Best Beach Towns for Digital Nomads in 2026: 10 Ranked by Data

The best beach towns for digital nomads in 2026 are Hoi An and Da Nang in Vietnam, which combine a monthly nomad budget of $911 to $1,064 with 164 Mbps internet and 10 comfortable months a year. Phuket, Florianopolis and Weligama follow, and famous surf villages such as Taghazout fall further down because their connections are slow. We ranked ten beach and surf towns on cost, internet speed and weather, and every number below comes from our own data.

How did we rank the best beach towns for digital nomads?

Most beach town lists rank by how pretty the sand is. Remote workers need a different test: can you afford a month, can you join a video call, and will the weather let you actually use the beach? We scored every town out of 100 using three inputs.

• Internet speed, 40 points. Average city speed in Mbps, capped at 200, so 200 Mbps or more earns the full 40.
• Monthly nomad cost, 40 points. $600 or less earns the full 40 and $3,000 or more earns zero, with a straight line in between.
• Weather, 20 points. The number of months in the year with an average temperature between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius, out of 12.

Safety is shown in the table wherever our data rates it, but we did not score it, because it covers only seven of the 17 towns we tested. Where safety is missing we say so instead of guessing. One more honest note: for several towns the internet figure matches the national average, so it tells you what to expect from the country, not from a specific fibre line in a specific building.

Nine of the ten towns below are the top nine by score. The tenth slot goes to Taghazout, the surf village that many nomads come for. It scores 38.6, which would put it 14th out of 17, and we include it deliberately as a labelled wildcard so you can see what you give up for the waves.

Best beach towns for digital nomads in 2026: the full comparison table

Here is the master table. The score combines the three inputs above, and the last column counts the months with an average temperature between 20 and 30 degrees.

Two patterns stand out. First, the cheapest towns are not automatically the best: Weligama costs the least at $658 but has the slowest internet of the ten at 24 Mbps. Second, the fastest towns are not cheap: Tenerife leads on speed at 247 Mbps and also costs the most at $3,216, nearly five times Weligama.

How much does a month in a beach town cost?

Our data gives two monthly budgets for each town: an expat budget, which covers a modest flat and ordinary spending, and a nomad budget, which reflects the comfortable, flexible lifestyle most remote workers choose, with a decent flat, eating out and coworking-style extras. Read the first as your lean month and the second as your comfortable month.

The gap between the two columns is the useful part. In Da Nang, upgrading from lean to comfortable adds only $244, so the city rewards you for spending a little more. In Taghazout the same upgrade adds $1,003, which means a nomad-style month there costs about double a stripped-down one. A premium month, with a sea-view flat and regular restaurant meals, sits above the comfortable figure everywhere, so treat the nomad budget as the realistic middle, not the ceiling.

Which beach towns have internet fast enough to work from?

This is the question most beach town guides skip, and it is where several famous destinations fall apart. Our internet figures put the ten towns into three groups.

• Fast, 160 Mbps or more: Tenerife at 247 Mbps, Phuket at 238, Madeira at 207, Florianopolis at 188, and Da Nang and Hoi An at 164.
• Usable, 80 to 90 Mbps: Dahab at 84 and Puerto Escondido at 83, which is fine for calls and uploads if your building is wired well.
• Slow, under 40 Mbps: Taghazout at 36 and Weligama at 24, where you should arrange a backup mobile connection before you commit to a month.

The spread is large. Phuket delivers nearly ten times the speed of Weligama and costs $1,168 more per month. If you are on video calls all day, that premium buys reliability. If your work is writing or asynchronous design, Weligama and Taghazout are workable and much of the saving is real.

When is the best time of year for each beach town?

The weather data lets us name the months that work for each town. Dry means very little rain in our monthly readings, and the temperatures are monthly averages.

Phuket, Weligama and Puerto Escondido are the only towns here with 12 of 12 comfortable months, which is why they hold up even when you are not planning around a season. Madeira has just four comfortable months, so it only works as a beach base in late summer and early autumn.

The 10 best beach towns for digital nomads, one by one

1. Hoi An, Vietnam

Hoi An takes first place because it is the cheapest town on the list that also has fast internet. Our data puts a comfortable month at $911 and a lean one at $597, with 164 Mbps, a figure shared with Da Nang and the rest of Vietnam. The beach life centres on An Bang, a few kilometres from the old town, where most nomads rent a bike, work from a cafe in the morning and swim in the afternoon.

The best months are February to May, when the average temperature runs from 24 to 29°C and rain readings are close to zero. Ten of the twelve months fall in the comfortable band. The main drawback is the wet season: from October to December rain readings jump to between 8 and 10, and low-lying parts of the old town are known to flood. It is also small, so if you want a big coworking scene or hospital-grade healthcare, Da Nang is 30 kilometres away.

2. Da Nang, Vietnam

Da Nang is the safest town in our ranking, with a High safety rating and an index of 76, and it is a real city of about one million people rather than a village. A comfortable month costs $1,064, only $153 more than Hoi An, and a lean one costs $820. You get 164 Mbps, a long city beach, and an airport that makes visa runs and flights home simple.

February to May is the sweet spot, with averages of 24 to 29°C. The drawback is the winter: January averages 22°C and December 22°C, and October and November bring the heaviest rain, with readings of 7 and 8. If you want a reliable city that happens to have a beach, this is the one. If you want a place that feels like a beach town first, pick Hoi An.

3. Phuket, Thailand

Phuket has the second-fastest internet of the ten at 238 Mbps, and the temperature never leaves the 27 to 30°C range, so all 12 months count as comfortable. A comfortable month costs $1,826 and a lean one $1,096. Safety is rated Middle, with an index of 60. A one-bedroom flat in the centre averages $346 a month and a meal at an inexpensive restaurant is $3.60, so the big costs are your lifestyle choices, not the rent.

The best months are December to April, when rain readings stay between 0 and 3. September is the wettest at 9. The drawback is the cost jump: Phuket is $762 a month more expensive than Da Nang for similar internet, and it is large and spread out, so the beach you live near determines how often you ride a scooter. Rawai, Kata and Chalong are the usual nomad bases.

4. Florianopolis, Brazil

Florianopolis is an island with dozens of beaches and the strongest internet in Latin America on our list, at 188 Mbps. A comfortable month is $1,494 and a lean one is $795, with a one-bedroom flat in the centre at $356 and $251 outside it. The safety rating is Middle with an index of 53, which is why most nomads choose Campeche, Lagoa da Conceicao or Barra da Lagoa and stay aware of their surroundings.

Eight months are comfortable, from October to May, and November to April is the best stretch at 23 to 26°C. The drawback is the southern winter: July averages 16°C, which is cold for a beach holiday. Portuguese is also needed more here than in most nomad hubs, since our English proficiency score for Brazil is well below the ones for Spain and Portugal.

5. Weligama, Sri Lanka

Weligama is the cheapest town in the study at $658 for a comfortable month and $396 for a lean one. The bay is gentle and is known as a place to learn to surf, with Midigama and Ahangama nearby for more experienced riders. All 12 months are comfortable at 26 to 28°C, and the driest stretch is December to April.

The drawback is simple and serious: 24 Mbps is the slowest internet of the ten, and it is a national figure, so a flat with a poor connection will do worse. Weligama suits writers, developers working asynchronously and anyone who can run calls over a backup mobile plan. It does not suit people on camera all day. May is the wettest month, with a rain reading of 13.

6. Dahab, Egypt

Dahab is a small Red Sea town of about 15,000 people, and a comfortable month costs $886 while a lean one costs only $391. Internet runs at 84 Mbps. The water is the draw: it is a world-known spot for freediving, snorkelling and windsurfing, and the air is very dry, with humidity near 31%, so the town never feels sticky.

Only five months are comfortable: March to May, October and November. From June to August the average temperature reaches 34 to 36°C, with highs of 40°C. Wind is also constant, with readings of 19 to 27 across the year, which is a gift for kitesurfers and a nuisance if you work outdoors. The beach is more about reef access than sunbathing. Check your government travel advice and the current entry rules before booking.

7. Madeira, Portugal

Madeira is the most polished option, with 207 Mbps, a European time zone and a well-known nomad village. It is also expensive: a comfortable month costs $2,476 and a lean one $1,928, nearly four times Weligama. The island is better for ocean swims, rock pools and hiking than for long sandy beach days.

Only four months are comfortable, from July to October, when averages reach 21 to 24°C. Humidity is the highest in the study at 92%, and winter averages sit around 17°C. Madeira makes sense if you want a safe, orderly Atlantic base with fast internet and you accept paying a premium for it.

8. Puerto Escondido, Mexico

Puerto Escondido is Mexico's surf capital on the Pacific coast, famous for the big wave at Zicatela and calmer water at Carrizalillo. A comfortable month costs $1,942 and a lean one $1,169, with a one-bedroom flat in the centre at $374. Internet is 83 Mbps, the country figure, which is enough for calls but not for heavy uploads.

All 12 months are comfortable, at 26 to 28°C, and the dry season runs from November to May with almost no rain. September is the wettest month at 10. The drawback is the distance: it is a small town of about 45,000 people, flights usually connect through Mexico City or Oaxaca, and the heat is constant. Pick it if you want serious waves and a slower pace.

9. Tenerife, Spain

Tenerife has the fastest internet of the ten at 247 Mbps and the highest cost at $3,216 for a comfortable month, with a lean month at $1,950. It is an island of about 889,000 people with real infrastructure, and winter highs stay near 22 to 24°C when much of Europe is cold, which is the reason many nomads come.

Eight months are comfortable, from April to November, and rain is almost nil all year. The drawbacks are price and beach type: many beaches have dark volcanic sand, and the southern coast around El Medano is windy, which suits kitesurfers more than sunbathers. Check Spain's official rules for remote workers before you plan a long stay.

Wildcard: Taghazout, Morocco

Taghazout is a surf village about 20 kilometres from Agadir, known for right-hand point breaks such as Anchor Point. Rain readings are zero in all 12 months, nine months are comfortable, and the wind drops to 11 or 12 in July and August from about 20 in April. A comfortable month costs $2,018 and a lean one $1,015.

The price is the connection. At 36 Mbps, Taghazout costs about the same as Phuket at $1,826 while delivering roughly one-seventh of the speed. Summer highs reach 35°C, and the village is quiet outside the surf-camp scene. It earns its place for people who are surfing first and working second, and it needs a backup plan for calls.

What do rent and daily costs look like in a beach town?

Detailed price data is available for only some of our towns, so here is the comparison for those that have it, with Split in Croatia added as a reference point from outside the ranking.

Rent is the cheap part in all four. A one-bedroom flat outside the centre costs between $251 and $361, yet the comfortable nomad budget is $1,494 to $2,251 in these towns. The difference is where the money goes: restaurants, scooters or taxis, coworking, and the premium for a flat close to the beach. Phuket is the clearest case, with a $346 flat and a $1,826 nomad month.

How do these towns compare with Canggu, Tulum, Split and Cape Town?

Readers often ask why Canggu and Tulum are missing from the top ten. The numbers explain it.

• Canggu, Indonesia: $1,975 a month with 32 Mbps and a Middle safety rating at an index of 50. It costs about the same as Puerto Escondido but has well under half the internet speed, so it scores 43.5.
• Tulum, Mexico: $2,336 a month with 83 Mbps. It matches Puerto Escondido on speed and costs $394 more, so it scores 47.7.
• Split, Croatia: $2,251 a month with 93 Mbps and a Middle safety rating at 69, second only to Da Nang among the towns we rated. It has only four comfortable months, so it scores 37.8.
• Cape Town, South Africa: $2,254 a month with 53 Mbps and a Low safety rating at an index of 26, the lowest safety figure of the towns we tested.

None of them are bad places to live. They simply ask you to pay more for less connection, which is the trade the ranking is built to expose.

Which beach town should you choose?

Match the town to what you need most from a month by the sea.

• Cheapest: Weligama at $658 a month, then Dahab at $886 and Hoi An at $911. Dahab and Weligama also have the lowest lean budgets, at $391 and $396.
• Best internet: Tenerife at 247 Mbps, but Phuket at 238 Mbps costs $1,390 less per month, which makes it the better value for heavy video work.
• Best for surfers: Taghazout for point breaks and a dry climate, Weligama for beginners and a low budget, and Florianopolis if you also need 188 Mbps for work.
• Best for a first-timer: Da Nang. It has a High safety rating, 164 Mbps, a $1,064 comfortable month and enough city infrastructure to make the first week easy.

Final verdict: our pick for 2026

If you want one answer, choose Hoi An or Da Nang. They deliver 164 Mbps for $911 to $1,064 a month, with 10 comfortable months, and the data gives no other beach town a better combination of price and connection. Phuket and Florianopolis are the upgrades if you want faster internet and a larger expat scene and can pay $1,494 to $1,826.

Choose Weligama, Dahab or Taghazout knowingly. They are excellent places to live by the sea, but their internet is 24 to 84 Mbps, so they work best for lighter or asynchronous schedules. Whatever you pick, test the connection in the flat before you pay for the month, and plan around the months in the weather table, because a beach town in its wet or windy season is a very different place.