Phones in Cozumel?

[DandyDon]

I do not usually bother with a phone when in Coz, but this has proved problematical a couple of times, and I decided to arrange for one this time. I am not sure if my smart phone works down there, and I was wondering if I should just get a burner phone when down there? What do you guys usually do?

Which carrier and which plan do you have?

I have Verizon, you can either pay per day like if staying a week or when I stayed a month, I turned on international for 25 bucks - 500 minutes, unlimited texts and 1gig if I remember right. I used the net for data if I needed it.

You must be on an old plan. Our Verizon Unlimited plan covers Canada and Mexico for free - calling or roaming, unlimited everything. The first time I took my iphone, it didn't work on arrival until I turned something on in settings, so you might discuss that with your carrier's tech support.

If you have Verizon, sign up for Travel Pass.

Again, that's out of date unless on an old plan. My daughter's family does that for China and Bermuda, but not needed for Mexico. They use Wechat instead of Whatsapp in China. Something all of her Chinese students use here because it works there.

 

[BRT]

If you have Sprint, your calls are free. If you have Verizon, sign up for Travel Pass. It's $5/day for the days you have cellular on (airplane mode with WiFi on doesn't count against you). It uses your same minutes and data plan as what you have at home .

I used Travel Pass when it was $2. I shut it off when it went to $5. Not easy to shut it off and I got tired of $5 phone calls when I got too close to Canada. We have tickets for January and will be down a month. I'll pay them their $75 monthly rate even though it makes me mad. I don't want to mess with a new phone, new number, not having my saved phone numbers. If it was for a shorter period I'd use Travel Pass and then spend the hour with customer service to get it shut off afterwards.

 

[Snoweman]

Again, that's out of date unless on an old plan. My daughter's family does that for China and Bermuda, but not needed for Mexico. They use Wechat instead of Whatsapp in China. Something all of her Chinese students use here because it works there.

It's still on Verizon's website. In other countries, it's $10/day. Canada and MX is $5/day. I think you get charged much more if you're not signed up for it.

 

[DandyDon]

It's still on Verizon's website. In other countries, it's $10/day. Canada and MX is $5/day. I think you get charged much more if you're not signed up for it.

It's still an old plan, which some may still have, so it just depends on which plan. The three choices in Unlimited plans include Mexico for free.

 

[Snoweman]

I used Travel Pass when it was $2. I shut it off when it went to $5. Not easy to shut it off and I got tired of $5 phone calls when I got too close to Canada. We have tickets for January and will be down a month. I'll pay them their $75 monthly rate even though it makes me mad. I don't want to mess with a new phone, new number, not having my saved phone numbers. If it was for a shorter period I'd use Travel Pass and then spend the hour with customer service to get it shut off afterwards.

If you don't need to use your phone on the boat or out on the town, turn it to airplane mode, turn on wifi and then use WhatsApp (as recommended above by islanddream). It uses your same phone number over wifi. Voice can be sketchy if the data rate isn't great. My wife used it in Italy, and it worked fairly well. The only catch is that the people on the other end need to use WhatsApp, as well.

 

[Rred]

"Have you ever used WhatsApp? If the caller and the receiver both have the free app on their cell phone, then calls and texts are free anywhere in the world"
Not quite true. A lot of folks have been burned with surprise cellular roaming DATA charges. WhatsApp requires a data connection, there's no magic. If you can find free WiFi, and your phone is set to use the free WiFi and not cellular data, then WhatsApp and other calling apps can make free calls worldwide, sure. It is not unique about doing that.
But you need to be aware it is still using data. You need to know, on your phone or a burner, if it is set to use Wifi or cellular data, what the preferences are. And if you think you've found "free wifi" be aware that's often a big security risk.
Whether you can use your phone down there, will depend on whether your phone has a SIM card, what frequencies it uses, or what LTE "bands" it uses....the devil is in the details. Ask your carrier what their deals are. A friend of mine is flying into Brazil, Verizon told him he's got free international calling "but" they've somehow got that entangled with data (not free) and if a call goes to voicemail...he had to go through hoops to set things so "free" would really be "free". At least, for the time he'll be in coverage areas.

 

[seaseadee]

I use AT&T prepaid instead of the contract plans and my phone works just like it does in the states when I travel to Canada. This also extends to Mexico but I haven’t personally used it there.
Alternatively, you can also purchase a sim while you are there. You do have to get your phone unlocked to use it though. My understanding is that if you have a contract plan and you have been with your carrier for a while they will unlock your phone if you are traveling overseas.

 

[scubaNYC16]

Mexico data and calls are included on most plans now. I was not charged and I’m on Verizon and my friend on ATT wasn’t either.

 

[JamesBon92007]

I have T-Mobile's pay-as-you-go and I can make a call in Mexico but it costs about $1 US per minute, but I only pay about $3.50 US per month. My girlfriend has regular T-Mobile service and I think she pays $5 US extra per month for Mexico service.

In the past I could send a text while in Mexico and then they put an end to that, and then they sent me a text saying it would cost me 50 cents or something like that. BTW they still have phone booths on Cozumel and like others have said, WhatsApp is very popular and most of my "hosts" showed up on my WhatsApp contact list automatically. A couple of hotels I've stayed at had a phone that guests could use for local calls.

 

[JamesBon92007]

"Have you ever used WhatsApp? If the caller and the receiver both have the free app on their cell phone, then calls and texts are free anywhere in the world"
Not quite true. A lot of folks have been burned with surprise cellular roaming DATA charges. WhatsApp requires a data connection, there's no magic. If you can find free WiFi, and your phone is set to use the free WiFi and not cellular data, then WhatsApp and other calling apps can make free calls worldwide, sure. It is not unique about doing that.
But you need to be aware it is still using data. You need to know, on your phone or a burner, if it is set to use Wifi or cellular data, what the preferences are. And if you think you've found "free wifi" be aware that's often a big security risk.
Whether you can use your phone down there, will depend on whether your phone has a SIM card, what frequencies it uses, or what LTE "bands" it uses....the devil is in the details. Ask your carrier what their deals are. A friend of mine is flying into Brazil, Verizon told him he's got free international calling "but" they've somehow got that entangled with data (not free) and if a call goes to voicemail...he had to go through hoops to set things so "free" would really be "free". At least, for the time he'll be in coverage areas.

Yes, you need to remember to turn of data. My current Android phone defaults on "WiFi Call Priority." I'm pretty sure that happened when I installed WhatsApp.

I also turn off data to use Here We Go. It's a GPS/map app and if you download the maps beforehand it doesn't need any data or WiFi or phone service.