How Bali (Canggu) and Santa Teresa compare on cost, visas, working hours, weather, internet and safety. Every figure comes from our city guides and tools, checked and dated there.
Dollars and pounds at today's exchange rate. Download speeds are the typical figure from each guide, which says where it comes from: some are for the city, some for the whole country, so treat a small gap as no gap.
E33G remote worker visa
The catch. One Indonesian client breaks it, and since April 2026 immigration has been running patrols across Bali for people working on tourist visas.
Digital nomad stay (Estancia para Trabajadores Remotos)
The catch. It is not residence and lasts two years at most, and the tax exemption does not cover your family. ICT's own landing page says USD 5,000 for families, against USD 4,000 in the law.
See where your own income stands in every country. Check your income
A 9am to 5pm day in the employer's city, shown in local time, for today's date, so it allows for the clocks changing.
Different hours or another employer city? Use the time-zone planner
The average high in °C each month, coloured by the rule on our best-time page: green is a high of 20 to 32°C with under 150mm of rain; red is a high of 38°C or more or under 12°C, 250mm of rain or more, or 33°C or more with 150mm of rain or more. Hover over a month for its rain.
Santa Teresa's nearest weather station is some way off, so its months are coloured on rain alone: green under 100mm, red from 250mm.
| City | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bali (Canggu) | 31° | 31° | 31° | 31° | 31° | 30° | 29° | 29° | 30° | 31° | 32° | 31° |
| Santa Teresa | 35° | 36° | 37° | 38° | 37° | 34° | 35° | 35° | 35° | 34° | 33° | 35° |
Bali (Canggu): seasons and events · Santa Teresa: seasons and events
Level 2: increased caution
Level 2: increased caution
The US level is for the whole country, as the State Department sets it, and some countries have stricter advice for particular regions.
From each city guide, word for word.
Remote employees of foreign companies earning USD 60,000 a year or more, who can get the E33G remote worker visa and want a big community of other remote workers. People who ride a scooter confidently and hold the licence for it, and who want surf, rice fields and yoga around a working week.
Anyone planning to freelance for Indonesian clients, sell anything locally, or make paid content on a tourist visa: immigration is patrolling Canggu, uses face recognition on social media, and deports. Anyone counting on a tax exemption no official source confirms. Anyone who will not ride but expects a Grab everywhere, because village councils run no-pickup zones in Canggu. And anyone who hates traffic: 622 people died on Bali's roads in 2024, most of them on motorbikes.
Someone earning a steady USD 3,000 a month or more from abroad who wants surf, forest and a small, sociable expat strip. They are happy to rent an ATV or a 4x4 and to take calls from a desk with a stated connection, not a cafe. They work on US hours, because Costa Rica is UTC-6 all year. The nomad stay exempts its holders from Costa Rican income tax, which suits anyone staying under two years.
Anyone who needs cheap: every sourced tour price is in dollars at international levels, and no one publishes rents. Anyone who wants a city, pavements, public transport, Uber or a hospital nearby; there is an urgent-care clinic, and the US government says services outside San Jose may be limited. Anyone on European hours: 9am in London is 2am or 3am here. And anyone hoping the nomad stay starts a residence clock, because legally it is not residence and it lasts two years at most. If dust, unpaved roads, river crossings in the rains and cafes that shut at 4pm sound annoying rather than charming, go somewhere else.
Most visas want health cover for the whole stay. Compare nomad health insurance · Build your trip checklist