Mexico eSIM

Many visitors to Mexico are already covered by their US phone plan, so check that before you buy anything, including from us. If you're coming from the UK, Europe, Australia or Canada, or your plan's Mexico data is slow, an eSIM installed at home works from the moment you land in Cancún or Mexico City, without the Mexican SIM registration that began in July 2026.

What a week of data costs in Mexico

Prices for 7 days of data, checked on 2 November 2026. US plans first, because many include Mexico.

If your US plan already includes Mexico, check its high-speed cap before you rely on it: once T-Mobile's allowance runs out, 128 kbps is too slow for maps that haven't been downloaded. An eSIM helps when Mexico isn't included, you're on prepaid or a plan from another country, or you need more fast data. For a family of four on Vodafone UK, roaming costs £224 for one week.

Landing at Cancún (CUN), Mexico City (MEX), Los Cabos (SJD), Puerto Vallarta (PVR) or Tulum (TQO)

Switch the kimsim line on as the plane taxis to the gate, so you can message your transfer or hotel before you reach passport control.

Entry. British tourists don't need a visa; you get a passport stamp showing how many days you can stay. Some big airports have e-gates for adults; keep the printed ticket, because you show it when you leave. You can download digital proof of entry from the INM (immigration) portal within 60 days. Other nationalities should check their own rules before booking.

Visitax. Quintana Roo, the state with Cancún, Tulum and Playa del Carmen, charges every foreign tourist a visitor fee, paid online at visitax.gob.mx. Pay it on the official site only.

Cancún, in order: turn on Data Roaming for the kimsim line only, go through immigration, collect your bags and pass customs. Then head to your pre-booked driver, an authorised taxi or the bus. App drivers aren't authorised to pick up at the terminals; taxi groups hold that contract. ADO buses leave from Terminals 2, 3 and 4, not Terminal 1, to Playa del Carmen in about 1 h 30 to 1 h 50, and to Tulum in about 2 h 45 to 3 h. The Tren Maya also has a Cancún Aeropuerto station.

Mexico City (MEX): Terminal 1 connects to Terminal Aérea station on Metro Line 5, and Metrobús Line 4 runs from both terminals into the centre. Only the authorised airport taxi groups can pick up there. The UK Foreign Office says to use only authorised pre-paid taxis at airports. Some flights use AIFA (Felipe Ángeles, NLU), north of the city, which has its own suburban train station.

Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta and Tulum: book your transfer or confirm the authorised taxi booth before you fly, and save the driver's WhatsApp number.

Networks and coverage

Mexico has three national brands. Telcel, owned by América Móvil, is by far the biggest, with 84.3 million mobile customers at the end of March 2026. AT&T México grew out of Iusacell and Nextel Mexico, and also runs Unefon. Movistar runs on AT&T's radio network under a 2019 deal, moved its traffic across by 2022, and extended the deal to 2030. Altán's Red Compartida is a shared 4.5G network that other brands, such as Bait, sell on.

Your phone shows the Mexican network's name, usually Telcel or AT&T, not kimsim. Telcel's 5G reaches close to 60% of the population, according to Telcel; outside the big cities, expect 4G. Coverage is generally strong in cities and resort towns. Expect it to thin out on roads between towns, in the mountains and jungle, and on boats away from the shore. The networks your plan uses are listed above.

Region by region

• Mexico City: dense coverage on the street. Expect weaker signal deep inside metro stations and old stone buildings.
• Cancún and the Riviera Maya: good in Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum town. Cenotes are underground, so expect no signal down there; save your pickup time and car location first. Holbox and Bacalar are quieter, and signal can be patchier.
• Yucatán and Mérida: fine in Mérida and Valladolid. Ruins such as Chichén Itzá sit off the highway; download tickets before you go.
• Oaxaca: good in the city, gaps in the mountains and on the drive to the coast. Protests have blocked roads to Oaxaca airport, so allow extra time.
• Baja California and Los Cabos: good in Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo. Long desert stretches up the peninsula have little or no signal.
• Copper Canyon: the Chepe Express runs about 350 km from Los Mochis to Creel through tunnels and mountain passes, so expect long offline spells.
• Pacific coast: Puerto Vallarta and the resort towns are well covered; small beaches between them can be patchy.

This is general guidance, not a coverage map. If one network is weak where you're staying, switch network by hand.

Buses, trains and roads

First-class buses such as ADO link most tourist towns. The UK Foreign Office suggests first-class buses on toll roads (cuotas), and toll roads when you drive. The Tren Maya runs around the Yucatán Peninsula, with stations including Cancún Aeropuerto, Bacalar and Palenque. Drives between towns have long stretches without signal, so download offline maps for the whole route, plus your hotel's address, before you set off.

Apps worth having

• Uber and DiDi both work in Mexico's cities for rides once you're away from the airport. Set them up at home, because sign-up can send a code by text to your usual number. In Cancún, licensed taxi drivers protesting against Uber have blocked roads near the hotels and pulled tourists out of cars, so follow your hotel's advice.
• WhatsApp is how hotels, drivers, tour operators and restaurants usually reach you; even Mexico City's tourist police have a WhatsApp number. Keep your WhatsApp number working abroad.
• Maps: download offline areas for the Yucatán, Oaxaca or Baja before any road trip.
• Payments: cards work in hotels and bigger restaurants. Carry pesos for markets, street food, colectivos and small shops.

SIM and phone rules

Mexican lines must be registered. Since 1 July 2026, unregistered Mexican lines can't make calls, send texts or use data; they keep only emergency numbers. Foreigners register a Mexican line with a valid passport or temporary CURP, in a shop or online. Telcel's tourist eSIM, for example, asks for a photo of your passport and a live selfie check before it works.

Foreign lines on roaming. In May 2026 the regulator, the CRT, said visitors using their foreign line on roaming don't have to register. It said that for the World Cup, and that it would set rules for roaming lines afterwards. We found no such rule announced by 2 November 2026, and we'll update this page if one appears. A kimsim eSIM is a foreign line roaming as a visitor, so there's no Mexican registration to do.

Common mistakes

• Assuming your plan covers Mexico at full speed. Check the high-speed cap on your US plan, and switch your home line's roaming off if you use the eSIM for data. Why roaming goes on for the kimsim line only
• Starting the plan on a US stop-over. A Mexico plan works in Mexico only. Keep the kimsim line off until you land, or pick the North America plan shown above. If your plan started early
• Waiting for airport Wi-Fi to install. You need a connection to install an eSIM, so do it at home. Install on Wi-Fi before you fly
• Bars but no data. Check Data Roaming is on for the kimsim line and that it's your mobile data line. When you have signal but no data
• No way to call for help. Mexico's emergency number is 911. A data-only eSIM can't dial it, so use your home line or any local phone.

More on Mexico

• eSIM vs roaming: which is cheaper for your trip?
• How much data do I need for a week abroad?
• Unlimited eSIM data: what "unlimited" really means

How we put this page together

We checked carriers' own roaming pages, Telcel's tourist eSIM terms, Mexican and UK government sources, airport and transport operators, and news reports on the 2026 registration rule, on 1–2 November 2026. We couldn't open Telcel's current price page from our location, so its row uses the launch price and is labelled that way. We haven't measured speeds or coverage in Mexico ourselves, so coverage notes are general guidance, not a map. kimsim sells the eSIMs on this page.