NavoyNostos

Papeete vs Sanur (Bali)

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Papeete edges it, 67 to 59, winning 4 of the 9 factors. Papeete is stronger on air quality; Sanur (Bali) on internet. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Safety: 12.4 of 67 points (scores 75/100)Internet: 6.4 of 67 points (scores 39/100)Visa ease: 10.1 of 67 points (scores 61/100)Getting there & around: 8.5 of 67 points (scores 51/100)Climate: 12.5 of 67 points (scores 75/100)Air quality: 16.7 of 67 points (scores 100/100)67
Papeete
out of 100

Tahiti's small, pricey capital, the hub for every other island

Full Papeete profile →Where to stay in Papeete →
Cost of living: 6.7 of 59 points (scores 60/100)Safety: 7.4 of 59 points (scores 67/100)Healthcare: 6.2 of 59 points (scores 56/100)Internet: 5.4 of 59 points (scores 49/100)Visa ease: 6.0 of 59 points (scores 54/100)Getting there & around: 5.7 of 59 points (scores 51/100)Climate: 7.4 of 59 points (scores 67/100)Air quality: 9.5 of 59 points (scores 86/100)Quality of life: 5.0 of 59 points (scores 45/100)59
Sanur (Bali)
out of 100

Calm east-coast Bali beach town with a long seaside path

Full Sanur (Bali) profile →Hotels in Indonesia →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricPapeeteSanur (Bali)
Cost of livingno data60
Safety75 ✓67
Healthcareno data56
Internet3949 ✓
Visa ease61 ✓54
Getting there & around5151 ✓
Climate75 ✓67
Air quality100 ✓86
Quality of lifeno data45

Cost

MetricPapeeteSanur (Bali)
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one cityno data$1,000
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricPapeeteSanur (Bali)
Homicides per 100kno data0.41
Political stability (0–100)75.7 ✓52.7
UHC service coverage (0–100)no data67
Life expectancyno data68.3 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricPapeeteSanur (Bali)
Download7.5 Mbps11.8 Mbps ✓
Upload2.4 Mbps5.8 Mbps ✓

Visa

MetricPapeeteSanur (Bali)
Nomad visanone listedRemote worker visa (E33G) ✓
Minimum income for the visano data$5,000/mo
Entry, US passport90 days ✓visa on arrival
Entry, EU passportunlimited ✓visa on arrival
Entry, UK passport90 days ✓visa on arrival

Getting there and around

MetricPapeeteSanur (Bali)
Non-stop airport destinations3865 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)33
Transit (1–5, editorial)2 ✓1

Climate and air

MetricPapeeteSanur (Bali)
Comfortable months per year9 ✓8
Annual mean PM2.52.9 µg/m³ ✓11.4 µg/m³

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Papeete or Sanur (Bali)?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Papeete or Sanur (Bali) safer?
Papeete scores higher on safety (75 vs 67), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Papeete or Sanur (Bali)?
Sanur (Bali): a measured median of 11.8 Mbps versus 7.5 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

More comparisons

Sources: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows); 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level); Digital Nomad Visas 2026; Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100); Estimates of rates of homicides per 100 000 population; 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.