The DR has 10 very different regions. For remote workers, the gap between the best and worst is enormous. Bad internet, unreliable power, and no expat community will kill your productivity. The right spot gives you everything you need at a fraction of what you’d pay in Western Europe or North America.
Here are the five regions that actually work for remote workers, and what makes each worth considering.
1. Cabarete: best overall
Cabarete is the DR’s strongest remote work base. The best co-working infrastructure outside Santo Domingo, a genuine digital nomad community, and internet options that hold up for serious work.
Agora Cowork is the anchor. Day passes, monthly memberships, air conditioning, meeting rooms, reliable fibre. Around it, a cluster of cafes and beach bars for lighter working days.
Internet: Fibre on the main strip, Starlink at most quality expat properties, Claro and Altice 4G as backup. Cost: $1,200-1,800/month comfortable. Community: Strong North American and European nomad scene. Active Facebook group. Events at Agora most weeks. Airport: Puerto Plata (POP), 27 minutes. Downside: Small town. Heat from April to August. Kite season brings crowds and higher prices October to April.
Best for: remote workers who want a co-working scene and a beach town. The standard first choice.
2. Las Terrenas: best for quality of life around the work
Las Terrenas works for remote work, but the infrastructure is less developed than Cabarete. Fibre and Starlink are both available. The co-working scene is limited. If you can build a solid home office, it’s a viable base.
The draw is everything around the work. Better beaches than Cabarete, better restaurants, a calmer daily pace. If you can afford the slightly higher cost and don’t need a co-working space every day, Las Terrenas gives you a more comfortable all-round life.
Internet: Fibre available. Starlink widespread at quality properties. Cost: $1,500-2,200/month comfortable. Community: European expat skew. More retirees and couples than nomads. Smaller but established. Airport: El Catey (AZS), 45 minutes. Santo Domingo (SDQ) is 2.5 hours. Downside: Limited co-working options. Higher cost than Cabarete. More remote if you need city access.
Best for: remote workers who value quality of life as much as the work setup and can self-manage without a co-working community.
3. Santo Domingo: best for city infrastructure
If you want urban energy, the best internet in the country, and access to everything a capital city offers, Santo Domingo is the answer. The catch: it doesn’t feel like a Caribbean beach life. It’s a busy Latin American city.
The expat zones (Piantini, Naco, Los Cacicazgos) have reliable power, fibre internet, multiple co-working spaces, and a growing tech community. Flight connections are significantly better than from Puerto Plata. If you’re flying frequently for client meetings, this matters.
Internet: Best in country. Fibre widely available. Multiple ISP options. Cost: $1,500-2,500/month for a comfortable expat-zone setup. Community: Larger, more diverse, more professional. Bigger tech and business scene. Airport: Las Américas (SDQ), 30-45 minutes from the main expat zones. Downside: No beach. Traffic. City noise. Not what most people picture when they think of moving to the DR.
Best for: remote workers who need city infrastructure, frequent flights, or want to be part of a larger professional community.
4. Jarabacoa: best for cooler climate and low cost
Jarabacoa sits at around 1,200 metres in the central mountains. The temperature is 10-15 degrees cooler than the coast. For people who can’t think clearly in 35-degree heat, this alone makes it interesting.
The infrastructure is more basic. Starlink has made it significantly more viable for remote work over the last two years. Co-working spaces are limited. You need a solid home setup.
What Jarabacoa offers that nowhere else in the DR does: mountain air, rivers, waterfalls, hiking, and a genuinely quiet pace of life. It’s growing with a younger expat community drawn by the cooler temperatures and lower cost.
Internet: Starlink viable and increasingly common. Fibre improving but patchy in places. Cost: $900-1,400/month. The most affordable credible remote work base in the DR. Community: Small but growing. More adventure-focused expats than beach-focused ones. Airport: Santiago (STI), about an hour. Santo Domingo (SDQ), 2 hours. Downside: Limited amenities. Fewer restaurants and services. Isolated if you need regular city access.
Best for: remote workers who struggle with heat, want low costs, and are comfortable building their own community from scratch.
5. Santiago: best for city life without the capital price tag
Santiago is the DR’s second city. No beach, but reliable infrastructure, lower costs than Santo Domingo, a growing young professional class, and enough amenities to live comfortably.
It’s off most nomads’ radar. That’s partly what makes it work. Less competition for apartments, a cheaper cost of living, and a more authentic Dominican city experience without the capital’s traffic and noise.
Internet: Fibre available in main residential areas. Starlink an option. Cost: $1,000-1,600/month comfortable. Community: Small expat scene. Not a nomad hub. You’ll build your own. Airport: Santiago (STI), close and increasingly well-connected. Downside: No beach, small expat scene, not a nomad community. Starting point, not an arrival point.
Best for: remote workers who want city infrastructure at lower cost and don’t need a ready-made expat community.
How to choose
| Cabarete | Las Terrenas | Santo Domingo | Jarabacoa | Santiago | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internet | Strong | Good | Best | Improving | Good |
| Cost/month | $1,200-1,800 | $1,500-2,200 | $1,500-2,500 | $900-1,400 | $1,000-1,600 |
| Co-working | Yes | Limited | Yes | Limited | Limited |
| Beach | Yes | Yes (better) | No | No | No |
| Nomad community | Strong | Small | Growing | Small | Very small |
| Airport access | 27 min (POP) | 45 min (AZS) | 30-45 min (SDQ) | 1hr (STI) | 15 min (STI) |
If you’re not sure where you sit, take the quiz. It factors in your work setup, budget, lifestyle preferences, and how much community matters to you.
