Cancún vs Guanacaste

White resort building with palm trees, lounge chairs, and umbrellas line a sandy beach with turquoise water under clear blue sky.

Illuminated beachfront dining pavilion with white railings and thatched-roof bungalows reflected in the pool at dusk.

Cancún and Guanacaste, side by side: live travel advisories, our resort catalog's real guest data, and each destination's honest weather picture. Everything you need to break the tie.

By the numbers

Cancún compared with Guanacaste
Cancún	Measure	Guanacaste
Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution	U.S. travel advisory	Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
30 (better)	Resorts in our catalog	6
★ 4.6 (better)	Average guest rating	★ 4.4
$39–$977/night pp (better)	Nightly rates	$88–$285/night pp
12 of 30	Adults-only resorts	1 of 6
In the hurricane belt	Hurricane exposure	Low hurricane risk (better)
Generally May–October; winter rain is still possible	Rainy season	May–November ('green season'), seriously wet September–October
December–April	Sweet spot	December–April, bone-dry
Cancún International (CUN)	Airport	Liberia (LIR), Papagayo resorts 30–45 min
A resort stay with beach time and options for outings	Best for	Nature + beach in one trip; reliable winter sun

Advisory levels sync from travel.state.gov; catalog figures reflect the resorts we've researched, not every hotel in the country. A marked row is one we are willing to call; rows without a mark are a matter of taste, or we have no comparable figure for both sides.

On the map

Cancún

Guanacaste

Weather, month by month

Month-by-month average high temperature and rainfall for Cancún and Guanacaste
Measure	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Cancún · high °F	82	83	85	87	89	90	90	91	89	87	84	82
Guanacaste · high °F	91	92	93	93	91	88	88	88	87	86	87	89
Cancún · rain (in)	3.5	2.0	1.5	1.5	4.0	6.5	4.0	4.5	8.5	8.5	4.0	3.5
Guanacaste · rain (in)	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.7	7.7	9.0	5.9	7.9	13.0	12.2	4.3	0.5

Approximate climate normals for Cancún hotel zone and Papagayo / Guanacaste: planning guidance, not a forecast. A deeper tint is a higher number, read within its own row.