NavoyNostos

Grand Baie vs Windhoek

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Grand Baie edges it, 71 to 59, winning 8 of the 9 factors. Grand Baie is stronger on healthcare, internet, safety; Windhoek on nothing outright. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Cost of living: 5.9 of 71 points (scores 53/100)Safety: 8.3 of 71 points (scores 75/100)Healthcare: 7.6 of 71 points (scores 68/100)Internet: 6.3 of 71 points (scores 57/100)Visa ease: 8.6 of 71 points (scores 77/100)Getting there & around: 5.5 of 71 points (scores 49/100)Climate: 11.1 of 71 points (scores 100/100)Air quality: 10.6 of 71 points (scores 95/100)Quality of life: 7.3 of 71 points (scores 66/100)71
Grand Baie
out of 100

Mauritius's north-coast resort village, the island's nomad and expat hub

Full Grand Baie profile →Where to stay in Grand Baie →
Safety: 7.0 of 59 points (scores 56/100)Healthcare: 5.5 of 59 points (scores 44/100)Internet: 4.5 of 59 points (scores 36/100)Visa ease: 9.5 of 59 points (scores 76/100)Getting there & around: 5.1 of 59 points (scores 41/100)Climate: 10.4 of 59 points (scores 83/100)Air quality: 10.8 of 59 points (scores 87/100)Quality of life: 6.2 of 59 points (scores 50/100)59
Windhoek
out of 100

Clean, safe base for Namibia's deserts

Full Windhoek profile →Where to stay in Windhoek →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricGrand BaieWindhoek
Cost of living53no data
Safety75 ✓56
Healthcare68 ✓44
Internet57 ✓36
Visa ease77 ✓76
Getting there & around49 ✓41
Climate100 ✓83
Air quality95 ✓87
Quality of life66 ✓50

Cost

MetricGrand BaieWindhoek
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city$1,200no data
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricGrand BaieWindhoek
Homicides per 100k2.67 ✓11.21
Political stability (0–100)81.9 ✓78.6
UHC service coverage (0–100)75 ✓66
Life expectancy73.4 yrs ✓60.4 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricGrand BaieWindhoek
Download18.4 Mbps ✓6.2 Mbps
Upload8.8 Mbps ✓2.6 Mbps

Visa

MetricGrand BaieWindhoek
Nomad visaPremium Visa (long-stay remote work visa)Digital nomad visa
Minimum income for the visa$1,500/mo ✓$2,000/mo
Entry, US passport90 days90 days
Entry, EU passport90 days90 days
Entry, UK passport90 days90 days

Getting there and around

MetricGrand BaieWindhoek
Non-stop airport destinations31 ✓22
Walkability (1–5, editorial)3 ✓2
Transit (1–5, editorial)22

Climate and air

MetricGrand BaieWindhoek
Comfortable months per year12 ✓10
Annual mean PM2.57.1 µg/m³ ✓11 µg/m³

✓ marks the better value in each row; ties and missing data are left unmarked.

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Grand Baie or Windhoek?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Grand Baie or Windhoek safer?
Grand Baie scores higher on safety (75 vs 56), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Grand Baie or Windhoek?
Grand Baie: a measured median of 18.4 Mbps versus 6.2 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

More comparisons

Sources: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows); 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level); Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100); Victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population (national data, latest year); UHC service coverage index; Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes; M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024); Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables); NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means); SatPM2.5 satellite-derived annual PM2.5 (V6.GL.02.04); Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023); EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band); Walkability and transit ratings (editorial); Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations); OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API); Nostos long-stay visa guides; Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.10.7. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.