San Diego vs. Mexico (Puerto Vallarta)

Pacific beaches, tacos and sunsets: SoCal or Mexico's Pacific coast?

Beach🗓 7 nights👥 2 adults✈ Round trip from Las Vegas📅 Checked October 2026

Flying from

Photos: San Diego: Dirk Hansen, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Puerto Vallarta: Feedmepaperr, CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons · Photo credits

Heads up: every price on this page is a sample estimate, not live pricing or a quote. Ranges are based on published typical fares and rates plus our own assumptions (see sources below). Switch the departure airport above to recalculate. Use the buttons to check today's real prices.

San Diego

≈ $4,210

$3,010–$5,410

Puerto Vallarta comes out about $550 cheaper for 2 adults at the midpoint.

Flying from Las Vegas (LAS)

Sample estimate, not live pricing

Puerto Vallarta

≈ $3,660

$2,700–$4,615

Sea lions on the rocks at La Jolla Cove, San Diego
US trip

San Diego

USA · SAN

All-in total, 7 nights for 2 adults, round trip from Las Vegas (LAS)

$3,010–$5,410

Midpoint ≈ $4,210 · ≈ $2,110 per person

Sample estimate, not live pricing
Cost breakdown (sample estimate, not live pricing)
ItemEstimate
Round-trip flights from LAS2 × $105–$220 per person$210–$440
Lodging7 nights × $190–$320 per night$1,330–$2,240
Food & drink7 days × $110–$180 per day$770–$1,260
Local transport7 days × $50–$90 per day$350–$630
Activities7 days × $50–$120 per day$350–$840
Total Sample estimate, not live pricing$3,010–$5,410
Flight time from Las Vegas
About 1–1.5 hr nonstop
Best time to go
September–October (warm water, fewer crowds); "June Gloom" can mean grey beach days in early summer.
Entry
No passport needed for US citizens.
Watch for
Beach-area hotel parking and resort fees; a rental car makes beach-hopping easier.
Best for
Easy beach week, no passport

Check today's prices for San Diego

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The crowned tower of the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe above a street in Puerto Vallarta
Abroad

Mexico (Puerto Vallarta)

Mexico · PVR

All-in total, 7 nights for 2 adults, round trip from Las Vegas (LAS)

$2,700–$4,615

Midpoint ≈ $3,660 · ≈ $1,830 per person

Sample estimate, not live pricing
Cost breakdown (sample estimate, not live pricing)
ItemEstimate
Round-trip flights from LAS2 × $405–$610 per person$810–$1,220
Lodging7 nights × $110–$200 per night$770–$1,400
Food & drink7 days × $100–$160 per day$700–$1,120
Local transport7 days × $25–$45 per day$175–$315
Activities7 days × $35–$80 per day$245–$560
Total Sample estimate, not live pricing$2,700–$4,615
Flight time from Las Vegas
About 3 hr nonstop
Best time to go
November–April (dry season, whale watching December–March). Summer is hot, humid and cheaper.
Entry
Passport required. Mexico's tourist entry form (FMM) is issued on arrival or digitally.
Watch for
All-inclusive resorts change the math; timeshare pitches at the airport; boat tours to Yelapa/Marietas are the big activity spend.
Best for
Warm water, whale watching, value

Check today's prices for Puerto Vallarta

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Where the money goes

Midpoint of each estimate range, 2 adults, 7 nights, flying from Las Vegas (LAS). Sample estimate, not live pricing.

Round-trip flights from Las Vegas

San Diego ≈ $330
Puerto Vallarta ≈ $1,020

Lodging

San Diego ≈ $1,790
Puerto Vallarta ≈ $1,090

Food & drink

San Diego ≈ $1,020
Puerto Vallarta ≈ $910

Local transport

San Diego ≈ $490
Puerto Vallarta ≈ $250

Activities

San Diego ≈ $600
Puerto Vallarta ≈ $400

The verdict

Puerto Vallarta comes out about $550 cheaper for 2 adults at the midpoint. (from Las Vegas, sample estimate, not live pricing)

Puerto Vallarta comes out cheaper from both airports, about $550 from Las Vegas and about $900 from LAX. Vallarta's flights cost more from either airport, but its rooms and meals cost less. LA travelers who drive to San Diego instead of flying would close much of that gap, since the flight line would drop. San Diego wins on no passport and easy logistics; Vallarta on warm winter water, whale season and value.

Sources, notes & assumptions

Flight ranges come from typical round-trip economy fares that fare-search sites (KAYAK, Google Flights, Priceline, momondo, Expedia, airline fare pages) published for each route from each departure airport we cover (currently LAS and LAX), viewed October 2026. Lodging uses published hotel averages where we found them (Engine's August 2026 US city averages; Budget Your Trip traveler averages abroad), adjusted to a mid-range room; otherwise it is an editor estimate. Daily food, local transport and activity budgets are editor estimates for a mid-range couple; where a Budget Your Trip average exists we set the range around it, but the range bounds are our own judgment and have NOT been verified against a single published source. Ski lift tickets use published 2025/26 (or 2026/27) resort prices; euro and yen prices are converted at editor-assumed exchange rates. Taxes, resort fees, baggage fees and tips may not be fully included.

San Diego

Last checked: 2026-10-17

Lodging range sits around Engine's Aug 2026 San Diego average (~$198/night); beachfront hotels cost more.

Mexico (Puerto Vallarta)

Last checked: 2026-10-17

Lodging and daily ranges are editor-set around Budget Your Trip mid-range averages (room ~$116/night for 2, food ~$59 per person/day).

Assumptions: economy fares, 1 mid-range room, 7 nights / 7 days of spending, 2 adults. Excludes passports, travel insurance, checked-bag fees and souvenirs unless noted. Found a better number? Tell us.

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