Is Sri Lanka good for digital nomads?

Is Sri Lanka good for Digital Nomads? Short answer: no. Voila! I just saved you hours of research and time you could have spent doing something better. Now actually, if you have a little more time, you should read why I believe it is not a good place for Digital Nomads.

Quick History Of Sri Lanka

If we take a look at Sri Lanka’s history, it’s only been recently that the country has become a popular destination for tourists. Before that, the country has an extensive history of civil war between civil groups, instability and violence, as recent as 2019. Lately, it has been developing and it is quickly becoming a sensational destination among Europeans and Australian backpackers, lots of Russians as well moving there to live and start businesses. Now what the population think of them… that’s a different topic. I got to hear a few opinions and one of them was from a local working on the beach, and he made it clear that he was not a fan of Russian tourists, and that he preferred British and Germans… Weird preference but in his defence they are happier and nicer people to deal with. Fair.

The island country is quite small. Shaped like a teardrop, it spans approximately 415 kilometers from north to south and 220 kilometers from east to west, covering a total land area of about 65,600 square kilometers. The habitants cohabit quite nicely with flor and fauna. It was refreshing to see such thing in a world where almost everything has been ”discovered”. Sri Lanka is true to it nickname as the ”Pearl of the Orient”, as it nature is quite raw and untouched by mass tourism (yet?). It is still underdeveloped but there are clear signs of future development and focus on promoting the tourism there. You can already see that the Tourism Board of Sri Lanka is working super hard with all these travel influencers sending them on sponsored trips, making sponsored posts and promoting services and activities there. Their work seems to pay off as in November 2023, they recorded the highest number of tourist entry for the year! More than 150.000 recorded arrivals in Sri Lanka in one month, compared to 194.000 in 2021 (whole year yes). But to be fair, all countries tourist arrivals has gone significally down after the pandemic. The tourism sector in the country has been growing since the end of the civil war in 2009, took a hit after the pandemic, and is now getting back up.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE TOURISM SECTOR IN SRI LANKA FROM 1995 TO 2021

Expectations

Knowing all of that, I had expectations. MISTAKE. You should never visit a country and have your own imaginary expectations. You should set the bar extremely low to avoid any disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, the country is AMAZING if you’re a backpacker, quickly passing by, staying at an all exclusive or going purposely to isolate yourself in the mountains. For those cases and many more, it is indeed quite a fun country to travel to. But as a digital nomad, my opinion is quite divided.

I did enjoy many aspect of the country. It has it charm, it is quite a hidden gem, cheap, safe, LOVELY people, nice weather, variety of things to do for a range of budgets etc. The major problem and let down came to connectivity… I started my trip in Colombo, the capital. My itinerary of a month and a half approximately took me to: Colombo, Hikkaduwa, Gale, Unawatuna, Tangalle, Udawalawe, Ella, Kandy, Sigiriya, Nilaveli, Trincomalee, Anundhapura and Negombo.

Connectivity Issues

Most of the places we went to had simply bad internet connectivity. Unreliable. We only had two places with solid connection and it was in Tangalle and Negombo. The rest was simply not trustworthy and we had to hot spot from our phones or simply not work. The data coverage was also an issue. The first sim card I got from x, at arrivals at the airport was ridiculously slow or not even working actually! One week later, I switched to an e sim with y. X simply did not provide me with data when I most needed, as well as in many instances when everyone around had functional data, but me. The second e-sim I got had a better network for sure, but also not 100% functional and trustworthy. There is no cafe or restaurant for you to sit down and work really, as it is simply not the culture in the country. So if your homestay internet is non functional and your data plan is slow; you will have nowhere to go work… Well depending where you are situated. The only cafes I been to and worked in were in Negombo: Boho Cafe and Zen Cafe. That’s it… In the whole country… So if you are in other areas, small town or mountains, good luck. There is also often electricity shortages. We experienced a few during the trip; some for long periods (the longest being half a day almost) and the shortest being just about a few minutes. The short cuts did not really affect our overall work, but the longer ones yes.

This was a big hit given the fact that it slowed my ability to work and get things done quickly & on time. It was a major let down and the main reason on why I think the country is not great for digital nomads. You could perhaps stay at one place with solid internet, and explore the country on your free time, instead of being constantly on the move, or you could also have it as a base in Asia (debatable as it is not necessarily a good base to travel around), then maybe then I could see the appeal for digital nomads.

Food Scene

Then comes the food issue… The food scene is not impressive or enjoyable on the long run. For the first few days to weeks, I did enjoy the new flavours I got to taste as Sri Lankan cuisine was new to me. I expected it to be similar to Indian food but boy was I wrong! Quite different. It is delicious indeed, absolutely love their curries, kottu and roti. Unfortunately, after a while, it does get tiring. The food options were limited, extremely repetitive and the standards for quality is quite low, making it hard to find a truly enjoyable basic meal. At some points I was eating to not starve, not to actually enjoy it. Yes, there were definitely a few restaurants that were a HIT and it would be a shame not to mention them! Their food was a delight, amazing and even perfect in some cases. Here are the best meals we got the chance to try:

Putting aside the hardship of being able to work whenever wherever, the bad food experiences, Sri Lanka was a fun adventurous country. For me, these two criteria are very important when it comes to judging whether or a place is good for digital nomads or not. So there you have it. The reasons why I believe Sri Lanka is not ideal for digital nomads after spending one month and a half in the country. With all the upcoming development and efforts to bring in more tourists, things might change, connectivity might become more accessible and widely spread in the country. But for now, as of December 2023 – January 2024, it is simply not. You should still plan on visiting the country, but keep it short (2 weeks max) and adventurous. You will have more fun exploring the country that way then running around trying to find a connection to get back on your laptop!