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| ⭐️ Total score | 35 reviews |
| 👍 Quality of life score | |
| 👶 Family score | |
| 🎒 Community score | |
| 💵 Cost | |
| 📡 Internet | |
| 😝 Fun | |
| ⛅️ Temperature (now) | |
| 💦 Humidity (now) | |
| 💨 Air quality (now) | |
| 👌 Safety | |
| 🤮 Food safety* | |
| 👮♀️ Lack of crime* | |
| 🤝 Lack of racism* | |
| 🎓 Education level* | |
| ⚡️ Power grid | |
| 🌊 Vulnerability to climate change | |
| 💰 Income level* | |
| 🙊 English speaking* | |
| 🚶 Walkability | |
| ✌️ Peace (no pol. conflict) | |
| 🚦 Traffic safety* | |
| 🏥 Healthcare* | |
| 😄 Happiness* | |
| 🍸 Nightlife | |
| 📶 Free WiFi in city | |
| 🖥 Places to work from | |
| ❄️ A/C or heating | |
| 😁 Friendly to foreigners | |
| 🗯 Freedom of speech* | |
| 👩 Female friendly | |
| 🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly | |
| 🎅 Startup Score |
| 🌍 Continent | Asia |
| 🚩 Country | Sri Lanka |
| ⏱ Average trip length | 16 days |
| 📡 Internet speed (avg) | 8 Mbps |
| ⛅️ Weather (now) | 🌧 30°C 86°F + 🥵 Sweaty (85%) = feels 39°C 102°F |
| 💨 Air quality (now) | 👍 46 US AQI 🍃 OK |
| 🔌 Power | 230V50Hz |
| 🚕 Best taxi app* | |
| 🚑 Travel medical insurance |  Safetywing |
| 💸 1,000 LKR in USD | USD 3.10 |
| 🏧 Suggested ATM take out: | LKR 100,000 = USD 310 |
| 💳 Cashless | 💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners) |
| ☕️ Best coffee place | Barista |
| ☕️ Best alt. coffee place | Solis Hotel |
| 🏪 Best 24/7 coffee place | Nomad Trails Thalpe Station |
| 🚰 Tap water | 🚫 No, not drinkable |
| ♻️ Return rate | 5% of visitors return |
| 👨👩👧👦 Population | 810,000 people |
| 👨👩👧👦 GDP per capita* | $3,910 / year |
| 👫 Gender ratio (nomads) | 👨 65% 👱♀️ 35% |
| ⛪️ Religious government | Non-religious |
| 🏠 Apartment listings | Airbnb |
| ✈️ Best int'l air carrier | Sri Lankan Airlines |
| 🏥 Best hospital | Sahana Medical Center |
| 💵 Cost of living for nomad | $934 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for expat | $706 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for family | $1,163 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for local | $332 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel (median price) | $331 / month |
| 🏡 Airbnb (median price) | $1,321 / month |
| 🏠 1br studio rent in center | $321 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel (median price) | $16 / night |
| 🏠 Airbnb (median price) | $43 / night |
| 🏢 Coworking hot desk | $133 / month |
| 🍛 Dinner | $2 |
| 🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $1 |
| 🍺 Beer (0.5L) | $1 |
| ☕️ Coffee | $0 |
✅ Very cheap to live
✅ Pretty safe
✅ Lots of fun stuff to do
✅ Warm now
✅ Warm all year round
✅ Good air quality on average
✅ Spacious and not crowded
✅ High quality of education
✅ Roads are pretty safe
✅ Democratic
✅ Not many people smoke tobacco
❌ Freedom of speech is weak
❌ Pretty slow internet
❌ Very sweaty and humid now
❌ Difficult to do business
❌ Hospitals are bad
❌ People don't speak English well
❌ Not safe for women
❌ Not family friendly
❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| Feels | 9736° hot | 10038° hot | 10038° hot | 10239° hot | 10239° hot | 10239° hot | 9736° hot | 9736° hot | 9736° hot | 10239° hot | 9736° hot | 9736° hot |
| Real | 8429° very warm | 8630° very warm | 8630° very warm | 8731° hot | 8630° very warm | 8630° very warm | 8429° very warm | 8429° very warm | 8429° very warm | 8630° very warm | 8429° very warm | 8429° very warm |
| Humidity | sweaty 87% | sweaty 83% | sweaty 83% | sweaty 82% | sweaty 86% | sweaty 86% | sweaty 86% | sweaty 88% | sweaty 88% | sweaty 87% | sweaty 88% | sweaty 86% |
| Rain | rainy 228mm | rainy 69mm | rainy 182mm | rainy 145mm | rainy 371mm | rainy 198mm | rainy 293mm | rainy 225mm | rainy 245mm | rainy 310mm | rainy 311mm | rainy 213mm |
| Cloud | cloudy 83% | cloudy 55% | cloudy 75% | cloudy 67% | cloudy 89% | cloudy 83% | overcast 91% | overcast 93% | cloudy 88% | cloudy 88% | overcast 91% | cloudy 70% |
| Sun | avoid sun 7 UVI | avoid sun 9 UVI | avoid sun 9 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 7 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 7 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI |
| Remote workers | 440 people | 433 people | 333 people | 200 people | 200 people | 0 people | 0 people | 0 people | 0 people | 300 people | 200 people | 200 people |
If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomad List's Climate Finder
Based on Matara's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 39° 102° 30° 86°🥵AQI 46🚕1h$1,610 / mo8MbpsSri Lanka is a great country to visit and explore on vacation, but it is not good for nomading. The internet is the worst I've experienced in 3 years of travelling around SE Asia. Usually I would supplement terrible wifi with mobile data but I found this also terrible. I visited several places in Sri Lanka, including supposedly up-and-coming nomad destination Welligama. There are very few cafes that are fit for working (almost none with AC/power), Western food is expensive (and so is Sri Lankan
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 38° 100° 30° 86°🥵AQI 46✈️10min$1,579 / mo7MbpsReally quite hectic and not a very nice city. I wouldn't spend more than a day or two here, not much to see, and there aren't many places to work/eat/see. You're better off heading down to the beaches for some sunshine and beach as well as much faster WIFI.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 35° 95° 29° 84°🥵AQI 46✈️12min$1,072 / mo8Mbps⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 41° 106° 31° 87°🥵AQI 46✈️14min$1,007 / mo9Mbps⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 41° 106° 32° 89°🥵AQI 52✈️39min$2,920 / mo7Mbps⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 42° 108° 33° 91°🥵AQI 43✈️41min$1,234 / mo9Mbps⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 42° 108° 32° 89°🥵AQI 89😷✈️41min$1,063 / mo9Mbps⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 38° 100° 31° 88°🥵AQI 89😷✈️43min$2,305 / mo8MbpsStayed a whole month in Fort Kochi area, eventually going to Ernakulam (downtown area). It is unarguably very different than rest of India, much more cleaner and with friendlier people. Beaches aren`t nice for bathing but are a great choice to catch sunsets everyday. Cost of living is dirty cheap and public transport is good. They even have a subway crossing the city with reminds me the BTS in Bangkok. Actually, Kochi to me is like a small and boring version of Bangkok, which is good if you need
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌤 Feels 38° 100° 31° 87°🥵AQI 152😷✈️51min$1,030 / mo9Mbps⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 37° 99° 34° 93°🥵AQI 31✈️54min$967 / mo13Mbps⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 35° 95° 33° 91°🥵AQI 130😷✈️55min$1,188 / mo9Mbps⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌤 Feels 39° 102° 32° 90°🥵AQI 152😷✈️55min$1,154 / mo7MbpsTaxis in Istanbul are a big problem even for locals. Public transport is convenient and comfortable. If you need to call a taxi, I recommend using an app. "Bitaksi" can be used. Agree with the taxi driver using google translate and negotiate in advance if necessary. Always make public transportation your first choice. There are millions of refugees in this city against a registered population of 15 million. A significant number of asylum seekers do not have any registered documents and this cre
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 12° 54° 12° 54°AQI 59✈️9h$2,210 / mo6MbpsI've been in Phuket for about a month now. Most of that time I've spent in Ka Ron and Kata beach area, but also have been to Chalong, Pa Tong, Rawai, and Kathu. Karon and Kata beaches are my favorite. Beaches are beautiful, especially Karon. Overall most everything is reasonably priced, but not the bargain I was told it is. I eventually found a hotel I like, where I pay 12-13 euro per night (below 500 baht atm) and that is by far the lowest I found for the quality I expect. Considering the loc
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 41° 106° 31° 87°🥵AQI 59✈️3h$2,914 / mo28MbpsHonestly, this is an awesome place to be if you're actually trying to get work done. It's a bit of an older vibe than Canggu, and there's certainly a big chunk of yogi's kicking around — but I liked it much better than Canggu and found it less pretentious. Plus, you can drive down there in 45mins whenever you want some beach or party vibes. As others mentioned, there's some great coworking spaces, cheap warungs, some really nice spots to stay cheaply if you go just outside of the mad tourist
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 38° 100° 30° 86°🥵AQI 111😷✈️6h$2,138 / mo16MbpsWe have been living here for 18 months, really love it, it took a while for the island to recover from Covid but general economic activity is back to say 60-70% now and we have two groups for digital nomads (meet monthly or so at various locations) and one for tech startups (Startup Samui on fb meets weekly) plus a few small coworking spaces and friendly cafes for nomads popping up. Our living costs are about $600/month for rent two bedroom+ house near beach and about the same again for food and
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 32° 90° 27° 80°🥵AQI 50✈️3h$2,281 / mo28MbpsPenang is really, really hot and humid. It's pretty affordable but it's relatively small. Personally, I think traveling Penang is great because you have a mix of cultures but I couldn't stay here for a longer time because it is so unbelievable hot.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 42° 108° 31° 87°🥵AQI 60✈️3h$1,024 / mo13MbpsReally nice city, also in winter. Plenty of DN meetups. Whatsapp groups for everything you can do, from biking to salsa dancing!
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 21° 70° 20° 67°AQI 18✈️13h$2,135 / mo39MbpsAgree with the people below plus would say Cambodia and Siem Reap are wonderful places to visit if you like super friendly locals, amazing food and an easygoing lifestyle. There are a bunch of expats here, and a lot them are involved in social projects. If you're looking to do something good beyond experiencing a country, it's a good place to start. WiFi is totally usable everywhere. Mobile data is cheap and fast. Siem Reap has tons of options for food and drinks. It's very easy to get around
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌤 Feels 48° 118° 35° 94°🥵AQI 65✈️4h$1,645 / mo5MbpsReally hard to get a decent price for accomodation. Prices are riddiculous as for Indonesian standards and how much locals earn. New restaurants and buildings popping up taking away rice fields. More and more traffic jams and congestion. Too much influencers vs. too little vibe of authentic Balinese culture.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 41° 106° 31° 87°🥵AQI 111😷✈️6h$2,018 / mo31MbpsVery culturally enriching. The architecture, the history, the food, the customs of the people. It's also very cheap. Nightlife is good but it ends up very early. Also, public transportation is chaotic.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 29° 84° 27° 80°AQI 181😷✈️3h$1,421 / mo8MbpsGreat for a visit. Beautiful scenery. Good food. I thought it would be great to live here, start a startup and be in the same time zone as SF, close to Seattle, etc. But compared to Vancouver in 2009, one big change that totally ruined it for me: Absolute zombie apocalypse of drug addicts and shouting/violent home less people. It was shockingly bad. The locals often visibly carry naxalone (anti-overdose medicine, I learned) because there are so many people overdosing in the street. Police were n
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 11° 52° 11° 51°AQI 18✈️18h$4,057 / mo16Mbps⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 39° 102° 30° 86°🥵AQI 46🚕1h$1,610 / mo8MbpsReally quite hectic and not a very nice city. I wouldn't spend more than a day or two here, not much to see, and there aren't many places to work/eat/see. You're better off heading down to the beaches for some sunshine and beach as well as much faster WIFI.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 35° 95° 29° 84°🥵AQI 46✈️12min$1,072 / mo8MbpsSri Lanka is a great country to visit and explore on vacation, but it is not good for nomading. The internet is the worst I've experienced in 3 years of travelling around SE Asia. Usually I would supplement terrible wifi with mobile data but I found this also terrible. I visited several places in Sri Lanka, including supposedly up-and-coming nomad destination Welligama. There are very few cafes that are fit for working (almost none with AC/power), Western food is expensive (and so is Sri Lankan
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 38° 100° 30° 86°🥵AQI 46✈️10min$1,579 / mo🌇 Also went here11 peopleReally quite hectic and not a very nice city. I wouldn't spend more than a day or two here, not much to see, and there aren't many places to work/eat/see. You're better off heading down to the beaches for some sunshine and beach as well as much faster WIFI.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 35° 95° 29° 84°🥵AQI 46✈️12min$1,072 / mo🌇 Also went here13 peopleI've been in Phuket for about a month now. Most of that time I've spent in Ka Ron and Kata beach area, but also have been to Chalong, Pa Tong, Rawai, and Kathu. Karon and Kata beaches are my favorite. Beaches are beautiful, especially Karon. Overall most everything is reasonably priced, but not the bargain I was told it is. I eventually found a hotel I like, where I pay 12-13 euro per night (below 500 baht atm) and that is by far the lowest I found for the quality I expect. Considering the loc
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 41° 106° 31° 87°🥵AQI 59✈️3h$2,914 / mo🌇 Also went here14 peopleWe have been living here for 18 months, really love it, it took a while for the island to recover from Covid but general economic activity is back to say 60-70% now and we have two groups for digital nomads (meet monthly or so at various locations) and one for tech startups (Startup Samui on fb meets weekly) plus a few small coworking spaces and friendly cafes for nomads popping up. Our living costs are about $600/month for rent two bedroom+ house near beach and about the same again for food and
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 32° 90° 27° 80°🥵AQI 50✈️3h$2,281 / mo🌇 Also went here10 peopleStill an amazing island, with very diverse adctivities, but prices have gone up massively lately due to an influx of European war 'refugees' and the recent growth of the digital nomad scene. If you book in advance, you can still find something affordable but it is rapidly changing and prices are in general very un-Thai like.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 37° 99° 30° 86°🥵AQI 50✈️3h$2,323 / mo🌇 Also went here11 peopleI agree so much with this review from 11 months ago. "A city right out of a dystopian novel" - that's what I was thinking on the way to the Airport after spending just a week in Bangkok. A city right out of a dystopian novel - soulless and cynical. The air is polluted and no trees are in sight. Its inhabitants manipulative and cold-hearted - hidden behind fake smiles. A Disney Land for senile retirees. Everything is for sale and nothing has value. The streets are filled with rats - both human o
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 45° 113° 34° 93°🥵AQI 80😷✈️3h$2,084 / mo🌇 Also went here18 peopleI really liked Chiang Mai but I can't put my finger on why. I'll try to remain unbiased so here goes. Chiang Mai is a dirty place with horrible pollution levels. English speaking is okay. I did really enjoy a balance of simple, risk-free living at low cost and acceptable quality of living. Many places only accept cash but plenty accept card. There's lots to do and it's fun exploring on a moped/motorbike. It feels as easy as Canggu with more modern appointments to get by as a westerner a bit easi
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 35° 95° 33° 91°🥵AQI 159😷✈️3h$1,355 / mo🌇 Also went here15 peopleNot gonna lie, I was pretty curious and kinda hyped before I came to Singapore. However, within 24 hours all of my curiosity turned into disappointment. Yes, Singapore is clean by any standards but especially by Asian standards. And yes, you have shopping malls, fancy skyscrapers and free toilets everywhere. But beside from that Singapore is boring and has no soul. It just seems like Singapore tries to copy interesting parts of other countries and their nature. Take Cloud Forest for example wh
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 39° 102° 30° 86°🥵AQI 50✈️4h$5,621 / mo🌇 Also went here10 peopleDubai is good if you’ve figured out a way to pay 0 income tax and live in 2 places (away doing vacations during the summer) - bonus if you don’t spend money on alcohol. Nightlife is amazing, especially if you’re a woman. Free unlimited drinks for ladies, open bar, no catch, in two clubs in Media One Tower on Thursday. There is no place in the world that offers this. My female friends love Dubai because of these types of deals lol. The easiest way to waste money here is by buying drinks.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 25° 77° 25° 77°AQI 85😷✈️5h$3,415 / mo🌇 Also went here10 peopleReally hard to get a decent price for accomodation. Prices are riddiculous as for Indonesian standards and how much locals earn. New restaurants and buildings popping up taking away rice fields. More and more traffic jams and congestion. Too much influencers vs. too little vibe of authentic Balinese culture.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 41° 106° 31° 87°🥵AQI 111😷✈️6h$2,018 / mo🌇 Also went here17 peopleHonestly, this is an awesome place to be if you're actually trying to get work done. It's a bit of an older vibe than Canggu, and there's certainly a big chunk of yogi's kicking around — but I liked it much better than Canggu and found it less pretentious. Plus, you can drive down there in 45mins whenever you want some beach or party vibes. As others mentioned, there's some great coworking spaces, cheap warungs, some really nice spots to stay cheaply if you go just outside of the mad tourist
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 38° 100° 30° 86°🥵AQI 111😷✈️6h$2,138 / mo🌇 Also went here13 peoplePrague is a beautiful city and I like it despite its quirks. I use it as a base in Europe. It has literally everything you need for long-term living: high-quality food, great nightlife, cool malls with lots of shops, and most people speak English. It even has its own local version of Amazon called Alza, with pick-up stations scattered all over the city, which is great because you usually cannot receive packages in an Airbnb. The city is very walkable and I love just walking around, looking at
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌤 Feels 18° 64° 17° 63°AQI 62✈️10h$4,487 / mo🌇 Also went here11 peopleI've been hanging out in Berlin on and off for 30 years. It is very safe for women. It is much friendlier than it used to be. There are loads of vegan restaurants now. The nightlife and specially jazz clubs are amazing! I have an excellent apartment to rent out in Wedding - which used to have a boring reputation but now is very cool.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌤 Feels 16° 61° 16° 60°AQI 72✈️11h$4,062 / mo🌇 Also went here12 peopleNomading here is tough because there are no reasonable Airbnbs and finding a short-term apt is difficult. You have to ask yourself, is it worth coming to Barcelona? It's probably the dirtiest city in Spain, and a bit sketchy. There's more beautiful and cleaner cities like Seville where you can find a reasonably priced Airbnb.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 65°AQI 34✈️11h$5,285 / mo🌇 Also went here18 peopleLisbon is not a fairytale of fine words, try the bureaucratic reality later tell me something, always remember the natives just want your money if you don't have it they are not there for you
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 19° 66° 18° 65°AQI 28✈️13h$3,841 / mo🌇 Also went here15 peopleNo members are here right now. If you are, add it as a trip and you'll show up here!
