Climate
Santa Marta logs 279 sunny days a year to Cali's 92 — Santa Marta wins by 187. Santa Marta also leads on hot days by 3.
Santa Marta
Feels-like °C
Dinner outside
Cali
Feels-like °C
Dinner outside
Air Quality
Santa Marta averages 15.3 µg/m³ (sensitive-groups) PM2.5 annually versus Cali's 17.3 µg/m³ (sensitive-groups) — Santa Marta breathes ~12% cleaner air (2.0 µg/m³ lower).
Santa Marta
Cali
PM2.5 annual average
WHO classification
City Scale
Both maps at the same real-world scale — 1 cm on either map is the same distance.
Santa Marta (424K) and Cali (2.7M) are 6.3x in population — Cali is the larger metro, Santa Marta the smaller; on land area Cali spans roughly 3.4x more ground.
Cali is roughly 4.6x the scale of Santa Marta
Combined population & area comparison
CaliSanta MartaCity Scale Rankings
Cali2.7M6.3xSanta Marta424K1xCali186 km²3.4xSanta Marta55 km²1xSanta Marta
Cali
Who Thrives Here
Santa Marta is the stronger fit for the sunshine lover. Both cities work well for the winter escapist.
Also compared
Barcelona 
Berlin Frequently asked about Santa Marta vs Cali
▶How does the climate compare between Santa Marta and Cali?
▶Should I move to Santa Marta or Cali?
The best city depends on what matters to you
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