Traveling to Antigua & Barbuda and planning your trip? Don't let high roaming charges, slow overseas data roaming plans or slow WiFi ruin your trip. Get yourself a sim card for Antigua & Barbuda. This is a complete guide for the best way to stay connected when traveling to Antigua & Barbuda. Find out where to buy a sim card for Antigua & Barbuda, up to date prices as per Januray 2024, the best 4G network coverage, e-sim cards for Antigua & Barbuda, my recommendation and more tips.
Planning your trip? Check out all my Antigua & Barbuda travel guide full of travel tips to make the most of your time on this charming island in the Northeastern Caribbean.
Finding the best way to stay connected is the first thing I do when arriving in a new country and I like to document it. As I am also aiming to travel to every country in the world you can already find more than 200 sim card guides on Traveltomtom: United Kingdom, London, Europe, USA, New York, Newark, Miami, Jamaica, Dominican Republic and many more.
So next time when planning your adventure abroad come check out Traveltomtom for the latest prepaid tourist sim card and e-sim card advice for your destination. Bookmark me!
My recommendation
Traveltomtom recommends a Digicel sim card for Antigua & Barbuda. Comparing both prepaid sim card plans and network coverage then we come to the conclusion that Digicel performs slightly better than Flow.
Traveltomtom definitely recommends e-sim cards, but unfortunately there are not many e-sim cards for Antigua & Barbuda available on the internet.
When it comes to buying a prepaid sim card there are only 2 mobile operators and few stores. And like most other things in Antigua & Barbuda, a prepaid sim card for tourists with data it is NOT cheap.
Although most hotels and resorts in Antigua have ok WiFi, I would still advice you to buy a sim card for Antigua. That way you can always rely on 4G and you won’t have any problems with streaming videos for example. The WiFi in the luxury resorts I stayed at was not strong enough to stream live football for example and on the deserted Antigua beaches there is no wifi signal of course.
Also when road tripping and going to some of the best places to visit in Antigua & Barbuda being connected to Google Maps for directions and finding local restaurants gets much easier when you have data on your phone. Buying a sim card for traveling to Antigua & Barbuda is therefore very much recommended!
Getting a sim card on arrival in Antigua & Barbuda is rather time consuming and expensive. There is a much better option and that is to order one online before your trip or to get an e-sim card for Antigua & Barbuda.
If you are visiting more islands in the Caribbean it is great to check out my article with the best sim cards for traveling the world in 2024.
Best e-sim cards for Antigua & Barbuda
An e-sim card is the easiest way to stay connected when traveling to Antigua & Barbuda. No more swapping physical sim cards or visiting a sim card store. Order an e-sim online, receive a QR code, scan it, follow the steps and in just a couple clicks you installed an e-sim on your phone.
As soon as you arrive in Antigua & Barbuda you can enjoy a data connection on your phone. Whether you arrive by plane or by cruise ship, you are instantly online without doing anything.
Unfortunately there are not many e-sim cards for Antigua & Barbuda available on the internet.
Airalo
Via Airalo you can order the following e-sim card for traveling in Antigua & Barbuda:
- 1 GB data for 7 days for $9.5 USD.
Click here to directly order this Antigua e-sim card via Airalo. More info in the link.
SimOptions
There is also an e-sim card that is valid all of the Caribbean Islands. This e-sim card from Ubigi is valid in almost 30 countries/islands in the Caribbean, but it is also expensive:
- 1 GB data for 30 days = $29.90 USD
Click here to order this e-sim card for the Caribbean directly online.
Before ordering an e-sim card make sure your phone is e-sim compatible.
Mobile internet operators in Antigua & Barbuda
Antigua & Barbuda is a small country and there are only two mobile internet operators: Digicel and Flow. Digicel is the oldest mobile network and is active all over the Caribbean, Flow is also present in some other Caribbean islands nowadays.
At Antigua Airport on arrival I found an INET Mobile sim card, but I can already tell you that buying this tourist sim card at Antigua Airport is not a good idea! More about it later.
Best mobile data network in Antigua & Barbuda
Normally I would take the network coverage for Digicel and Flow into consideration to find out what is the best sim card in Antigua & Barbuda. Imagine finding a great sim card deal but then finding out there is hardly is any phone reception.
For Antigua and Barbuda it was a little harder to find relevant information about the network strength on the island for Flow and Digicel. As you can see in the picture above Flow is claiming to have the most reliable 4G network in Antigua, but I asked the locals to find out more.
According to locals Digicel has the best 4G network in Antigua, but it doesn’t differ much from Flow apparently. Based on my own experience I can tell you that Flow has a good 4G network. I bought a FLOW sim card in Antigua and it worked perfectly fine. Most tourist spots in Antigua I visited I had a good 4G data connection.
As of January 2024 there is no 5G data connection available in Antigua & Barbuda, the fastest mobile data connection is 4G/LTE.
Where to buy a sim card in Antigua
Buying a sim card in St. John’s city center
The best place to buy an Antigua sim card is in St. John’s. In the city center of Antigua's capital you will find a Digicel and a Flow shop only about 1 block away from each other. Both shops are located in Market Street and easy to locate. In both the Digicel and Flow shop you can pay with international credit cards.
The problem is that it can be very busy and you will need to wait in line to for a while until it is your turn. This is the main reason why I recommend you to get an e-sim card for Antigua & Barbuda or an international sim card with coverage in the Caribbean.
Buying a sim card at Antigua Airport
Unfortunately there is no Flow or Digicel shop at Antigua Airport (ANU). That said it is still possible buying an Antigua sim card at the airport. Right behind customs (before baggage claim) there is a duty-free shop and they sell INET Mobile sim cards.
It is the easiest way to buy a sim card when arriving in Antigua, but also the most expensive one! The INET Mobile sim card cost $30 USD and gives you only 1GB data. Super expensive!
Important! For buying an Antigua sim card you will need a photo ID, passport is best, but I bought my Flow sim card with my Dutch drivers license.
Prices Antigua sim card in 2024
Buying a sim card at Antigua Airport is not worth it because you can find much better deals in the Digicel and Flow shops in St. John’s. Prices below are in East Caribbean Dollar and per January 2024: $1 USD = $2.70 ECD and 1 ECD = $0.37 USD.
Digicel Antigua prepaid sim card
A Digicel prepaid sim card cost EC$20 ($7,5) and comes with no credit. To add a data package to your Digicel sim card you can choose from the following:
- 8 ECD ($3) = 2 GB data + 25 minutes & unlimited sms - valid for 1 day.
- 40 ECD ($15) = 5 GB data + 400 minutes & unlimited sms - valid for 7 days.
- 110 ECD ($41) = 12 GB data + 1,000 minutes & unlimited sms - valid for 30 days.
Check the Digicel Antigua website for more info.
Flow Antigua prepaid sim card
A Flow prepaid sim card cost EC$20 ($7,5) and comes with no credit. To add data to your Flow sim card you can choose from the following packages:
- 8,50 ECD ($3) = 2 GB data + 50 minutes & 50 sms - valid for 1 day.
- 20 ECD ($7) = 3 GB data + 200 minutes & 200 sms - valid for 3 days.
- 40 ECD ($15) = 5 GB data + 500 minutes & 500 sms - valid for 7 day.
- 100 ECD ($37) = 8 GB data + 800 minutes & 800 sms - valid for 30 day.
- 120 ECD ($44) = 12 GB data + 1,200 minutes & 1,200 sms - valid for 10 days.
For more info check the Flow Antigua website. The staff at the Flow store was very friendly and helpful when I came to buy a prepaid sim card for Antigua.
Best sim card for Antigua & Barbuda in 2024
Comparing both Antigua sim cards we can come to the conclusion that Digicel offers slightly more value for money than Flow and therefore:
Digicel is the best sim card in Antigua & Barbuda in 2024!
I hope the above tips for buying a sim card in Antigua were helpful for your upcoming Antigua holiday. Don’t forget to check out my article about everything you need to know when you travel to Antigua & Barbuda. You will find out all about: visas, electricity plugs, best things to do, best beaches, hiking trails, bars, restaurants and many more Antigua & Barbuda travel tips.
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Safe travels and enjoy the Caribbean!
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