diff --git a/.changeset/gentle-cats-guess.md b/.changeset/gentle-cats-guess.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a6f7d3aa6339
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/gentle-cats-guess.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'create-astro': patch
+---
+
+Added an option to create-astro to use verbose logging which should help debug degit issues
diff --git a/packages/create-astro/README.md b/packages/create-astro/README.md
index 5709fa426801..80a0da093ed9 100644
--- a/packages/create-astro/README.md
+++ b/packages/create-astro/README.md
@@ -43,4 +43,19 @@ May be provided in place of prompts
 | `--template` | Specify the template name ([list][examples])        |
 | `--commit`   | Specify a specific Git commit or branch to use from this repo (by default, `main` branch of this repo will be used) |
 
+### Debugging
+
+To debug `create-astro`, you can use the `--verbose` flag which will log the output of degit and some more information about the command, this can be useful when you encounter an error and want to report it.
+
+```bash
+# npm 6.x
+npm init astro my-astro-project --verbose
+
+# npm 7+, extra double-dash is needed:
+npm init astro my-astro-project -- --verbose
+
+# yarn
+yarn create astro my-astro-project --verbose
+```
+
 [examples]: https://github.com/withastro/astro/tree/main/examples
diff --git a/packages/create-astro/src/index.ts b/packages/create-astro/src/index.ts
index 898d6b2486eb..06f8f5b1fb6e 100644
--- a/packages/create-astro/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/create-astro/src/index.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import yargs from 'yargs-parser';
 import { FRAMEWORKS, COUNTER_COMPONENTS } from './frameworks.js';
 import { TEMPLATES } from './templates.js';
 import { createConfig } from './config.js';
+import { logger, defaultLogLevel } from './logger.js';
 
 // NOTE: In the v7.x version of npm, the default behavior of `npm init` was changed
 // to no longer require `--` to pass args and instead pass `--` directly to us. This
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ const { version } = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(new URL('../package.json', import
 const POSTPROCESS_FILES = ['package.json', 'astro.config.mjs', 'CHANGELOG.md']; // some files need processing after copying.
 
 export async function main() {
+	logger.debug('Verbose logging turned on');
 	console.log(`\n${bold('Welcome to Astro!')} ${gray(`(create-astro v${version})`)}`);
 	console.log(`If you encounter a problem, visit ${cyan('https://github.com/withastro/astro/issues')} to search or file a new issue.\n`);
 
@@ -75,7 +77,13 @@ export async function main() {
 	const emitter = degit(`${templateTarget}${hash}`, {
 		cache: false,
 		force: true,
-		verbose: false,
+		verbose: defaultLogLevel === 'debug' ? true : false,
+	});
+
+	logger.debug('Initialized degit with following config:', `${templateTarget}${hash}`, {
+		cache: false,
+		force: true,
+		verbose: defaultLogLevel === 'debug' ? true : false,
 	});
 
 	const selectedTemplate = TEMPLATES.find((template) => template.value === options.template);
@@ -99,11 +107,14 @@ export async function main() {
 
 	// Copy
 	try {
-		// emitter.on('info', info => { console.log(info.message) });
+		emitter.on('info', (info) => {
+			logger.debug(info.message);
+		});
 		console.log(`${green(`>`)} ${gray(`Copying project files...`)}`);
 		await emitter.clone(cwd);
 	} catch (err: any) {
-		// degit is compiled, so the stacktrace is pretty noisy. Just report the message.
+		// degit is compiled, so the stacktrace is pretty noisy. Only report the stacktrace when using verbose mode.
+		logger.debug(err);
 		console.error(red(err.message));
 
 		// Warning for issue #655
@@ -115,7 +126,11 @@ export async function main() {
 		// Helpful message when encountering the "could not find commit hash for ..." error
 		if (err.code === 'MISSING_REF') {
 			console.log(yellow("This seems to be an issue with degit. Please check if you have 'git' installed on your system, and install it if you don't have (https://git-scm.com)."));
-			console.log(yellow("If you do have 'git' installed, please file a new issue here: https://github.com/withastro/astro/issues"));
+			console.log(
+				yellow(
+					"If you do have 'git' installed, please run this command with the --verbose flag and file a new issue with the command output here: https://github.com/withastro/astro/issues"
+				)
+			);
 		}
 		process.exit(1);
 	}
diff --git a/packages/create-astro/src/logger.ts b/packages/create-astro/src/logger.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..97be7af0a220
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/create-astro/src/logger.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+import { bold, blue, dim, red, yellow } from 'kleur/colors';
+import { Writable } from 'stream';
+import { format as utilFormat } from 'util';
+
+type ConsoleStream = Writable & {
+	fd: 1 | 2;
+};
+
+function getLoggerLocale(): string {
+	const defaultLocale = 'en-US';
+	if (process.env.LANG) {
+		const extractedLocale = process.env.LANG.split('.')[0].replace(/_/g, '-');
+		// Check if language code is atleast two characters long (ie. en, es).
+		// NOTE: if "c" locale is encountered, the default locale will be returned.
+		if (extractedLocale.length < 2) return defaultLocale;
+		else return extractedLocale;
+	} else return defaultLocale;
+}
+
+const dt = new Intl.DateTimeFormat(getLoggerLocale(), {
+	hour: '2-digit',
+	minute: '2-digit',
+});
+
+export const defaultLogDestination = new Writable({
+	objectMode: true,
+	write(event: LogMessage, _, callback) {
+		let dest: ConsoleStream = process.stderr;
+		if (levels[event.level] < levels['error']) dest = process.stdout;
+
+		dest.write(dim(dt.format(new Date()) + ' '));
+
+		let type = event.type;
+		if (type) {
+			switch (event.level) {
+				case 'info':
+					type = bold(blue(type));
+					break;
+				case 'warn':
+					type = bold(yellow(type));
+					break;
+				case 'error':
+					type = bold(red(type));
+					break;
+			}
+
+			dest.write(`[${type}] `);
+		}
+
+		dest.write(utilFormat(...event.args));
+		dest.write('\n');
+
+		callback();
+	},
+});
+
+interface LogWritable<T> extends Writable {
+	write: (chunk: T) => boolean;
+}
+
+export type LoggerLevel = 'debug' | 'info' | 'warn' | 'error' | 'silent'; // same as Pino
+export type LoggerEvent = 'debug' | 'info' | 'warn' | 'error';
+
+export let defaultLogLevel: LoggerLevel;
+if (process.argv.includes('--verbose')) {
+	defaultLogLevel = 'debug';
+} else if (process.argv.includes('--silent')) {
+	defaultLogLevel = 'silent';
+} else {
+	defaultLogLevel = 'info';
+}
+
+export interface LogOptions {
+	dest?: LogWritable<LogMessage>;
+	level?: LoggerLevel;
+}
+
+export const defaultLogOptions: Required<LogOptions> = {
+	dest: defaultLogDestination,
+	level: defaultLogLevel,
+};
+
+export interface LogMessage {
+	type: string | null;
+	level: LoggerLevel;
+	message: string;
+	args: Array<any>;
+}
+
+export const levels: Record<LoggerLevel, number> = {
+	debug: 20,
+	info: 30,
+	warn: 40,
+	error: 50,
+	silent: 90,
+};
+
+/** Full logging API */
+export function log(opts: LogOptions = {}, level: LoggerLevel, type: string | null, ...args: Array<any>) {
+	const logLevel = opts.level ?? defaultLogOptions.level;
+	const dest = opts.dest ?? defaultLogOptions.dest;
+	const event: LogMessage = {
+		type,
+		level,
+		args,
+		message: '',
+	};
+
+	// test if this level is enabled or not
+	if (levels[logLevel] > levels[level]) {
+		return; // do nothing
+	}
+
+	dest.write(event);
+}
+
+/** Emit a message only shown in debug mode */
+export function debug(opts: LogOptions, type: string | null, ...messages: Array<any>) {
+	return log(opts, 'debug', type, ...messages);
+}
+
+/** Emit a general info message (be careful using this too much!) */
+export function info(opts: LogOptions, type: string | null, ...messages: Array<any>) {
+	return log(opts, 'info', type, ...messages);
+}
+
+/** Emit a warning a user should be aware of */
+export function warn(opts: LogOptions, type: string | null, ...messages: Array<any>) {
+	return log(opts, 'warn', type, ...messages);
+}
+
+/** Emit a fatal error message the user should address. */
+export function error(opts: LogOptions, type: string | null, ...messages: Array<any>) {
+	return log(opts, 'error', type, ...messages);
+}
+
+// A default logger for when too lazy to pass LogOptions around.
+export const logger = {
+	debug: debug.bind(null, defaultLogOptions, 'debug'),
+	info: info.bind(null, defaultLogOptions, 'info'),
+	warn: warn.bind(null, defaultLogOptions, 'warn'),
+	error: error.bind(null, defaultLogOptions, 'error'),
+};