Being from the northern U.S., we are familiar with the unforgiving cold winters. The novelty of building a snowman and shoveling snow quickly fades and you are left day dreaming about vacations on warm, sandy beaches. The first thing you have to decide is where your winter vacation will be this year. In this article we will compare two very popular winter vacation destinations, Mexico vs Puerto Rico.
These are both great choices for a winter vacation, so it just comes down to finding out which one is best for you.
What we cover in our comparison:
Getting There
It’s easy to coordinate travel arrangements for a Mexico or Puerto Rico vacation. Both locations have multiple international airports and are well traveled. The main difference is that you need to go through customs when entering Mexico and returning to the US. This means you will have to present a valid passport and fill out a declarations form.
However, U.S. citizens do not need a passport when visiting Puerto Rico since it is a U.S. territory. This makes the trip a little more hassle free and gets you to your vacation a little quicker. Just grab your bag from baggage claim and request your Uber or taxi.
Obviously, flight lengths will vary depending on where you are coming from. This might be a deciding factor if you want a short travel day to get to the beach as soon as possible.
Search for cheap flights with Skyscanner here.
Mexico vs Puerto Rico: Beaches
Mexico has some of the most picturesque beaches in the world regardless of which coast you are on. Both the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico coasts are filled with great choices.
If you’re looking for good surfing, beaches in Ensenada, Matzatlan, or Sayulita are all great choices on the Pacific coast. Otherwise, if you want a beautiful view while you relax with a drink in your hand you might prefer Playa del Carmen, Puerto Vallarta Beach, Cancun Beach, or Playa la Ropa. These are only a few of the countless beaches that line Mexico’s coasts.
While Puerto Rico has picturesque beaches, due to the size of the island they just don’t have as many as Mexico’s long coastlines. Surfers flock to Puerto Rico’s west coast to experience some top notch surfing. Also, beach bums have solid options in, or near, San Juan with beaches like Isla Verde, Atlantic Beach, or Ocean Park. A day trip to Flamenco Beach is worthwhile if you’re looking for a bigger, more photogenic beach.
Mexico vs Puerto Rico: Food
This is another category where it’s really hard to judge, because they both offer such delicious cuisine. While they may seem similar there are differences between Mexican and Puerto Rican food.
Mexican food includes things like burritos, enchiladas, and incorporate tortillas in many dishes. We can never get enough yummy authentic Mexican food. Mexican food tends to use more spices than Puerto Rican food.
Puerto Rican food is more similar to food on other Caribbean islands, like Cuba. It’s typically a little more mild than Mexican food and includes things like plantains, arroz con pollo, and empanadas. One of my favorite side dishes in Puerto Rico is mofongo (shown on left-side of image). It’s a mashed plantain dish that tastes wonderful.
One thing that tips the scale a little towards Puerto Rico is the quality of the drinking water. It is not recommended that you drink the tap water in Mexico as it may make you ill. However, it is considered safe to drink tap water in Puerto Rico as they use similar purification standards as the US.
Mexico vs Puerto Rico: Activities
The activities available to you will vary greatly depending on where you stay in either of these destinations. Most of the resorts or tourist cities in Mexico will have activities other than just the beach nearby. If you’re in the right area they may have local ruins to see, local shops, deep sea fishing, and many other things.
Puerto Rico offers a tremendous variety of activities and everything is really accessible. You can relax on the beach, fish, scuba dive, tour the Bacardi rum distillery, or even hike in the rainforest. Puerto Rico is home to El Yunque National Forest, which is the only tropical rainforest being managed by the United States National Forest Service. It’s only an hour drive from San Juan, so it’s perfect for a day trip especially if you’ve never seen a rainforest.
See our El Yunque Visitor’s guide for more information.
The ease of renting a car and navigating Puerto Rico on your own definitely make it stand out since you can do self guided activities. We always feel very safe and comfortable exploring new areas, while still using common sense of course.
Mexico vs Puerto Rico: Price
It’s not uncommon to find cheap flights and hotels for both of these destinations. We’ll break down the cost of travel a little for each destination below. Keep in mind prices vary based on several factors including quality of hotel, tourist off season or busy season, personal travel preferences, etc.
Puerto Rico Vacation Price
The sample pricing below is based on our previous travels during peak season and might be different based on a number of factors. It should just be used as a rough outline to start forming a cost of travel budget. This pricing is based on a trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico Hotel Cost: The quality of the hotel is going to be a determining factor in the nightly rate. An average hotel for a couple costs between $150-200 per night in San Juan during the busy season. Depending on the neighborhood you can find something cheaper, or much more expensive. Budget travelers that don’t mind hostels can find rooms for $20-30 per night.
We use Airbnb when we go to Puerto Rico. It’s typically been cheaper than a hotel and we get the perk of using the host’s knowledge of local attractions and restaurants. On our last trip we stayed in a San Juan Airbnb in Condado, right next to the beach, for $107 per night. It was right next to a bunch of great restaurants, a grocery store, and it was more spacious than a hotel room.
Puerto Rico Food Cost: Plan to spend around $20-30 per day, per person at modest restaurants. You can save money by grocery shopping and making some of your own meals, or you can spend much more by going to high end restaurants.
Puerto Rico Transportation Cost: If you use Uber, taxis, or public transportation estimate to spend around $10 per day. We love walking as a great way to get to know a city and it helps save money. That or you can rent a car for reasonable rates in San Juan.
Mexico Vacation Price
Again, this sample pricing is based on our own previous experiences and should just be used as a rough outline to start forming a travel budget. Pricing will fluctuate greatly depending on if you’re in a touristy area.
Mexico Hotel Cost: The quality of the hotel is going to be a determining factor in the nightly rate. All inclusive resorts are going to have a higher price and tend to be in the ballpark of $130-200 per night, per person. However, if you stay at regular hotels you can get a room for two for $50-150 per night.
Mexico Food Cost: Food prices vary in Mexico. You can find a restaurant meal for less than $5 per person or spend much more at a fancy restaurant.
Mexico Transportation Cost: Public transportation is also cheap in Mexico. Typically, you’ll spend a few dollars per person for a taxi, and even less for a bus.
Mexico vs Puerto Rico Price Conclusion
As a whole, Mexico tends to be a cheaper vacation but it can add up if you’re doing a lot of tourist vacation activities and staying at an all-inclusive resort. Savvy travelers can actually travel to Puerto Rico at a reasonable cost. Choosing restaurants that locals eat at instead of tourist restaurants is a huge money saver. Plus, the food at non-tourist restaurants is usually better and more authentic.
Note: Another perk to Puerto Rico is they use the U.S. dollar as their currency, so you don’t have to exchange money.
Conclusion
Both are great vacation destinations! There isn’t a wrong answer here as it comes down to preference when picking between Mexico or Puerto Rico. For us, Puerto Rico checks all of the boxes. The variety of things to do makes it so we never get bored. Plus, the ease of travel is too good to pass up. Not having to deal with customs or bring a passport makes the trip a breeze. Typically, we’ve been able to find affordable prices when going to Puerto Rico, so it ends up costing close to the same price as a Mexico vacation anyway.
Either way you’ll find a little reprieve from the cold winter waiting back at home.