The Bahamas for Digital Nomads

• US hours. The Bahamas is on Eastern Time with the same daylight saving dates as the US, so New York working hours are your working hours.
• No income tax. The Bahamas has no personal income tax, capital gains tax or inheritance tax. The government relies on VAT and import duties instead.
• Dollars. The Bahamian dollar is fixed at one to one with the US dollar, and US dollars are accepted everywhere.
• Close to home. Nassau is under an hour’s flight from Miami and has direct flights to many US and Canadian cities and to London.
• Islands. Sixteen inhabited island groups, from busy Nassau to quiet Out Islands with pink-sand beaches, sailing and some of the best diving in the region.

The Bahamas suits remote workers on North American hours with a good income, people who want a few months of island life within easy reach of the US, sailors and divers, and anyone happy to trade a nomad scene for beaches and a slow pace.

It suits you less on a budget, or if you want a large community of other remote workers, cheap street food, good public transport or a city with lots going on. European hours are hard: 9am in London is 4am or 5am in Nassau. Outside Nassau and Freeport, healthcare is basic and internet can be patchy, and serious medical cases go to Florida.

• Nassau: the capital on New Providence, with most of the jobs, shops, restaurants, hospitals and expats. Long-stayers often live around Cable Beach, on Paradise Island or in the quieter west and east of the island.
• Eleuthera: a long, thin island of pink-sand beaches and small settlements, with Harbour Island’s Dunmore Town and Spanish Wells just offshore.
• The Exumas: a chain of cays loved by sailors, with George Town as the main town and the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park to the north.
• Abaco: a boating paradise rebuilt after Hurricane Dorian, with Marsh Harbour as its hub and cays such as Elbow Cay and Green Turtle Cay.
• Grand Bahama: the closest island to Florida, with Freeport and Lucaya, and the lowest rents in the country.

Our where to base yourself in the Bahamas page compares them in more detail.

• BEATS (Bahamas Extended Access Travel Stay): a one-year residence permit for people working or studying remotely for employers, businesses or institutions outside the Bahamas. No minimum income is published; you show a job letter or proof of self-employment, plus health insurance. The published fees are $25 per person to apply and a $1,000 permit fee, plus $500 for each dependant. Renewals were considered up to three years in total. Launched in 2020, its current status is unclear, so confirm it is open before relying on it.
• Visitor stay: citizens of the US, Canada, the UK, the EU and many other countries don’t need a visa. The immigration officer decides how long you can stay, often 30 days and sometimes more, and you can apply to extend up to a maximum of eight months. Visitors can’t work in the Bahamas.

Our visas, taxes and money page explains BEATS, extensions and the other routes in detail.

A comfortable month for one person costs about $3,500 to $5,000 in Nassau and $2,800 to $4,000 on Grand Bahama, with the Exumas and Abaco closer to Nassau prices and sometimes above them. A lean budget is hard to get below about $2,500. A one-bedroom apartment in a good area of Nassau rents for roughly $1,800 to $3,000 a month on a long let, a restaurant main costs $25 to $45 and a coffee $4 to $6. These are ballpark figures.

Costs that catch people out: groceries, which cost well above US prices because almost everything is shipped in; electricity for air-conditioning, which is among the most expensive in the region; car hire, since public transport is limited; and domestic flights or boats if you want to island-hop. Prices on the Out Islands are often higher than in Nassau.

The Bahamas is on Eastern Time: UTC-5 in winter and UTC-4 from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November, the same as New York and Miami. US East Coast hours are effortless and West Coast hours mean a late afternoon. European hours are hard, because 9am in London is 4am or 5am in Nassau.

Hurricane season officially runs from 1 June to 30 November. Hurricane Dorian devastated Abaco and Grand Bahama in 2019, so if you stay through the autumn, choose solid housing, follow the Department of Meteorology’s warnings and have a plan to leave.

In Nassau and Freeport, cable and fibre broadband from Cable Bahamas (REV) and BTC is widely available, at speeds that comfortably handle video calls. On the Out Islands, check the connection in any rental before you commit, because speeds vary a lot and storms can knock it out. The two mobile networks are BTC and Aliv, with 4G in Nassau, Freeport and the main settlements; prepaid SIMs and eSIMs are easy to buy with a passport. Coverage thins out on remote cays and at sea.

The Bahamas drives on the left, though most cars are left-hand drive imports from the US. In Nassau, jitneys (minibuses) run along set routes for a few dollars and taxis are plentiful but expensive; international ride-hailing apps such as Uber don’t operate. On the Out Islands, you need a hire car, a golf cart or a bicycle. Bahamasair and small private airlines fly from Lynden Pindling International Airport to the Out Islands, and fast ferries and mail boats link Nassau with Eleuthera, Harbour Island, the Exumas and other islands.

Princess Margaret Hospital is the main public hospital, in Nassau, and the private Doctors Hospital is nearby; Grand Bahama has the Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport. The Out Islands have government clinics and a few private doctors, and serious cases are flown to Nassau or Florida. Get nomad health insurance with air evacuation cover.

Most visits are trouble-free, but parts of Nassau and Freeport have serious violent crime, including armed robbery, so avoid unlit areas and quiet streets at night, and ask locals which neighbourhoods to avoid. Break-ins happen, so choose housing with good security. The Out Islands are much safer. At sea, unregulated water-sports operators, jet skis and sharks near baited water are real risks. The emergency numbers are 911 and 919.

• Work: visitors can’t work in the Bahamas, and BEATS doesn’t allow working for Bahamian employers or clients. Local work needs a work permit.
• Firearms and ammunition: bringing even a single bullet into the Bahamas is a serious offence, and visitors have been arrested for stray rounds left in luggage.
• Drugs: recreational cannabis is illegal and drug penalties are severe, including prison and deportation.
• Same-sex relations are legal, but public affection may draw negative attention.