---
title: "Living in Suva as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/suva
description: "Fiji's rainy working capital rather than its resort coast"
dataset: 2026.10.7 (2026-10-13)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Suva, Fiji

Suva scores 53.8/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 798 of 1000 cities. Expect about $1,742 per month, no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 8.2 Mbps.

Suva is Fiji's administrative capital, home to regional institutions, the University of the South Pacific and a lively market, with far fewer tourists than the Nadi side. It rains most of the year, the main international airport is three hours away and internet is slower than the resorts.

Known for: Pacific regional hub, Very wet climate, Cheap local markets, Nadi airport 3 h.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 53.8 |
| Cost of living | 38 |
| Safety | 77 |
| Healthcare | 53 |
| Internet | 42 |
| Visa ease | 52 |
| Getting there & around | 49 |
| Climate | 25 |
| Air quality | 98 |
| Quality of life | 50 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $1,742 | city | 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) | 2.37 | country | 2024 | [^5] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 82.8 | country | 2025 | [^6] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 69 | country | 2023 | [^7] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 65.5 | country | 2021 | [^8] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 8.2 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 3.9 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Starlink residential service | Available | country | 2026-10 | [^10] |
| Nomad visa | none listed | country | 2026-07 | [^11] |
| Entry for US / EU / UK passports | 120 days / 120 days / 120 days | country | 2026-02 | [^12] |
| Non-stop destinations (SUV/NAN) | 30 | city | 2026-10 | [^13] |
| Restaurants within 3 km of the centre (OpenStreetMap) | 56 | city | 2026-10 | [^17] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 3 / 2 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^14] |
| Comfortable months | 3 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^15] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 5.9 | city | 2023 | [^16] |
| Human Development Index | 0.731 | country | 2023 | [^18] |
| English proficiency band | — | country | 2024 | [^19] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 27.4 | 281 | 81 | no |
| Feb | 27.8 | 308 | 81 | no |
| Mar | 27.6 | 333 | 82 | no |
| Apr | 27 | 277 | 81 | no |
| May | 25.9 | 214 | 80 | no |
| Jun | 25.1 | 158 | 81 | no |
| Jul | 24.2 | 94 | 79 | yes |
| Aug | 24 | 98 | 80 | yes |
| Sep | 24.4 | 130 | 80 | yes |
| Oct | 25 | 201 | 81 | no |
| Nov | 25.8 | 199 | 81 | no |
| Dec | 26.7 | 275 | 81 | no |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Nausori International Airport | SUV | 15 | 2 | 0 |
| Nadi International Airport | NAN | 16 | 15 | 1 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 30, of which 16 international (Wikipedia, 2026-10).

## Similar cities

- [Nadi](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/nadi) (55.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/nadi-vs-suva)
- [Apia](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/apia) (54.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/apia-vs-suva)
- [Manado](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/manado) (52) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/manado-vs-suva)
- [Fès](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/fes) (52.6) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/fes-vs-suva)
- [Mostar](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/mostar) (57.7) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/mostar-vs-suva)

## FAQ

### How much does it cost to live in Suva as a digital nomad?

A single person typically spends about $1,742 per month in Suva. That is a 38/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Suva safe for digital nomads?

Suva scores 77/100 on safety. Fiji records 2.37 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2024) and a political-stability score of 82.8/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does Fiji have a digital nomad visa?

No dedicated digital nomad visa was listed for Fiji as of 2026-07. Visitors from the US can stay 120 days visa-free.

### How fast is the internet in Suva?

Measured median download speed in Suva was 8.2 Mbps (upload 3.9 Mbps) across 628 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 Suva?

Yes. Starlink's availability map lists residential service as available in Fiji (checked 2026-10), so a dish can serve as a backup line in Suva. Check the exact address on starlink.com before ordering, since capacity varies by area.

### Which airports serve Suva and how many nonstop flights are there?

Suva is served by Nausori International Airport (SUV) with 15 nonstop destinations and Nadi International Airport (NAN) with 16 nonstop destinations, 30 unique destinations across all of them, of which 16 are international. 1 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-10.

### When is the best time of year to be in Suva?

The most comfortable months are Jul, Aug, Sep. Mean temperatures range from 75°F (24°C) in Aug to 82°F (28°C) in Feb (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Suva or Nadi: which is better for digital nomads?

Nadi is the city with the closest factor profile to Suva 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

[Where to stay in Suva](https://navoy.io/hotels/fiji/suva) 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]: WhereNext city cost estimates 2026 (city pages), WhereNext. CC BY 4.0. https://getwherenext.com/cities (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]: 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level), WhereNext. CC BY 4.0. https://getwherenext.com/data/cost-of-living-2026 (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^5]: 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)
[^6]: 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)
[^7]: 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)
[^8]: 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)
[^9]: M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024), Measurement Lab. CC0 1.0. https://statistics.measurementlab.net/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^10]: Starlink availability map, SpaceX (Starlink). Factual status cited from starlink.com. https://www.starlink.com/map (retrieved 2026-10-07)
[^11]: Digital Nomad Visas 2026, WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. https://github.com/0brien18/global-emigration-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^12]: 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)
[^13]: 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)
[^14]: Walkability and transit ratings (editorial), Navoy. CC BY 4.0. https://nostos.navoy.io/methodology (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^15]: NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means), NASA Langley Research Center. Public domain (US Government). https://power.larc.nasa.gov/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^16]: 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)
[^17]: OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API), OpenStreetMap contributors. ODbL 1.0. https://overpass-api.de/ (retrieved 2026-10-02)
[^18]: 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)
[^19]: 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/suva