'Location' is much more common than 'locale'. The words have very similar meanings, but: 'Location' is used to refer to very specific places, where 'locale' would not be used. 'What is your current location?' is a formal, "military"-sounding way to ask 'Where are you?" One would not ask, 'What is your locale?', this sounds very strange. 'Locale' can be used to talk about a type of place. 'I grew up in snowy Maine, and never expected to live in such a sunny locale as Haikou.' In this^ sentence, 'location' could also be used and the meaning would be the same, maybe it would feel slightly more formal. Locale is more common if you are describing the type of place, or something about the place, rather than the position of the place.

Location refers to a specific point on a map. Think of an address on a street, or a geographical place that can be found on a chart. Locale is more general. In the dictionary the definition for locale is "a place where something happens or is set, or that has particular events associated with it". For example, "her summers were spent in a variety of exotic locales" Locale seems to be used less often, and it is not interchangeable with the word location.