--- title: "Living in Santa Maria (Sal) as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet" url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/santa-maria-sal description: "Sal's beach-resort town with trade-wind kitesurfing and direct European flights" dataset: 2026.10.7 (2026-10-13) license: CC BY 4.0 --- # Santa Maria (Sal), Cabo Verde Santa Maria (Sal) scores 61.1/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 567 of 1000 cities. There is no open cost-of-living figure yet; expect a nomad visa (Remote Working Program (six-month temporary visa)), and a measured median download speed of 7.2 Mbps. Santa Maria is the resort town on the southern tip of Sal, a flat desert island with a long beach, steady trade winds for kite and windsurfing and the country's busiest airport 18 km north with direct flights from Europe. Cabo Verde's Remote Working programme covers it, but the town is small and tourism-driven, internet is slow by European standards and the island is barren outside the beach. Known for: Santa Maria beach, Kitesurfing at Kite Beach, Cabo Verde Remote Working visa, Windy desert island, little shade. ## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100) | Factor | Score | | --- | --- | | Overall | 61.1 | | Cost of living | — | | Safety | 64 | | Healthcare | 66 | | Internet | 34 | | Visa ease | 64 | | Getting there & around | 57 | | Climate | 100 | | Air quality | 67 | | Quality of life | 37 | ## The numbers behind the scores | Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Monthly cost, one person | — | country | 2026-09 | [^2] | | Central 1-bedroom rent | — | city | 2026-09 | [^3] | | Outskirts 1-bedroom rent (basis of the monthly total) | — | city | 2026-09 | [^3] | | Homicide rate (per 100k) | 6.99 | country | 2020 | [^4] | | Political stability (0–100) | 80.7 | country | 2025 | [^5] | | UHC service coverage (0–100) | 71 | country | 2023 | [^6] | | Life expectancy (years) | 73.2 | country | 2021 | [^7] | | Median download (Mbps) | 7.2 | city | 2024 | [^8] | | Median upload (Mbps) | 0.9 | city | 2024 | [^8] | | Starlink residential service | Available | country | 2026-10 | [^9] | | Nomad visa | Remote Working Program (six-month temporary visa) (min $1,678/mo) | country | 2026-10-13 | [^10] | | Visa guide | [Cabo Verde long-stay visa guide](https://nostos.navoy.io/visas/cabo-verde) | country | 2026-10-13 | [^10] | | Entry for US / EU / UK passports | 30 days / 30 days / 30 days | country | 2026-02 | [^11] | | Non-stop destinations (SID) | 40 | city | 2026-10 | [^12] | | Restaurants within 3 km of the centre (OpenStreetMap) | 112 | city | 2026-10 | [^16] | | Walkability / transit (1–5) | 4 / 2 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^13] | | Comfortable months | 12 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^14] | | Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 19.9 | city | 2023 | [^15] | | Human Development Index | 0.668 | country | 2023 | [^17] | | English proficiency band | — | country | 2024 | [^18] | ## Climate (2001–2020 normals) | Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Jan | 22.1 | 23 | 75 | yes | | Feb | 21.3 | 23 | 78 | yes | | Mar | 21.4 | 7 | 81 | yes | | Apr | 21.7 | 6 | 81 | yes | | May | 22.3 | 5 | 83 | yes | | Jun | 23 | 4 | 85 | yes | | Jul | 24.4 | 7 | 84 | yes | | Aug | 25.9 | 34 | 82 | yes | | Sep | 26.7 | 50 | 83 | yes | | Oct | 26.4 | 26 | 81 | yes | | Nov | 25.1 | 27 | 78 | yes | | Dec | 23.5 | 33 | 76 | yes | ## Airports and nonstop flights | Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Amílcar Cabral International Airport | SID | 40 | 36 | 1 | Unique destinations across all airports: 40, of which 36 international (Wikipedia, 2026-10). ## Similar cities - [Praia](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/praia) (60.7) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/praia-vs-santa-maria-sal) - [Taghazout](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/taghazout) (57.9) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/santa-maria-sal-vs-taghazout) - [Mindelo](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/mindelo) (59.8) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/mindelo-vs-santa-maria-sal) - [Essaouira](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/essaouira) (59.2) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/essaouira-vs-santa-maria-sal) - [Casablanca](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/casablanca) (57.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/casablanca-vs-santa-maria-sal) ## FAQ ### How much does it cost to live in Santa Maria (Sal) as a digital nomad? We do not have a reliable monthly cost figure for Santa Maria (Sal) yet. ### Is Santa Maria (Sal) safe for digital nomads? Santa Maria (Sal) scores 64/100 on safety. Cabo Verde records 6.99 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2020) and a political-stability score of 80.7/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ. ### Does Cabo Verde have a digital nomad visa? Yes. Cabo Verde offers the Remote Working Program (six-month temporary visa) with a minimum income of about $1,678 per month. Verify current rules with the issuing authority before applying. Full guide: https://nostos.navoy.io/visas/cabo-verde ### How fast is the internet in Santa Maria (Sal)? Measured median download speed in Santa Maria (Sal) was 7.2 Mbps (upload 0.9 Mbps) across 1,265 M-Lab tests in 2024. Measured speeds run below advertised plan speeds everywhere, so compare cities rather than reading the number as a plan. ### Is Starlink available in Santa Maria (Sal)? Yes. Starlink's availability map lists residential service as available in Cabo Verde (checked 2026-10), so a dish can serve as a backup line in Santa Maria (Sal). Check the exact address on starlink.com before ordering, since capacity varies by area. ### Which airports serve Santa Maria (Sal) and how many nonstop flights are there? Santa Maria (Sal) is served by Amílcar Cabral International Airport (SID) with 40 nonstop destinations, of which 36 are international. 1 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-10. ### When is the best time of year to be in Santa Maria (Sal)? The most comfortable months are Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec. Mean temperatures range from 70°F (21°C) in Feb to 80°F (27°C) in Sep (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology). ### Santa Maria (Sal) or Praia: which is better for digital nomads? Praia is the city with the closest factor profile to Santa Maria (Sal) in this dataset. Which one wins depends on your weights; the comparison page puts every factor side by side with the numbers behind them. ## Plan a trip [Plan a trip with Navoy](https://navoy.io) on Navoy, the AI travel planner behind Nostos. ## Sources [^1]: City population (latest census or official estimate), Wikipedia (citing national statistics offices). CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/ (retrieved 2026-09-22) [^2]: 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level), WhereNext. CC BY 4.0. https://getwherenext.com/data/cost-of-living-2026 (retrieved 2026-09-22) [^3]: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows), WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. https://github.com/0brien18/global-emigration-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22) [^4]: Victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population (national data, latest year), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, dataUNODC. UNODC data, free to reuse with attribution. https://data.unodc.org/datareport/hom-victim (retrieved 2026-10-12) [^5]: Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100), World Bank. CC BY 4.0. https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators (retrieved 2026-09-22) [^6]: UHC service coverage index, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/uhc-index-of-service-coverage (retrieved 2026-09-22) [^7]: Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/life-expectancy-at-birth-(years) (retrieved 2026-09-22) [^8]: M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024), Measurement Lab. CC0 1.0. https://statistics.measurementlab.net/ (retrieved 2026-09-22) [^9]: Starlink availability map, SpaceX (Starlink). Factual status cited from starlink.com. https://www.starlink.com/map (retrieved 2026-10-07) [^10]: Nostos long-stay visa guides, Navoy. CC BY 4.0. https://nostos.navoy.io/visas (retrieved 2026-10-04) [^11]: Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations), Ilya Ilyankou (compiled from passportindex.org). MIT. https://github.com/ilyankou/passport-index-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22) [^12]: Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables), Wikipedia contributors; countries via Wikidata. CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/ (retrieved 2026-09-24) [^13]: Walkability and transit ratings (editorial), Navoy. CC BY 4.0. https://nostos.navoy.io/methodology (retrieved 2026-09-22) [^14]: NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means), NASA Langley Research Center. Public domain (US Government). https://power.larc.nasa.gov/ (retrieved 2026-09-22) [^15]: SatPM2.5 satellite-derived annual PM2.5 (V6.GL.02.04), Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis. CC BY 4.0. https://sites.wustl.edu/acag/surface-pm2-5/ (retrieved 2026-10-07) [^16]: OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API), OpenStreetMap contributors. ODbL 1.0. https://overpass-api.de/ (retrieved 2026-10-02) [^17]: Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023), United Nations Development Programme. CC BY 3.0 IGO. https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/documentation-and-downloads (retrieved 2026-09-22) [^18]: EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band), EF Education First. Proprietary; band cited as a fact with attribution. https://www.ef.com/epi/ (retrieved 2026-09-22) HTML page: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/santa-maria-sal