Cell Phones in Bonaire

[scuba.gator]

Greetings all.

A buddy and I are heading to Bonaire the week after Thanksgiving. He runs his own business and is pretty much a one-man show so he needs to be able to communicate back to the states reliably and in-expensively (ha!).

Does anyone know if GSM SIM cards are sold on the island that I can plug into an old Nokia 1900 Mhz GSM cell phone that I have? If so, any idea as to the cost of the cards and the cost of calls back to the US?

Any other suggestions for inexpensive communication back to the states?

TIA!

-Gator

 

[diversteve]

Contact ChatnBrowse. From their website:

We sell sim cards for use in GSM tri band unlocked phones.

Not sure if your phone is tri-band, my Razr is and worked last spring in Curacao. There's also another operator in downtown Kralendijk that I've seen mentioned - it's likely the Internet cafe people in the stripmall there - by KFC.

I bought my Sim card from Telestial online. They list the 1900 GSM phones as ones they support. Note that they group Bonaire and Curacao under Netherlands Antilles on their country list.

I also had to have my current U.S. provider unlock my phone first so it would work with the other Sim. I bought an Explorer-brand Sim and it worked mostly. We may've been too far from a cel tower when I had problems though so no fault of the service.

Another option might be Skype. A lot of the resorts have installed high-speed wireless Internet access this year.

 

[herman]

Drop Micheal at "Chat and Browse" an email. He is THE man on Bonaire for cell phones and computers.
http://www.chatnbrowse.com/internetcenter.html

 

[ronbeau]

Greetings all.

A buddy and I are heading to Bonaire the week after Thanksgiving. He runs his own business and is pretty much a one-man show so he needs to be able to communicate back to the states reliably and in-expensively (ha!).

Does anyone know if GSM SIM cards are sold on the island that I can plug into an old Nokia 1900 MHz GSM cell phone that I have? If so, any idea as to the cost of the cards and the cost of calls back to the US?

Any other suggestions for inexpensive communication back to the states?

TIA!

-Gator

You also might want to ask to see a cell co verge map of the island. When we were there is July we were told that some areas of the island would not be covered by the cell towers.

I don't remember which areas but I think the area near the butterfly sanctuary is one of them.

Knowing which areas are covered is important if you are relying on the cell phone in the unlikely event of a Scuba emergency.

 

[tonka97]

Does dialling 9-1-1 work in other countries?? Consulting Wiki:

"There is no worldwide common emergency number.

Outside of the U.S. and Canada, 911 doesn't work in most countries. Other common emergency numbers are 112 and 999. ..." (confusing train wreck of a sentence omitted)

"In 1991, the European Union established 1-1-2 as the universal emergency number for all its member states. In most E.U. countries, 1-1-2 is already implemented and can be called toll-free from any telephone or any cellphone. The GSM mobile phone standard designates 1-1-2 as an emergency number, so it will work on such systems even in North America. In the UK and Republic of Ireland, the number is 9-9-9 with 1-1-2 working in parallel."

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

I was on Saba (part of the Netherlands Antilles) and could receive calls on my 4 band GSM AT&T cell phone but could not call out. I could text out though. Very strange really. We also had a non-Iridium satellite phone that did not work well on St. Maarten but did work on Saba albeit somewhat sporadically. If you want to be absolutely assured of cell contact you can rent an Iridium sat phone that will work anywhere in the world guaranteed. We took one to Palau and were very happy with the choice.

 

[tedtim]

If he is taking his computer to also check e-mail he can set up a Skype account to access voicemail and make calls through the internet. Call time is cheap, all you need is an internet connection, the software, and a headphone with microphone. I think the cost is about $30 for a year of nationwide calling.

I hope he is leaving the cell phone in his room when you go diving, otherwise it just might up and disappear on him.

 

[dvrliz1]

Hi All,

Just some updates regarding US phones on island. Now that Digicel is on Island, they have some kind of agreement with Cingluar/AT&T/Cellular One, where phones from the US now work here. Most of our guests are finding out their US phones work here. You just need to check the cost, and if you will roam or not. We had one guest who's phone stated "roaming" and another's who didn't roam...go figure.

Also 911 DOES work as an emergency phone number on Bonaire. It puts you directly to the police department.

Hope this helps.

Liz

 

[Tomeck]

If you want to be absolutely assured of cell contact you can rent an Iridium sat phone that will work anywhere in the world guaranteed. We took one to Palau and were very happy with the choice.

In November 2006, I was in Palau with my GSM tri-band, but I couldn't call, why?

 

[diversteve]

In November 2006, I was in Palau with my GSM tri-band, but I couldn't call, why?

A satellite phone and a cellular phone use completely different technologies. A sat phone bounces a signal directly off the Iridium satellites in orbit.

You would've probably also needed a different sim card for your phone to work with Palau's network.