Puerto Vallarta, Cancún and Los Cabos are Mexico's best-known beach destinations, and they're very different places. This guide compares them on the same official data: weather-station normals from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), all for 1971–2000.
At a glance
| Puerto Vallarta | Cancún | Los Cabos | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coast | Pacific, on Banderas Bay | Caribbean | Tip of Baja California, Pacific and Sea of Cortez |
| Setting | Town between jungle mountains and the bay | Hotel zone on a long, narrow island; flat terrain | Desert and rocky coast |
| Town origins | Settlement founded in 1851 | Planned resort city, begun around 1970 | Two towns: Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo |
| Airport | PVR | CUN | SJD |
Winter weather (December–March)
This is when most North Americans travel.
| Station normals | Puerto Vallarta | Cancún | Los Cabos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daytime highs | 29–30°C | 28–30°C | 25–27°C |
| Night lows | 16–18°C | 21–22°C | 12–14°C |
| Rainy days a month | 0.6–2.2 | 5.4–10.6 | 0.1–1.1 |
| Rain in January | 34 mm | 136 mm | 12 mm |
What it means:
- Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos are the driest in winter. Cancún gets more frequent showers.
- Los Cabos has the coolest evenings, so pack a layer.
- Cancún has the warmest nights and the most humid feel.
Summer weather (July–September)
| Station normals | Puerto Vallarta | Cancún | Los Cabos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daytime highs | 33–34°C | 33–34°C | 33–34°C |
| Rain a month | 312–370 mm | 57–225 mm | 13–84 mm |
| Rainy days a month | 15–16 | 9–14 | 1–3 |
Puerto Vallarta is the wettest of the three in summer. Storms come most days, and the hills turn green. Los Cabos stays dry. Cancún's rainiest months are September and October.
Is the rainy season a bad time to visit Puerto Vallarta?→Hurricanes
All three are on hurricane coasts.
- Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos are on the eastern Pacific, where the season runs May 15 to November 30.
- Cancún is on the Atlantic side, where it runs June 1 to November 30.
A popular claim says the mountains protect Puerto Vallarta from hurricanes. The record doesn't support it:
- Hurricane Lidia made landfall near Puerto Vallarta as a Category 4 in October 2023, with fallen trees, landslides and power cuts in the region.
- In August 2021, rain from Hurricane Nora flooded the Cuale River, and part of a hotel next to it collapsed.
Los Cabos was hit by Odile in 2014, and Cancún by Wilma in 2005. If you travel in the season, book flexibly and consider travel insurance.
Hurricane season in Puerto Vallarta: what happens and how to plan→Swimming
- Puerto Vallarta: the city beaches face the calm water of Banderas Bay. Mexico's health regulator, COFEPRIS, tests them before the Easter and summer holidays.
- Los Cabos: the Sea of Cortez side has calm beaches such as Médano, Chileno and Santa María. Many Pacific-facing beaches have heavy surf and aren't safe for swimming. The Los Cabos tourism board publishes a list of resorts with swimmable beaches.
- Cancún: Caribbean beaches along the hotel strip.
Which one fits you
- Choose Puerto Vallarta for a walkable old town with restaurants and nightlife you can reach on foot, mountains behind the beach, and dry, mild winters.
- Choose Cancún for Caribbean water and a resort strip, and warm nights even in January.
- Choose Los Cabos for desert scenery and the driest weather year-round, with cooler winter evenings.
