Guanacaste vs Riviera Maya

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

Aerial view of Barceló Maya Palace resort showing blue pool complex, palm-lined grounds, beachfront buildings, and Caribbean Sea.

Guanacaste and Riviera Maya, 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.

Guanacaste guide · Riviera Maya guide · How we score

By the numbers

Guanacaste compared with Riviera Maya
Guanacaste	Measure	Riviera Maya
Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution	U.S. travel advisory	Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
7	Resorts in our catalog	39 (better)
★ 4.4	Average guest rating	★ 4.6 (better)
$88–$289/night pp	Nightly rates	$46–$635/night pp (better)
1 of 7	Adults-only resorts	9 of 39
Low hurricane risk (better)	Hurricane exposure	In the hurricane belt
May–November ('green season'), seriously wet September–October	Rainy season	June–October, heaviest September–October
December–April, bone-dry	Sweet spot	December–April
Liberia (LIR), Papagayo resorts 30–45 min	Airport	Cancún (CUN); transfers run 25–90 min depending how far south
Nature + beach in one trip; reliable winter sun	Best for	Cenotes + ruins + beach in one trip; low-rise seclusion
Wildlife everywhere; volcano and cloud-forest day trips	Signature	Jungle-meets-sea resorts; the cenote belt inland

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

Guanacaste

Riviera Maya

Weather, month by month

Month-by-month average high temperature and rainfall for Guanacaste and Riviera Maya
Measure	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Guanacaste · high °F	91	92	93	93	91	88	88	88	87	86	87	89
Riviera Maya · high °F	82	83	85	87	89	90	90	91	89	87	84	82
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
Riviera Maya · 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

Approximate climate normals for Papagayo / Guanacaste and Playa del Carmen–Tulum: planning guidance, not a forecast. A deeper tint is a higher number, read within its own row.