Kenya for Digital Nomads

• A nomad permit. The Class N permit lets people working for foreign employers or clients live in Kenya for one or two years, renewable.
• English everywhere. Business, leases, banking and healthcare all work in English.
• M-Pesa. Safaricom’s mobile money pays for almost everything, from rent to street food, and you can register with a passport.
• City and coast. Nairobi’s tech scene and private hospitals, plus beach towns such as Diani and Watamu for a slower life.
• Time zone. On UTC+3 all year, with a full overlap with European working hours.

Kenya suits remote workers on European or Middle Eastern hours, people in tech, development and NGO work, kitesurfers, divers and anyone who wants safaris and beaches within easy reach. Nairobi has a big international community, and the coast has a settled crowd of long-stayers.

It suits you less if you want to walk everywhere at night, need perfectly reliable power and internet, or work US hours: 9am in New York is 4pm or 5pm in Kenya, so West Coast calls run late. Healthcare outside Nairobi and Mombasa is limited, and the Class N permit is a big step up in cost and paperwork from an eTA.

• Nairobi: the capital and tech hub, with coworking, private hospitals and the biggest expat scene. Most nomads live in Westlands, Kilimani, Kileleshwa or Lavington.
• Diani Beach: the south coast’s long white beach, with kitesurfing, monkeys in the trees and a sizeable long-stay community.
• Watamu: a small beach village with a marine park, good diving and a strong Italian influence.
• Kilifi: a creek-side town between Mombasa and Malindi, popular with creatives and younger long-stayers.
• Lamu: a car-free Swahili island town and UNESCO site, for slow, quiet living.
• Nanyuki: a cool highland town on the equator, at the foot of Mount Kenya, close to wildlife conservancies.

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

• Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA): needed by most visitors, including US, UK, EU, Canadian and Australian citizens. It costs $30 (plus $100 for urgent processing), is applied for online, and gives a stay of up to 90 days, which immigration can extend to a maximum of six months.
• eTA exemptions: citizens of the other East African Community states can stay up to 180 days without an eTA. Since 2025, most other African nationals, and those of several Caribbean, Pacific and Asian countries, are also exempt for 60 or 90 days.
• Class N digital nomad permit: for people working remotely for an employer or clients outside Kenya. It costs $200 to process plus $1,000 a year once issued, and is issued for one or two years.

Visitors on an eTA can’t work for Kenyan employers or clients. Our visas, taxes and money page explains the permit and the process step by step.

A comfortable month for one person costs about $1,700 to $2,300 in Nairobi (roughly KES 220,000 to 300,000) and $1,200 to $2,000 on the coast or in Nanyuki. A lean budget is about $1,100 to $1,300. A furnished one-bedroom serviced apartment in Westlands or Kilimani rents for about $700 to $1,200 a month, a local meal costs $3 to $6 and a coffee $2 to $4. These are ballpark figures.

Costs that catch people out: imported groceries and wine, a generator or backup power, private health insurance, internal flights at peak season, and park fees, which are charged per person per day and add up fast on safari.

Kenya is on East Africa Time (UTC+3) all year, with no daylight saving. That is two hours ahead of London in summer and three in winter, and one or two hours ahead of most of Europe, so European hours are easy. Asia’s afternoon overlaps with your morning. US hours mean evening work: 9am in New York is 4pm in summer and 5pm in winter.

Kenya sits on the equator, so the seasons are wet and dry rather than hot and cold, and altitude matters more than the month.

Nairobi, at about 1,700 metres, is mild all year, with days of around 22 to 27°C. The coast is hot and humid, around 28 to 32°C.

Fibre is widely available in Nairobi from Safaricom, Zuku and Faiba, often at 50 to 200 Mbps, and in the main coastal towns, where options are fewer. Starlink is licensed in Kenya and popular on the coast and in rural areas. For mobile, Safaricom has the best coverage and 5G in the cities, with Airtel as the main alternative. A SIM is registered with your passport and a large data bundle costs a few dollars to $20 a month. Power cuts happen everywhere, so check for a generator or inverter before you rent.

Kenya drives on the left. Uber operates in Nairobi and Mombasa, and Bolt covers Nairobi, Mombasa, Diani, Kilifi, Malindi, Nanyuki and other towns; Kenya’s own Little app also works in Nairobi. Ride-hailing is the safest way to get around cities at night. The Madaraka Express (SGR) train links Nairobi and Mombasa in about five hours, and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport has direct flights to Europe, the Gulf and across Africa. Domestic flights from Nairobi serve Mombasa, Malindi, Ukunda for Diani, Manda for Lamu and Nanyuki. Matatus (minibuses) are cheap but crowded and often driven fast.

Nairobi has the region’s best private hospitals, including Aga Khan University Hospital and The Nairobi Hospital, and Mombasa has good private care. Elsewhere it’s basic, and serious cases go to Nairobi. Malaria is present on the coast and around Lake Victoria; Nairobi and the highlands are low-risk. Get travel-health advice on yellow fever and other vaccines, and carry nomad health insurance with evacuation cover.

Crime is the main concern in cities: phone snatching, muggings and car-window thefts. Use ride-hailing after dark, keep phones out of sight in traffic and live in a building with security. Some areas near the Somali border, including parts of mainland Lamu County, are subject to government travel warnings, so check yours before going north of Malindi. The emergency numbers are 999 and 112.

• Work: an eTA doesn’t allow any work for Kenyan employers or clients, and neither does the Class N permit.
• Plastic bags: single-use plastic carrier bags are banned, with heavy fines.
• Drones: flying one needs a permit from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, and they’re banned in national parks without permission.
• Photography: don’t photograph police, the military or government buildings, and ask before photographing people.
• Drugs and smoking: cannabis and other drugs are illegal, and smoking in public places is banned.
• LGBTQ+ travellers: same-sex sexual relations are criminalised, and public attitudes are conservative.