Buying a SIM Card or eSIM for Travel in Colombia

Colombia is a treat for travelers. After decades of unrest, the country is now becoming one of South America’s favorite destinations.

Wedged between the Caribbean, the Andes, and the Amazon jungle, Colombia has a varied landscape, with something to offer every visitor.

With such diverse geography, I feared keeping in touch could be tricky. Thankfully, my worries were unfounded: Colombia has a robust mobile network, and more than decent data speeds.

It’s easy to buy a local SIM card there, and it’s the cheapest option as well. Travel eSIMs are also available: I’ve used them in several South American countries and loved the convenience, but in Colombia at least, they’re quite a bit more expensive.

Whatever approach you take, here’s what you need to know about staying connected in Colombia.

Claro has the largest network in the country, with the widest LTE coverage and nearly 50% market share. It’s the most reliable option.

The other main companies are Tigo and Movistar, which also have good coverage, albeit not quite as extensive as Claro. ETB and Avantel have a smaller presence, and resellers like Virgin Mobile and Móvil Éxito round out the picture.

Claro, however, will likely be the first carrier you come across, since it has the most customers and vendors selling its services.

As I mentioned, travel eSIMs are by far the most convenient way to stay connected in almost any country these days. In Colombia, however, you’re paying quite a bit more for that convenience than you would with a local SIM card.

Unless your phone can’t take a physical SIM, I’d suggest only using them for short trips, if you don’t need much data, or just to tide you over until you can track down a local SIM.

Of the better companies out there, I found Nomad and Airalo to have the best pricing, so that’s who I’d generally recommend using. If you have large data requirements and really want to use a travel eSIM, consider buying an unlimited pack from Holafly for the exact length of your trip.

There are several other options, of course, and promotions and prices do change: check the table below before you commit. It has the details for all of the companies I regularly use around the world, and is updated each week, most recently on 5 Oct 2026.

Some of the Airalo plans include calls and texts, so look for the Chimba+ bundles if that’s what you need. The rest of their plans, and those from other companies, are data-only.

While apps like WhatsApp, Facetime, and Messenger work fine for voice and video calling, you’ll need to use Yadaphone or one of the alternatives to make calls to other numbers if you’ve got a data-only eSIM.

New to eSIMs? They offer big benefits to travelers in terms of how quickly, easily, and (often) cheaply you can get connected when you arrive in a new country. Most recent phones support them, and you can read all about them here.

If you’re visiting other countries as well, make sure you check out our worldwide eSIM finder before you go. It has real-world recommendations for every trip, only takes a few seconds, and could save you a lot of money!

I didn’t see any official store or kiosk to buy SIM cards at Bogotá’s international airport, although as I discovered later, you can apparently do so at one of the gift shops in the arrival hall. In the end, though, it didn’t cause much of a problem.

The most reliable place to get one is in the carrier’s official retail stores. In the case of Claro, though, you can also drop into an Oxxo (the Mexican convenience store chain, which is also present in Colombia).

Many Oxxos will have a little booth selling Claro SIM cards, but I didn’t see any for other networks.

I chose to go this route, in the historic neighborhood of La Candelaria, and it was extremely simple. The sales attendant explained my options, and helped me set up the SIM card. I showed my passport and gave my hostel address to register the account.

The whole exchange was done in Spanish (since that was both our native languages), but while I was paying, I heard another traveler start his own SIM card purchase in English with no problems.

A note of caution. You may run into informal kiosks offering SIM cards for a discounted price. When I asked at my hostel where to get a SIM card, they specifically warned me against them, saying the cards have often been stolen and blocked by the owner. It’s not worth the risk.

Claro

My starter pack with Claro set me back $18,000. The SIM card cost $3,000, plus $15,000 in credit. I chose a plan which included 10GB to use within a week, plus unlimited domestic calls and texts.

There’s are also upgraded versions of this plan, including one that costs $25,000 for 20GB to use within 15 days. Many other packages are also available.

Topping Up

Local SIMs

You can add credit to your account in any Oxxo, convenience store, or supermarket, regardless of which provider you’re using. Just go in and ask.

Airalo

Topping up with Airalo (or any of the other travel eSIM companies) is done by logging into the website or app. You just select your Colombia eSIM, hit the top-up button, and buy the same package again.

The top-up packs have exactly the same pricing and duration as the original eSIMs: there’s little difference between topping up your current eSIM and buying a new one, other than not having to activate it.

Claro boasts LTE coverage throughout much of the country, and in general I found it to be super-reliable. Nomad uses the Movistar network.

Service and speeds were good in Bogotá, Medellín, and Cartagena de Indias. The only problems I had were during the occasional thunderstorm in Cartagena, where service was disrupted for a while.

I expected it though, since I knew I was cutting it close to the start of rainy season (which I’ve had problems with in the past).

---

Check out our guides to SIM cards and eSIMs in 65+ other countries here.

Main image via juniorlink (Cartagena)