Low cost of living makes Da Nang favorite destination for digital nomads

“The food is diverse and the cost of living is cheaper than most places I’ve lived,” the 32-year-old, who has been a digital nomad for 14 years, says.

For just over a dollar he can eat a breakfast of pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) or banh mi.

Ryan Klos works at a homestay in Da Nang. Photo courtesy of Ryan Klos

Every day he finds a new restaurant to try, but “there are always more great places to eat in Da Nang.”

The average cost of a haircut in the U.S. is about US$28 and less than two dollars in Da Nang.

Many digital nomads have recently moved to Da Nang and say the city is an ideal destination due to its low cost of living and beautiful landscapes.

Ahmed Abd Alkhalek, an Egyptian working in publishing, left Suez for Da Nang in July last year.

He says Vietnam does not have a preferential visa policy for digital nomads but he can afford to live here, whereas if he opts for places with digital nomad visas like Dubai he might “go broke.”

Da Nang is among the top 10 cities for digital nomads, according to Freaking Nomads, a consulting website for the community of digital nomads.

In 2023 Nomad List, a popular database among digital nomads, ranked Da Nang second in the list of fastest growing remote work destinations behind only Tokyo.

Foreigners at a co-working space in Da Nang City, central Vietnam. Photo courtesy of Coworking Danang

“It’s no surprise that Da Nang is a great city to live in for people like us,” Kay, an American filmmaker living in Da Nang, says.

English is common in the city, and there is almost no inconvenience in day-to-day communication, while the friendliness of locals is a factor that makes him stay in longer there.

“I’ve never had a bad experience with the locals.”

Da Nang feels like his second home.

He rents a two-bedroom house in the downtown area for VND14 million (US$557) a month, which is not too expensive considering it is one of Vietnam’s largest cities, he says.

Many of his friends also rent houses for cheap in good locations and with every amenity.

Anton Verkooijen, a Dutchman living in Da Nang since 2020 and running a co-working space in the Ngu Hanh Son (Marble Mountains) area, says the city is a “very new” name for the digital nomad community and the number of digital nomads coming to the city is not yet large enough to impact rentals unlike some other hotspots.

As for Klos, he feels like a part of the local community: When he passes by familiar stores, the staff waves at him; sometimes he would pass by an alley five minutes away from his house and end up taking more than 30 minutes because people there stop to chat with him.

But digital nomads also complain about some inconveniences in Da Nang.

Klos says sometimes he tries to record music but neighbors blast karaoke and dogs bark.

For Kay, everything in Da Nang is good except the lack of workspace and connection with the digital nomad community.

But the biggest problem for most in Vietnam is the lack of a digital nomad visa, which means they have to make do with a tourist visa.

So they have to leave the country every 90 days and reapply for a visa, which is very “time consuming.”

They also have difficulty finding accommodation since rents for short stays are often 30-40% higher than normal. Besides, landlords of many places with great locations and amenities refuse to lease for short stays.

Industry insiders say the number of digital nomads is set to grow quickly and Vietnam should learn from neighboring countries to offer longer visas to attract them.

Many Asian countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea have launched special visa policies targeting digital nomads with stays of up to 10 years.