Which is cheaper, Port Blair or Varkala?

Port Blair and Varkala cost about the same: roughly $750 per month for one person.

Is Port Blair or Varkala safer?

Port Blair and Varkala score the same on safety (55), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.

Where is the internet faster, Port Blair or Varkala?

Varkala: a measured median of 29.2 Mbps versus 29.1 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

Port Blair vs Varkala

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Port Blair edges it, 52 to 51, winning 2 of the 9 factors. Neither leads on any factor by 10 points or more. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Port Blair

out of 100

Andaman Islands capital, with ferries to Havelock's beaches and reefs

Full Port Blair profile →Plan a trip to Port Blair →

Varkala

out of 100

Cliff-top beach town in Kerala with a long-stay yoga and café scene

Full Varkala profile →Plan a trip to Varkala →

Where they differ

Air quality. Port Blair leads on air quality, 75 to 66, against Varkala. PM2.5: 16.3 µg/m³ vs 20.1 µg/m³.

Where they are close. Within five points on getting there & around, internet, cost of living, safety, healthcare, visa ease, climate, quality of life.

Pick Port Blair if you want

no clear edge over Varkala in the data

Pick Varkala if you want

no clear edge over Port Blair in the data

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

Metric	Port Blair	Varkala
Cost of living	88	88
Safety	55	55
Healthcare	63	63
Internet	66 ✓	66
Visa ease	32	32
Getting there & around	16	19 ✓
Climate	25	25
Air quality	75 ✓	66
Quality of life	43	43

Cost

Metric	Port Blair	Varkala
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city	$750	$750
Central one-bedroom rent	no data	no data

Safety and health (country-level)

Metric	Port Blair	Varkala
Homicides per 100k	2.72	2.72
Political stability (0–100)	55	55
UHC service coverage (0–100)	69	69
Life expectancy	71 yrs	71 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

Metric	Port Blair	Varkala
Download	29.1 Mbps	29.2 Mbps ✓
Upload	18.7 Mbps ✓	16.1 Mbps

Visa

Metric	Port Blair	Varkala
Nomad visa	none listed	none listed
Minimum income for the visa	no data	no data
Entry, US passport	e-visa required	e-visa required
Entry, EU passport	e-visa required	e-visa required
Entry, UK passport	e-visa required	e-visa required

Getting there and around

Metric	Port Blair	Varkala
Non-stop airport destinations	7	25 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)	3	4 ✓
Transit (1–5, editorial)	2 ✓	1

Climate and air

Metric	Port Blair	Varkala
Comfortable months per year	3	3
Annual mean PM2.5	16.3 µg/m³ ✓	20.1 µg/m³

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Port Blair or Varkala?: Port Blair and Varkala cost about the same: roughly $750 per month for one person.
Is Port Blair or Varkala safer?: Port Blair and Varkala score the same on safety (55), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Port Blair or Varkala?: Varkala: a measured median of 29.2 Mbps versus 29.1 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); 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); Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.11.2. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.