Cancún vs Montego Bay

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

Beachfront dining area at JOIA Rose Hall by Iberostar with wooden tables, white chairs, cream umbrellas, and a tall palm tree, with the resort building and bar in the background.

Cancún and Montego Bay, 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.

Cancún guide · Montego Bay guide · How we score

By the numbers

Cancún compared with Montego Bay
Cancún	Measure	Montego Bay
Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution	U.S. travel advisory	Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
28 (better)	Resorts in our catalog	7
★ 4.6 (better)	Average guest rating	★ 4.5
$39–$349/night pp (better)	Nightly rates	$120–$210/night pp
11 of 28	Adults-only resorts	4 of 7
In the hurricane belt	Hurricane exposure	In the hurricane belt
June–October, heaviest September–October	Rainy season	May–June and September–November, mostly short afternoon bursts
December–April	Sweet spot	December–April
Cancún (CUN); Hotel Zone 20–30 min, Costa Mujeres ~40 min	Airport	Sangster (MBJ), most resorts 10–30 min
First trips, nightlife + beach combos, nonstop-flight convenience	Best for	Short transfers, golf, first Jamaica trips
~2–4.5h from most US hubs	Flight time	~3–4h from the US East Coast

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

Montego Bay

Weather, month by month

Month-by-month average high temperature and rainfall for Cancún and Montego Bay
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
Montego Bay · high °F	82	82	83	84	86	88	88	88	88	87	85	83
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
Montego Bay · rain (in)	0.9	0.6	0.6	1.1	4.0	3.5	2.4	3.5	5.1	7.1	3.0	1.5

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