Beach and Island Trip Planner: Bali, Phuket, Cancún, Santorini and Hawaii Compared

Seven beach guides on four seas. Here is which one fits a budget, a honeymoon, a family or a surfboard, when each is dry, what a day costs, and a two-island route through Thailand and Bali to start from.

How to plan a Beaches & Islands trip

A beach trip is the easiest holiday to plan badly, because the photographs all look alike and the seasons do not. Cancún is dry in January and seaweed-strewn in July; Phuket is glassy in February and closed to boats in September; Santorini is asleep in December; Bali's afternoons pour from November to March; Hawaii is warm every month but its north shores are unswimmable in winter. Pick by the calendar first, then by the flight, then by the kind of beach you actually want, and only then by the price.

The seven guides here sort into three groups. Southeast Asia (Bali, Phuket) is the cheapest by a wide margin and the longest flight from North America and Europe. The Caribbean and the Aegean (Cancún, Santorini) are the short-haul beaches: three to four hours from the eastern US, three to four from most of Europe. Hawaii (Waikiki, Maui, Kauai) is the American beach, five to six hours off the West Coast, expensive and worth it, with its own hub page for the island-by-island choice. This page compares them, gives a seasons table, a budget for each, a Thailand-and-Bali route, and the entry rules in one place.

Which beach for which trip

  • Cheapest week in the sun: Phuket or Bali

    Both run $40 to $100 a day for a clean room near the beach, three meals, a scooter and a boat trip, half the cost of any other beach here. Phuket has the clearer water and the island day trips (Phi Phi, Phang Nga Bay, the Similans in season); Bali has the culture, the rice terraces and the cafés. The catch is the flight: 17 to 24 hours from the eastern US with a connection, 12 to 15 from Europe.

  • Easiest from the US and Canada: Cancún

    Nonstops from forty North American cities in two to four hours, all-inclusive resorts that make a family week a single payment, the Caribbean's warmest winter water, and the Yucatán's cenotes and Mayan ruins for the days off the sand. December to April is the season; check a recent sargassum report for the east-facing beaches from May to October, or choose Isla Mujeres and the Playa Mujeres end, which face north and stay cleaner.

  • Honeymoon: Santorini or Maui

    Santorini is the sunset: a cave hotel on the caldera rim in Oia or Imerovigli, a catamaran around the volcano, wine on the cliff, with the beaches (black sand at Perissa, red at Akrotiri) as an afterthought. Maui is the beach and the sunset together: Wailea and Kāʻanapali's beach paths, the Haleakalā sunrise, the Road to Hāna, and the whales from January to March. Santorini is the cheaper of the two; Maui the more varied.

  • Families: Waikiki or Cancún

    Waikiki's Canoes break is the gentlest learn-to-surf wave in the world, the beaches are lifeguarded, the zoo and aquarium are at the end of the strip, and the whole thing is inside the United States with no passport or visa for American families. Cancún's kids' clubs, calm lagoon and ferry to Isla Mujeres make it the Caribbean equivalent, with Xcaret and Xel-Há as the built-in theme-park days.

  • Surfing: Bali or Waikiki

    Bali is the surf island: beginners at Kuta and Batu Bolong, intermediates at Canggu, and Uluwatu, Padang Padang and Bingin for those who have earned them, with boards for $5 a day and lessons for $25. Waikiki is where surfing was born and where a first lesson works best, on the long, slow south-shore rollers from May to September. Oʻahu's North Shore in winter is the spectator sport.

  • Snorkeling, diving and hiking: Maui, Phuket and Kauai

    Maui's Molokini crater and Turtle Town are the classic snorkel boat morning, and the Big Island's manta night dive is a flight away. Phuket is the dive base for the Similan Islands (liveaboards from November to April) and the Phi Phi reefs. Kauai is the one beach island that is really a hiking island: the Nāpali Coast's Kalalau Trail, Waimea Canyon and Kōkeʻe's ridges, with Poʻipū and Hanalei as the beaches at each end.

14 days, two islands: Phuket and Bali

Six nights in Phuket and seven in Bali with a flight day between them, the two cheapest beaches here in one trip. Fly into Phuket (through Bangkok, Singapore, Doha or Dubai) and home from Bali's Denpasar. Both guides carry the full three-day itineraries; the Plan-this-trip buttons open the planner prefilled with the island. For a Hawaii two-island version of the same idea, see the Hawaii hub.

  1. Days 1–3, Phuket: the west coast: Land at Phuket airport and take a pre-booked transfer (about ฿800 to ฿1,000) to Kata, Karon or Kamala, the calm family beaches, or to Patong if the nightlife is the point. Two beach days to recover from the flight, with a sunset at Promthep Cape and the Old Town's Sino-Portuguese shophouses and night market on the second evening.
  2. Days 4–6, Phuket: the islands: The Phi Phi or Phang Nga Bay speedboat trip (book the earliest departure; the bays are empty until 10am), a longtail day to Coral Island or the Similans in season, and a Thai cooking class or a muay thai night for the last evening. Keep the seventh morning free; the flight south leaves after lunch.
  3. Day 7, Phuket to Bali by air: There is no nonstop, so the day is a connection through Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok: about five to seven hours door to door on AirAsia, Scoot, Singapore Airlines or Thai, $150 to $350. Land at Denpasar in the evening, buy the Indonesian visa on arrival (or online beforehand) and pay the Bali tourist levy, and take a Grab or a pre-booked driver to Ubud (90 minutes).
  4. Days 7–10, Bali: Ubud: Three nights in the hills: the Tegallalang rice terraces and Tirta Empul water temple at 7am, the Campuhan ridge walk, the Monkey Forest and the market, a driver for a day to Mount Batur's sunrise or the Sidemen valley, and a Balinese cooking class. Ubud's villas with pools run $60 to $150 a night; hire the same driver for both days ($50 to $60 a day).
  5. Days 10–14, Bali: the Bukit or Canggu: Four nights on the coast: Uluwatu for the clifftop temple, the kecak dance at sunset and the surf beaches at Padang Padang and Bingin, or Canggu for the beach clubs, cafés and beginner waves, or Seminyak for the shopping and restaurants. One boat day to Nusa Penida's Kelingking beach and manta point, one day of nothing. Denpasar is 30 to 60 minutes from any of them for the flight home on day fourteen.

Plan this trip: Phuket · Plan this trip: Bali

Getting there and getting around

Flight times and gateways

From the eastern US: Cancún 3 to 4 hours nonstop, Santorini 12 to 14 through Athens or a European hub, Honolulu or Maui 10 to 12 with a West Coast stop, Phuket and Bali 20 to 24 with one or two connections. From the West Coast, Hawaii is 5 to 6 hours nonstop. From Europe: Santorini 3 to 4 hours (seasonal nonstops from most capitals, otherwise through Athens), Cancún 10 to 11, Phuket 12 to 14 through the Gulf or Bangkok, Bali 15 to 17 through Singapore, Doha or Dubai. Hawaii has no nonstops from Europe.

Ferries and inter-island flights

Santorini connects to Athens by a 45-minute flight or a five- to eight-hour ferry from Piraeus, and to Naxos, Paros and Mykonos by ferry in one to three hours, with the fast catamarans cancelled when the meltemi wind blows in July and August. Phuket's islands are speedboats and longtails; Bali's Nusa islands are 30-minute fast boats from Sanur. The Hawaiian islands have no ferry at all: every island change is a 35- to 50-minute flight, covered in detail in the Hawaii hub. Cancún's Isla Mujeres ferry runs every 30 minutes from Puerto Juárez.

On the ground

Cancún and Waikiki work without a car (taxis, buses, tours and the ferry); Maui and Kauai do not, and Santorini needs at least a rented ATV or a car for the beaches and the wineries. Bali and Phuket run on scooters ($5 to $8 a day, with an international licence and a helmet, and a real risk that the guides are honest about) and Grab rides; a driver for a day costs $50 to $60 in Bali and a little more in Phuket. Book cars in Hawaii with the flights, since the islands sell out at Christmas and in summer.

When each beach is dry, calm and open

Southeast Asia (Phuket November to April; Bali April to October)

The two oppose each other, which is why the fourteen-day route works best from late October to April for Phuket and April to October for Bali, with April and October, when both are fine, as the overlap. Phuket's west coast is calm and clear in the northeast monsoon and rough with red flags from May to October; Bali's dry season has cool nights and July and August crowds, and its wet season still delivers sunny mornings and a third off the room rate.

The Caribbean (Cancún December to April)

Dry, 28°C and sunny from December to April, with Christmas and US spring break (March) the most expensive weeks; May and June are warm value; July to October are the wettest and most humid months and hurricane season peaks in September. Sargassum seaweed reaches the east-facing beaches in varying amounts from spring to autumn; the north-facing beaches at the top of the Hotel Zone, Isla Mujeres and Holbox are usually cleaner.

The Aegean (Santorini May to early October)

May, June, September and early October are the months: 24 to 28°C, warm sea, and space at the Oia sunset. July and August are hot, windy and shoulder to shoulder, with the caldera hotels at their most expensive; the island largely closes from November to Easter, with many hotels, restaurants and boat operators shut, so an off-season visit is quiet in a way that can feel empty.

Hawaii (Year-round; cheapest April to May and September to October)

The leeward coasts (Waikiki, Kīhei and Wailea, Poʻipū) are dry and about 27°C in every month. Winter brings the humpback whales (December to April) and the giant north-shore surf that closes those beaches to swimming; summer flattens the north shores for snorkeling and sends gentle south swells to Waikiki. Mid-December to early January and June to August are peak; the spring and fall shoulders have the lowest fares and calm water on most coasts.

What a day costs, beach by beach

Per person, per day, excluding long-haul flights, with two people sharing a room. The spread here is the widest on the site: a good day in Phuket costs what breakfast costs in Wailea.

  • Bali and Phuket ($40–$100 basic, $120–$200 mid-range, $300+ for the resorts)

    A guesthouse or a private villa room, street food and warungs, a scooter or Grab, and one paid trip a day at the low end; a pool villa, restaurant dinners, a daily driver and a massage in the middle; the clifftop resorts at Uluwatu and the Kamala and Surin beach hotels at the top, which still undercut Hawaii's mid-range. The guides' own ranges are Bali $40 to $100 and Phuket $40 to $120.

  • Cancún and Santorini ($100–$200 mid-range, $250–$400 all-inclusive or caldera view)

    Cancún's downtown hotels, taquerías and the public bus are the $80 end; the Hotel Zone all-inclusives run $250 to $400 a person including meals and drinks. Santorini's guesthouses in Fira, Perissa or Pyrgos with a rented ATV and taverna dinners sit at $120 to $200; a cave suite with a plunge pool on the caldera is $400 and up, and July and August add a premium to everything. The guides' ranges are Cancún $80 to $200 and Santorini $120 to $250.

  • Hawaii ($150–$250 in Waikiki, $200–$400 on Maui and Kauai)

    Waikiki's older hotels a block off the beach and the food trucks keep it the cheapest island; Maui's Kīhei condos with kitchens are the value play against Wailea next door; Kauai has the fewest rooms and the highest average. Add $60 to $120 a day for a rental car everywhere but Waikiki and $25 to $50 a night for resort parking. The guides' ranges are Waikiki $120 to $250, Maui $200 to $400 and Kauai $180 to $350.

Entry rules and reef etiquette, stated generally

Entry rules

Thailand grants visa exemptions on arrival to US, Canadian, UK, EU and Australian passports; Indonesia (Bali) sells a visa on arrival, online or at the airport, and Bali adds a small tourist levy; Mexico admits the same passports visa-free with a passport stamp or digital arrival form; Greece is in the Schengen area, where ETIAS pre-authorisation is expected for visa-exempt visitors and 90 days in any 180 is the limit; Hawaii is a domestic US flight for Americans and needs an ESTA or visa for everyone else. Arrival cards, fees and exemption lengths change, so check each country's official immigration site in the month before you fly.

Reefs, sunscreen and wildlife

Hawaii bans the sale of sunscreens with oxybenzone and octinoxate, and Maui and the Big Island allow only mineral sunscreens; pack a zinc-based one from home and a rash guard, which is good practice on every reef here. Keep 10 feet from Hawaiian sea turtles and 50 from monk seals, do not touch coral anywhere, and skip the elephant rides and tiger selfies still offered in Phuket. Bali's temples ask for a sarong and a sash, sold at the gate, and its beaches have strong rip currents at Kuta and Canggu that the flags mark honestly.

Money and health

Thai baht, Indonesian rupiah, Mexican pesos, euros and US dollars: five currencies for seven beaches. Cards work at hotels and restaurants everywhere; markets, drivers, boat operators and warungs want cash, and the ATMs in Thailand and Bali charge a fixed fee per withdrawal. Drink bottled or filtered water in Thailand, Bali and Mexico; tap water is fine in Santorini (though many drink bottled) and in Hawaii. A travel clinic can advise on hepatitis A and typhoid for the Southeast Asian legs.

Beach trip planning FAQ

Which beach destination is cheapest?

Bali and Phuket, at $40 to $100 a day for a room near the beach, meals, a scooter and a boat trip, roughly half the cost of Cancún or Santorini and a third of Maui or Kauai. The saving is offset by the long flight from North America or Europe, so they pay off on a trip of ten days or more.

Which beach is best for a honeymoon?

Santorini for the caldera sunset, the cave hotels and the wine, and Maui for beaches, the Haleakalā sunrise, the Road to Hāna and winter whales. Bali's Uluwatu clifftop resorts are the luxury bargain, and Kauai is the quiet alternative if you would rather have empty beaches than restaurants.

When is the best time for a beach trip?

It depends on the sea: Cancún and Phuket from December to April, Bali from May to September, Santorini in May, June, September and early October, and Hawaii in any month, cheapest in April to May and September to October. A winter trip points to the Caribbean, Thailand or Hawaii; a summer one to Bali, the Aegean or Hawaii.

Is Cancún's seaweed a problem?

It can be. Sargassum reaches the east-facing Caribbean beaches in varying amounts from spring to autumn, heaviest in early summer, and is usually absent from December to March. The north-facing beaches at the top of the Hotel Zone, Isla Mujeres and Holbox stay cleaner, and resorts rake daily; check a recent sargassum report for your beach before booking a summer trip.

Do I need a visa for Bali, Thailand, Mexico, Greece or Hawaii?

For short tourist stays, US, Canadian, UK, EU and Australian passports enter Thailand and Mexico without a visa, buy a visa on arrival for Indonesia (Bali), and enter Greece under the Schengen rules, where ETIAS pre-authorisation is expected; Hawaii is domestic for Americans and needs an ESTA or a US visa for everyone else. Arrival cards and fees change, so check each official immigration site the month before you fly.

The seven beach and island guides

Things to do, where to stay, what to eat, when to go and a three-day sample itinerary for each beach.