Traveling to Antigua & Barbuda soon? Don't let high roaming charges, slow overseas data roaming plans or slow WiFi ruin your trip. Get yourself a prepaid sim card for Antigua & Barbuda. This is a complete guide for buying a sim card in Antigua & Barbuda with up to date prices as per August 2022, where to buy a sim card, best 4G network coverage, e-sim cards for Antigua & Barbuda and more.
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.
There is not much choice for tourists traveling to Antigua & Barbuda when it comes to buying a prepaid sim card. And like most other things in Antigua & Barbuda, a prepaid sim card 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 in Antigua. That way you can always rely on 4G and you won’t have any problems with streaming videos for example. My luxury resorts WiFi was not strong enough to stream live football for example and on the deserted Antigua beaches there is no wifi of course.
Also when road tripping and going to some of the best places to visit in Antigua & Barbuda being connected to Google Maps and finding local restaurants makes it much easier when you are connected with 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. Check out my article with the best world sim cards for traveling in 2022.
E-sim card for Antigua & Barbuda
Unfortunately there is only 1 e-sim card for Antigua & Barbuda available: 1 GB data for 7 days for $9.5 USD. Click on the link to directly order this Antigua e-sim card or find more info.
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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 most Caribbean islands nowadays.
At Antigua Airport on arrival I found an INET Mobile sim card, but I can already tell you that buying this sim card at Antigua Airport is not a good idea! More about it later.
Best mobile network Antigua
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 July 2022 there is no 5G data connection available in Antigua & Barbuda.
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 2022
Buying a sim card at Antigua Airport is not really worth it, because you can find much better deals in the Digicel and Flow shops in St. John’s.
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.
These are the up to date prices as per July 2022. Check their website in the link for the latest Digicel Antigua prepaid sim card deals.
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.
The above prices are up to date as per July 2022, for the latest Flow Antigua prepaid sim card offers check the Flow website in the link.
The staff at the Flow store was very friendly and helpful when I came to buy a prepaid sim card for Antigua.
Best Antigua sim card in 2022
Comparing both Antigua sim cards we can come to the conclusion that Digicell offers slightly more value for money than Flow and therefore:
Digicell is the best sim card in Antigua & Barbuda in 2022!
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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Curious what it looks like trying to visit every country in the world? Go check out my Instagram account @traveltomtom and follow along. As of August 2022 I have visited more than 135 countries, so still a long way to go.
Safe travels and enjoy the Caribbean!
