Cell phone rental?

[DeltaWardog]

Are there places that rent cheap prepaid cell phones in Coz? I'd like to get one for the 2 weeks we're there, to stay in touch with dive shop in case of schedule changes mostly. Our old dive op used to let us borrow one of his, but he's booked and we're diving with someone else this time.

 

[cvchief]

Buy one in mega downstairs. Cheap prepaid amigo phones. You can keep it and recharge it when you come down from about any store. You have to do the registration thing to show you arent a traficante. (Not right away, but within some period of time) It is involved and sound like a bother. If you have a good friend at the op, just ask them to do the register thing for you. They punch a bunch of crap in and then it just works.

 

[Karibelle]

The girl who works at Telcel in the bottom of Mega will register it for you if you ask her nicely. You can get a phone for around 300 pesos.

 

[MMM]

Or the TelCel at the north end off the square will do all the set up for you.

 

[Peter_C]

If you have an internet connection you could use Skype maybe? I use my Iphone and laptop that way sometimes.

 

[DeltaWardog]

Thanks everyone. 300 pesos is a drop in the bucket, and we'll definitely be back plenty of times to use it.

 

[deborahdelamar]

If you want to use it on subsequent trips, you'll have to recharge it -- put a little money on your account -- every 5-6 months. You can buy credit on the internet, or if you live in a community with lots of Mexicans, you may find a store near you that can recharge the phone. If the account has no activity for a while, Telcel will deactivate the number. Full terms & conditions of Amigo plans are on the website.

Also, many accommodations here allow you to make local calls to landline phones for free.

 

[baystr]

buying the phone at mega is always the way to go..............

 

[JenLoves2Dive]

If you "jailbreak" your phone (I use a Jail-broken I-phone), all you have to do is insert a TelCel simm card and just switch it out. Then you just add credit as you go. Just make sure to carry a little plastic case for your simm cards since you'll have to switch them out and you can lose them easily. Don't forget to turn your data off.

If you buy a TelCel phone (I have one) you may or may not lose your phone number if you don't use it for a while.
I sometimes have my friends put credit on my phone if I haven't used it in a while. It used to be that inactivity over about 90 days or so would clear out all your credit. I have also lost my phone number for inactivity, but I heard recently that they stopped doing that.

 

[DeltaWardog]

Do the same inactivity rules apply if you are just swapping a simm card?

What's involved in reactivating everything if I don't really care about losing the phone number?