3.39/5
1,856 reviews
Photo by David Rodrigo via Unsplash

Dubai

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great

money

expensive

amazing

summer

love

lifestyle

food

spend

times

free

side

fake

indoor

super

table

crime

western

nightlife

Dubai is a highly modern, cosmopolitan city with impressive infrastructure and a high standard of living. It’s very clean and has great international food, upscale nightlife, and amazing gyms and malls. Wi-Fi is reliable, and for those who enjoy an indoor lifestyle, Dubai can be highly enjoyable, especially in cooler months. The 0% income tax makes it appealing for business-minded people or those earning well, and the well-connected airport makes it a good base for travel. Nightlife is a major draw, especially for women who benefit from generous free drink offers in clubs. Many enjoy Dubai as a visual and social experience for the short term, with many thematic dining and entertainment options available.

On the downside, Dubai is extremely hot in summer, making it largely unwalkable, pushing residents indoors or into heavy spending on cabs. It can get very expensive, especially if not budget-conscious about lifestyle choices like alcohol or nightlife. Some report concerns about freedom of speech and local crime issues, particularly in non-upscale neighborhoods. Many found the city to feel artificial or lacking in cultural depth. Most recommend it more as a place to visit or base operations out of, rather than a long-term remote work destination unless earning a high income.

AI-generated summary of reviews
1 year ago

Went to Dubai 3 times and spent over 3 weeks to get a better taste of the city (Feb/march). It is an amazing city with lots of young people and offers unique city views and experiences. Watersports, night sky pools, great choice of fine dining and always with great service. Everything is new and clean, at least where I've been. It is somewhat expensive for southern Europeans, but we don't have these kind of places around in Europe.
Asking some locals, seems like the major issues are heat in summer and traffic.

2 years ago

I loved Dubai, and if you love beauty and structure, you will too. I was there in February, and the weather was perfect, about 28 degrees celsius. You need a cab to get around, the city is not walkable at all. It's also huge, you'd need to walk probably 5h from Dubai Marina to the Burj Khalifa. I used Uber, but Careem is also fine.

There's free Wifi almost everywhere, but you often need to enter phone number, email and name. In general you get checked a lot, it feels like they always know where you are currently.

The community is great, there's a lot to do and if you have a lot of money, you can get to so many beautiful places!

2 years ago

I visited Dubai a few times, last time I stayed 2 months. The first month I felt it was the perfect city, brought out a fun and driven side of me, very glamorous and creative spots for dining and going out. By second month, I felt the city was too fake and lacked a soul. So for me, it's a place to visit but not to live in.

2 years ago

I liked Dubai a lot! It's definitely an indoor lifestyle especially in the summer when it's 45'C outside. But that's very similar to Bangkok which is also an indoor lifestyle in my opinion. Generally airconditioning everywhere is great, except in the older pre-2010 buildings/malls.

It's super modern, super international. You'll be in having lunch in a cafe and next to you is a table of Africans, the next table is Asians, the next table is white (often Russians). You don't actually see Europeans so much here. Also when I was in Dubai I started getting messages from all my European friends "ohh Dubai is so horrible! so fake! so soulless" which just astonished me.

I get that there's problems like the labor exploitation, but it feels like the Dubai government is working actively to fix that. It feels a lot like Singapore where the government is trying to improve the lives of everyone in a methodical way which seems to work.

If you like indoor aircon lifestyle, going to nice malls, cafes and restaurants and having great international food. As well as great gyms. And you have money to spend (you don't even need a lot but okay). You'll definitely like Dubai.

If you are an outdoor person that values democracy, is more lefty in politics, don't have much money. You'll definitely not like Dubai.

2 years ago

Lived here for over a year, but I only recommend short visits. Contrary to what you hear, there is plenty of crime in parts of Dubai. Talking about that crime is considered taboo and, in many cases, is illegal. Sexual assault and gang violence against expats took place just outside my building, to people who lived in my building.

I went to the police station a few times, but the issue was never handled and no arrests were ever made. I have videos of (unspecified) crimes taking place here, but there is no free speech in the UAE, and I was threatened by the police if I ever shared them online.

Unless you make at least US$150k a year and live in an upscale area, you are unlikely to be comfortable.

3 years ago

I liked Dubai. Rents can be decent and offer a lot more compared to Western Countries, spend $1,600 on a Studio for 3 weeks, much better than many developed Western Countries. WiFI speeds are consistent and reliable. Nightlife is amazing but easily the biggest money pit as many places even a bottle of beer goes up to 20 USD. Not a bad place to use as a staging ground to explore the region or take advantage of the well connected airport. Very multi cultural place as well. Just wish the food offerings were more robust than sit down Lebanese/Turkish places and western fast food joints.

3 years ago

People either hate this place or love it. I am more on the hating side. Feels fake af, overpriced. The city is either a business downtown, either an outdated fancy chick area, either a slump. And don't get me started on human rights here.
I'd visit it for a week or two just as a tourist, but definitely not live here for longer.

4 years ago

Dubai is good if you’ve figured out a way to pay 0 income tax and live in 2 places (away doing vacations during the summer) - bonus if you don’t spend money on alcohol.

Nightlife is amazing, especially if you’re a woman. Free unlimited drinks for ladies, open bar, no catch, in two clubs in Media One Tower on Thursday. There is no place in the world that offers this. My female friends love Dubai because of these types of deals lol.

The easiest way to waste money here is by buying drinks. Search for “cruise liquor bags” on Amazon, and buy alcohol in bulk and sneak it in. No one body-checks here because it’s very safe with no crime.

You live in the city, but super close to a beach. It’s still pretty cheap if you compare similar places like Miami.

Great home base to travel from and set up your life. Convenience of flights and 0% income tax. I would recommend this for a part time digital nomad that is looking for a base of operations. Also, tons of other contacts you can make who also love traveling and have disposable income.

4 years ago

So/so. Is not a bad place to live. Standard of living is really high, apartments are amazing as well. There is basically any kind of cuisine you can think of. Great (and expensive) nightlife. 0% taxes is great if you are willing to go through the hoops.

Cons: Is oppressively hot during summer. You need a car to get around or spend absurd amounts monthly on taxis. It might get really expensive but you can definitely save by buying smart. I would be back as a tourist but not for remote working on the short term.

4 years ago

The architecture is the most stunning thing of this place, it feels like the 22nd century. It's as cosmopolitan as a place like New York but more with people from the other side of the world. Great alternatives for getting coffee and food. Nightlife is expensive but it's good.

4 years ago

I was in Dubai for 1 week, It's the best place for doing business and modern lifestyle, You can see an impressive infrastructure and what the mankind can build.

5 years ago

I was in Dubai briefly. It's not the cheapest location, but it can be very cheap if you're in Old Dubai, which is the traditional part. The supermodern parts are more expensive and also fairly unwalkable, whereas the old part is quite walkable and like a real city. It's not my favorite city and the gender ratio is quite weird with statistics showing about 3 men to 1 woman. It's good for vacation more so than nomading in my opinion

5 years ago

✅ Very modern

✅ High standard of living

✅ Amazing nightlife

✅ Great international food

✅ 0% income tax

✅ Well connected airport

✅ Clean city

✅ Good Wi-Fi

✅ Very safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Warm now

✅ Warm all year round

✅ Many Nomads.com members here all year round

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Great hospitals

✅ Roads are pretty safe

✅ Very safe for women

✅ Family friendly

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

✅ Not a lot of alcohol abuse

❌ Extremely hot in summer

❌ Not walkable

❌ Can be very expensive

❌ Feels artificial/fake

❌ Poor human rights record

❌ Requires a car or heavy taxi use

❌ Freedom of speech is weak

❌ No democracy

❌ Extremely expensive

❌ Not much to do

❌ Very sweaty and humid now

❌ Difficult to make friends

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

2373°
mild

2984°
warm

3697°
hot

39102°
hot

51124°
scorching

54129°
scorching

52126°
scorching

50122°
scorching

39102°
hot

3290°
hot

2781°
warm

Real (median)

2373°
mild

2781°
warm

3289°
hot

3391°
hot

3798°
hot

38101°
hot

38100°
hot

3798°
hot

3391°
hot

2985°
very warm

2678°
warm

Humidity

nice
63%

nice
66%

nice
60%

nice
56%

nice
58%

nice
62%

nice
58%

nice
57%

nice
60%

nice
59%

nice
62%

Most common

☀️ Clear

Rain

dry
0mm

dry
2mm

dry
0mm

dry
1mm

dry
0mm

dry
1mm

Cloud

clear
9%

pockets
24%

clear
7%

clear
4%

pockets
10%

pockets
29%

pockets
13%

pockets
22%

clear
8%

clear
7%

pockets
39%

Air quality

okay
61 US AQI

bad
128 US AQI

bad
108 US AQI

bad
120 US AQI

bad
137 US AQI

bad
144 US AQI

bad
147 US AQI

bad
149 US AQI

bad
137 US AQI

bad
112 US AQI

okay
71 US AQI

okay
80 US AQI

Sun

seek shade
5 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
10 UVI

avoid sun
11 UVI

avoid sun
10 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

seek shade
5 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

Remote workers

10,255 people

9,657 people

11,625 people

9,500 people

8,506 people

5,190 people

6,565 people

4,957 people

9,510 people

13,906 people

12,240 people

9,496 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Current weather data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0)

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$3,384 / mo

12 Mbps

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 37° 99° 29° 84° Has AC AQI 204 😷

✈️7h

$1,825 / mo

🌇 Also went here595 people

Singapore

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌫 Feels 41° 106° 31° 88° Has AC AQI 217 😷

✈️8h

$5,485 / mo

🌇 Also went here664 people

Lisbon

Portugal

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 23° 73° 23° 74° AQI 34

✈️8h

$4,769 / mo

🌇 Also went here617 people

Canggu, Bali

Indonesia

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

🎒 Nomad Score™	3.39/5 (Rank #230) 1856 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍17 liked it 👎5 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Good
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Good
🤯 Overcrowding score	0% is nomad here
💵 Cost	😳 Extremely expensive: $6,669 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 15 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Too hot: 34°C93°F (feels 47°C117°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	🥵 Sweaty: 72%
❄️ % of buildings with AC	😍 Very high: 99%
💨 Air quality (now)	😷 Unhealthy for some: 109 US AQI
💨 Air quality (annual)	😷 Unhealthy for some: 137 US AQI
👌 Safety	Good
👩 Safe for women	Great
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Bad
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Great
🤝 Lack of racism*	Okay
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Resilience to climate change	Good
💰 Income level*	Very rich: $4,190 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
😤 People density	🧘‍♀️ Sprawling: 3k ppl/km² (1 per 19x19m)
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Great
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
🏥 Hospitals	Good
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Bad
📶 Free WiFi in city	Okay
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Great
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Okay
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Okay
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Middle East
🚩 Country	United Arab Emirates
🗓️ Average trip length	11 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	15 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	☀️ 34°C 93°F + 🥵 Sweaty (72%) = feels 47°C 117°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👎😷 109 US AQI = 🚬 / day
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👎☠️ 137 US AQI = 🚬 🚬 / day
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🧔 Best neighborhood to stay	DSO & International City
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood	DSO & International City
🚕 Best taxi app*	Careem
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 10 AED in USD	USD 2.72
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	AED 1,000 = USD 272
💸 Tipping	No
💳 Cashless	💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
🦷 Fluoride added	🚫 No fluoride added
♻️ Return rate	👍15% of visitors return
📸 Visitors per year	16,010,000 visitors
📸 Tourists now	306,831 tourists
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	5,200,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$50,274 / year
😤 Population density	🧘‍♀️ empty: 19x19m (361m²) per person
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 78% 👱‍♀️ 22%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 73% 👱‍♀️ 27%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 85% 👱‍♀️ 15%
⛪️ Religious government	Religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Souq
🏠 Apartment listings	Property Finder
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Fly Dubai
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Emirates

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$6,669 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$5,796 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$10,201 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$2,914 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$2,120 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$11,552 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$2,408 / month
🏠 Median home price	$462,900
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$99 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$379 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$393 / month
🍛 Dinner	$13
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$2
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$14
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$6
👩‍🏫 International school	$17,943 / year
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$2 / trip

Dubai

13,200 remote workers in Dubai now, of which 19+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

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