We analyse the importance of local heat and freshwater fluxes for sea level variability in the tropical Pacific on interannual to decadal timescales by using a global ocean model. Our results suggest that they amplify sea level variability in the eastern part of the basin and dampen it in the central and western part of the domain. We demonstrate that the oceanic response allows local sea level anomalies to propagate zonally which enables remote effects of local heat and freshwater fluxes.