Best Bahamas Cell Phone Plans for Cruisers

 Last updated June 24, 2020

There are three main choices of companies when you travel to The Bahamas. The company you choose will depend on your access to a store to buy the SIM card, and how you want to use the connection. 

We have always found the Bahamian cell phone companies to have better customer service and be easier to access, setup, and cheaper to use (at least for data) than any company in the US. 

What Do You Need?

If you're looking to get your smartphone online and make some calls, all you need is a local SIM card, pop it in, and you're good to go. If you want to get your computer online, too, you have two options. You can use your phone in hotspot mode, which will allow it to share its internet connection with your computer. You can connect the two via wifi, Bluetooth, or USB cable. This is called "tethering."

If you're going to go this route, you need to make sure your cell phone is unlocked. Most of the US companies "lock" their phones to their networks. It won't work if you put in another company's SIM card. Thankfully, this is becoming less common, but you should check regardless. Your provider is required to unlock devices for you if you are no longer under contract.

Another option is to invest in a dedicated mobile hotspot, sometimes called a Mifi. This device will allow all of your other devices (smartphone, computer, tablet, chart plotter, Kindle, etc.) to get online. For a hotspot to work, you'll need to get a data-only hotspot plan. If you go this route, you can use "wifi calling" on your phone to make and receive calls with your US number, or you can use an app like Skype or Google Voice.  

Three Bahamas Cell Phone Providers

BTC

BTC, formerly known as Batelco, is the national carrier in The Bahamas. They have nationwide service at every settlement and have been the go-to for years. BTC also provides landline and cable service for most Bahamian households. They have offices everywhere, but in small communities, they might only be staffed once a week for a few hours.

As a matter of convenience, it is possible to order a BTC SIM card for your phone before you leave for the islands. Check out MrSimCard.com for information.

Aliv

Aliv is a new competitor to BTC, which began operations sometime around 2014. They started in the most populated islands and built their data network. As of 2020, they cover all communities in The Bahamas. They do not roam on BTC; they are entirely independent networks. In our experiences, Aliv is usually faster and rarely slower than BTC. Aliv's equipment is newer, but the exact nuances are hard to predict. We heard stories that after Hurricane Dorian struck the Abacos in 2019, Aliv was up and running within hours, whereas BTC took months to reestablish service. Since they are a smaller company, it can be harder to find a store and get ahold of a SIM card. There are only a handful of stores in the major cities (Freeport, Marsh Harbour, Nassau).

MyIslandWifi

MyIslandWifi-is a virtual network that piggybacks off of the BTC network. MIW only offers mobile data hotspots, no voice or text service. They offer unlimited data with no throttling. Every year the service gets more popular (it's a great value!), so there is often a waitlist to get service once they have leased out their allotment of hotspots. 

Bahamian Prepaid Plans Compared

Both BTC and Aliv offer prepaid plans of varying durations for visitors. As a cruiser, you're probably interested in the 30 days plans (monthly), but if you are staying for less time, you can look into daily or weekly rates.

BTC will sell you a prepaid SIM card, which you will "Top Up" with cash as necessary. It's easy to do on their website, or there are "BTC Top Up" store locations everywhere.

You can then make calls or send texts with your 242- (Bahamas area code) number. It will be an international call to or from the US. If you want to purchase data, you can add it in packages. The best deal is to buy 15 GB of data for $35, which lasts 30 days. Keeping track of your data use is pretty easy using texting codes right on your phone. To activate a plan, call *203# and a menu system will prompt you the rest of the way. But remember, you need to have money already on account with BTC to activate a plan.

Voice calls are billed at between $0.15 and $0.33 per minute, and Bahamas texts are $0.05 each (international texts are $0.15). Check btcbahamas.com for current rates and other package deals.

Aliv is a bit simpler to operate since once you purchase and activate a SIM card, you just buy a monthly plan. You can change or renew your plan on their website, and you can set it up to auto-renew. Each plan includes some combination of voice, text, and data.

Plans range from $30 to $90 per month. Check out https://www.bealiv.com/shop/plans for details.

Aliv will also sell a data-only SIM card for a mobile hotspot. They offer three plans called "unlimited," but each plan has a different cutoff at which Aliv will throttle your service (cut off high-speed data). You can still use the data, but it will be slow. 

$75 for 50GB, $90 for 125GB, or $165 for 200GB. On the Aliv plans page, check out “broadband” options.

MyIslandWifi only has one offering, a $75/month unlimited hotspot plan. Check out https://myislandwifi.com for more information. The monthly fee includes the rental of the hotspot, which must be returned. 

Roaming with Your US Carrier

Of course, you can keep your US phone and roam while in The Bahamas. You will roam on the BTC or the Aliv network. If you have a Verizon or Sprint phone, you will need to check before heading over to ensure that it is an international GSM compatible phone. 

T-Mobile and Google Fi are two companies that have plans that advertise "unlimited data" or something similar when traveling internationally. These plans have two problems. For one, the companies offer these plans with a clause in the contract that says they can limit your usage at any time. They offer these contracts for customers going on a cruise or for a week or two. They do not expect someone to be roaming internationally for six months or more since this is not common. They may notify you that they are terminating your service. 

Secondly, when roaming on a foreign network, that allocates their best download speeds to their customers first. We have never used it, but we have heard many cruisers report that T-Mobile is untenably slow throughout The Bahamas (I.e., 2G speeds).

It certainly makes sense to keep your US phone number. Many people are "locked" into contracts and will have to pay for them anyway. We use Ting, which allows us to keep a number active for only $6/month, and then we pay for any additional voice or data we use when in the States. 

Conclusion

During our seasons in The Bahamas, we've been surprised by how easy it is to stay online. After coming from Verizon and AT&T, the Bahamian companies make it a super value.

We've also always been surprised at how much coverage there is in The Bahamas. We are usually anchored near settlements and within sight of the towers anyway. There are only a few "black holes" that are visited often, one being the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. But even here, with a suitable booster, you can usually get some connection from the nearby towers. 

During our first year in The Bahamas, we overestimated the importance of having a satellite or SSB to get weather information. The reality is, we use the cell phone daily with few problems. (But, it's never a bad idea to at least have a simple SSB receiver on board to get Chris Parker's forecasts when making crossings or out of cell phone coverage).