest deciding factor, at least for me, between Cabo or Cancun.

So first, flight plan. Cabo is on the West of Mexico. Cancun is on the East. Depending on where you are leaving from, one of them is probablyyy closer to you. So if you are planning on visiting Cabo or Cancun on a long weekend, I would recommend picking the one closer to you. That way, you don’t eat up as much of your vacation with multiple layovers!

The other time-sensitive issue you have to consider is your itinerary. HOW MUCH are you trying to do? Me personally, I get serious FOMO when I travel. I get anxious just thinking about all the stuff I won’t be able to do while I’m still there.

For short trips, I prefer to visit smaller places with less to do. That way, I don’t leave with SO MUCH UNSEEN. Does that make sense? Maybe it’s just me, haha. So for shorter trips, I would recommend Cabo. In my opinion, Cabo has less opportunities for excursions and activities outside of the main hub of activity. They ARE there, but not as readily available. I visited Cabo on a long 4 day weekend, and while there are a few things to do like snorkeling in the Sea of Cortez (one of the most biodiverse oceans in THE WORLD!) and ATVing in the desert, that was…about it.

Climate

Okay, so maybe time doesn’t really bother you too much. You can either plan to adjust your time off to fit everything you want to do. Or you are fine with not exploring every nook and cranny of an entire area. You’ll just do what you can with the time you have. So here’s another thing to consider. Climate. 

Cancun : it’s on the Caribbean side. So expect humidity. Like, it’s just a guarantee any time of the year, but a little less during the winter. A LITTLE. The winter (December-early April) is also the dry season for Cancun, and day temperatures are usually around mid-80s (~29C). Summer is the hottest, in the 90s plus humidity, but it never got unbearably hot to me. 

The rainy season (and hurricane season) is in the Fall, which is of course when I visited. There wasn’t a hurricane, but it was experiencing a tropical storm because -surprise- there was a hurricane somewhere else in the Caribbean. But it wasn’t thaaat bad in Cancun, even though it rained every day. The rain was kind of warm, and I just had to club in my water shoes. Nbd. 

Cabo : on the other hand is dry. Similar to Southern California. The summers get a little hotter than Cancun (low 90s/high 80s), and the winters are warmer as well (with highs of low 80s). Once the sun sets though, it feels colder than Cancun because there is less humidity. 

There is also less rain in Cabo. The only thing you have to potentially keep in mind about in Cabo, weather-wise, is El Niño and La Niña. What are those? Well, in the simplest of terms, they are natural weather phenomenon. El Niño happens when the seawater temperature rises. La Niña is the opposite. They happen every few years, so just do a quick google search so you know what to expect.

Activity level

If you are someone who ALWAYS needs to be jetting from one activity to another, Cancun is a better option for you in my opinion. Cancun also has more varied activities. In Cancun, there are ruins to explore, cenotes, partying, shopping, snorkeling, scuba diving, eco-cultural amusement parks (like XCaret!), ziplining, ATV racing…the list goes on. You could book a tour every day for a week and do something completely different every single day.

Cabo, however, has a bit more relaxed and laid back activities (in general). Many of the tours revolve around horseback riding, parasailing, and sunrise/sunset sailing. There are a good number of clubs, but less, and smaller. If you are a TOTAL mermaid though, Cabo is close to the Sea of Cortez, which is one of the richest bodies of water for marine life IN THE WORLD.

Beach quality

I meannnnn…both of the beaches are nice, but they also both have their potential cons.

If you’re looking for clean, pristine beaches, well, you should probably just go to Bacalar, Mexico. BUTTT since we’re picking between Cabo or Cancun, it really depends on what is more important to you. The Cabo beaches, in my experience, have cleaner sand. I don’t remember seeing any seaweed, and the sand was soft. However, the water is freezing.

You know, like any other beach on the Pacific Ocean.

Cancun has warm water though! Butttt, there was a ton of seaweed. In fact, the seaweed “problem” is present all along Mexico’s Caribbean coast, from Cancun to Playa Del Carmen to Tulum. Specifically, it’s Sargassum seaweed and has been an increasing concern since 2015, and getting worse by the year.

That said, the state does try its best to clean, but yanno – nature and all that. I actually visited in 2015, so it wasn’t too bad. I have heard that the seaweed is a bit smelly after sitting on the beach in the sun all day, and it doesn’t feel great to swim in. BUT, my friends that have visited since 2016 have all still loved Cancun regardless. So pick your poison.

Crowd tolerance

Avoid both of these places like the plague during American Spring Break. JUST DONT GO. Well, unless you are a Spring Breaker in your undergrad, then, by all means, it is your domain. Enjoy saying the city with thousands of other college students. Or if you love a super lively atmosphere at all hours of the day! Otherwise, AVOID. Generally, Spring Break season is late February-mid April.

Apart from Spring Break, I would say Cancun is typically a bit more busy than Cabo. Or at least it seems that way because the crowd in Cancun is more active (more on that later). If you leave the tourist strip, Cabo is DEFINITELY less crowded, though there are less “things” to do off the tourist strip in Cabo so that could be why.

That said, both of these places in Mexico are “touristy.” I don’t say that in a bad way. One, because I loved my time in both cities. And two, it’s not BAD to be touristy. Some travel snobs turn their nose up at places that are “touristy,” as if they are better than other travelers for NOT wanting to do something popular.

Spoiler: they’re not.

Sloppy Ignorant Tourists

Unfortunately, sloppy ignorant tourists are everywhere. And for some reason, people always wanna act up when they visit a place “catering” to their comforts. Just because the bus driver speaks English doesn’t give you the right to yell at them for not accepting your bag of nickels that YOU forgot to exchange. Thankfully, I didn’t see too much of this in either location, but also I didn’t visit during Spring Break. I imagine the sheer number of young, drunk, and wild shenanigans would definitely compound rude behavior.

If you’re looking for a clear cut answer on which has less slops, Cabo or Cancun, it’s hard for me to make a definitive answer. Mostly because it happens everywhere, but especially in destinations where travelers -for some reason- expect to be waited on hand and foot.

And a note to the jerkward who yelled at the pool staff at my all-inclusive stay in Cabo – YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY GUEST AT AN ALL INCLUSIVE RESORT. IT MIGHT TAKE MORE THAN 5 MINUTES TO GET THAT BOTTOMLESS MIMOSA TO YOU.

Remember that you are a VISITOR.

Lit-ness

Hands down, this one goes to Cancun for me. They don’t call it the Mexican Las Vegas for nothing. Clubbing in Cancun is absolutely bonkers – and I loved it!

One great thing to note about the party scene in Cancun is, while it is similar to Vegas in terms of how hard they party, there are zero emphases put on appearance. Come as chill or as dolled up as you want! Again, I wore jean shorts and water shoes when I went club hopping, and I got pulled on STAGE at Coco Bongo.

It seemed like every night, the crowd was ready to pop, lock, and drop it. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – it was still lit. Cancun is a PARTY.

Cabo on the other hand, didn’t give me that same vibe. It was more of a lounge-y, chill by the pool/beach, sip on a margarita, eat ceviche, and maybe take a shot when it was time for water aerobics. Not to say that there isn’t a club scene, there is, but the general atmosphere didn’t hype me up for it.

If you’re looking to party hardy – Cancun.

If you want a sweet buzz – Cabo.

Excursions and day trips

This bullet would probably be the deciding factor for me between Cabo or Cancun. I mentioned briefly that Cancun offered a wider variety of tours and excursions, but that by no means Cabo doesn’t have a great selection as well! Especially if you are a water person! But what about mini-trips out of the city center? If you’re spending more than 5 days in either, you might want to explore the surrounding area!

I’ll go ahead and list some of the bigger day trips once you’ve got your feel for the city.

Cabo

• the Sierra biosphere reserve, hot springs
• East Cape, sand dunes next to beautiful beaches
• Sea of Cortez, water activities at one of the most biologically diverse bodies of water in the world
• Todos Santos, a cheeky artistic small town and an official Puebla Mágico
• MiraFlores, small rural farm town
• La Paz, the capital of Baja California Sur

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Cancun

• Chichen Itza, one of the “7 Wonders of the World”
• An eco-cultural theme park (XCaret, Xel-Ha, Xplor)
• Island tour ( Isla Contoy, Isla Mujeres, Isla Holbox)
• Tulum, coastal town and National Park
• Centoes, super cool “underground” swimming holes
• Sian Ka’an Biosphere, a lot of mangroves and marshes
• Valladolid, beautiful small town

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So – Cabo or Cancun?

Ultimately, it boils down to what you want out of your vacation. In my opinion, if you want a more active, adventure packed trip, I’d recommend Cancun. If you want a more relaxed and slower paced vacation, go with Cabo. I enjoyed both of them a lot because I visited each with different goals.

And also, on a different note. Maybe you’ve heard people say that specifically choose NOT to visit these two cities. Cabo and Cancun sometimes get labeled as “overplayed” or “typical,” which I think is unfair. So what they’re popular. So what ~ EvErYonE HaS BeEn tHeRe ~ . Such limited thinking in my opinion. Go and experience places for yourself.

Still Can’t Decide? Save this post for later!

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Which place are you leaning towards? Let me know in the comments below!

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