eSIM Colombia for Canadians: Cartagena, Medellín, Bogotá (2026)

The best eSIM for Colombia for Canadians is a prepaid, data-only plan that connects to Movistar’s 5G and Claro’s 4G networks and installs on your phone before you leave home. It gives you data in Cartagena, Medellín and Bogotá from the moment you land, for far less than the $16 to $18 a day Bell, Rogers and Telus charge for international roaming.

In Colombia, mobile data does more than keep you on Instagram. It books your taxis, shares your location with someone at home and lets you check a route before you step onto the street. This guide covers what roaming costs, which networks our plans use, how to set up your phone city by city and the phone-safety habits the Government of Canada recommends.

How much does roaming in Colombia cost for Canadians?

Bell, Rogers and Telus all bill Colombia at their international daily rate. You pay for each day your Canadian line uses data, calls or texts, and background app activity is enough to trigger the charge. The Government of Canada’s advice on using mobile devices abroad suggests checking local SIM and eSIM options before you go for that reason.

Carrier and plan	Daily rate in Colombia	7 days	10 days	14 days
Bell Roam Better	$16	$112	$160	$224
Rogers (daily roaming)	$18	$126	$180	$252
Telus Easy Roam	$18	$126	$180	$252

Canadian dollars before tax, October 2026 rates, per phone. Bell stops charging after 20 days per line in a billing period, according to its travel page. Rogers also sells International Travel Passes, at $45 for 3 days, $75 for 7, $100 for 14 and $120 for 30, which beat its daily rate on a longer trip; see Rogers’ roaming page.

A couple spending ten days between Cartagena and Medellín would pay $320 to $360 in daily roaming, before anyone has booked a single taxi. Our Bell, Rogers and Telus roaming vs eSIM guide has a calculator for your exact dates and number of phones.

What is the best eSIM for Colombia?

A good Colombia eSIM covers the three cities most Canadians visit, plus the coffee region and the Caribbean coast in between. When you compare plans, look at:

• More than one network: Colombia is mountainous, and a plan that can switch between operators gives your phone a fallback in valleys and on rural roads.
• 5G in the cities: helpful in Bogotá and Medellín, where you will lean on maps and ride apps all day.
• Validity that starts on arrival: install at home and land with data ready, instead of hunting for a SIM kiosk at the airport.
• Hotspot: useful if you work from a laptop or want to share data with a travel partner.
• Enough data: navigation, ride-hailing and WhatsApp add up over a two-week trip.

Our Colombia plans connect to Movistar, with 5G where it is available, and to Claro on 4G. Your phone joins whichever network has the strongest signal where you are. Plans are data-only, so your Canadian number stays on the phone for calls and texts, and the days only start counting when the eSIM first connects in Colombia.

Each plan page shows the networks and whether hotspot is included under “Coverage & networks”. You can also see every operator we use on our mobile networks page.

Network	Our Colombia plans	Best for
Movistar	Connects, with 5G where available	Faster data in the big cities
Claro	Connects, on 4G	A second network when Movistar is weak

If you are wondering whether 5G makes a difference on holiday, our guide to 5G vs 4G when travelling explains when it matters and when 4G is plenty. For how multi-network plans choose a signal, see our guide to which network a travel eSIM uses.

Using your phone safely in Colombia

This is the part of a Colombia trip where your phone habits matter most. The Government of Canada’s travel advice for Colombia asks Canadians to exercise a high degree of caution in the country because of crime, and some regions carry stronger warnings. The cities and areas most visitors see are covered by the general advice, but read the page before you book, since regional advisories change.

The same page describes phone snatching as common across the country, including drive-by thefts by thieves on motorcycles, in both poorer and wealthier neighbourhoods. It also advises keeping phones, cameras and other electronics out of sight, and handing over valuables without resisting if you are ever threatened.

Practical habits that follow from that advice:

• Plan your route indoors. Check the map in your hotel, a café or a shop before you walk out, then put the phone away.
• Don’t walk with the phone in your hand, especially near the kerb where motorbikes pass.
• Use earphones for directions if you need turn-by-turn guidance on foot.
• Turn on location sharing with a family member or travel partner, so someone knows where you are.
• Set a strong passcode and turn on Find My or Find My Device before you leave Canada, so you can lock or erase a stolen phone.
• Keep a photo of your passport in cloud storage, not only on the phone.

Canada’s advice also warns about criminals who use dating apps to lure foreigners, particularly solo travellers, into meetings where they are drugged and robbed. If you meet anyone new, choose a busy public place, avoid bringing new acquaintances back to your accommodation and tell someone you trust who you are meeting and where. That last step takes one WhatsApp message, which is another reason to keep data working all trip.

Tip: Save the Colombian emergency number, 123, and the Canadian Embassy in Bogotá, (57-601) 657-9800, in your contacts before you fly. Both appear on the Government of Canada’s Colombia page.

Taxis, ride-hailing and maps in Colombia

The Government of Canada’s advice is clear on transport: avoid hailing taxis on the street, and use reputable taxi companies arranged through your hotel or a ride-sharing app instead. It links express kidnappings and assaults to unlicensed taxis. At Bogotá’s El Dorado airport, it notes that only authorized taxis may pick up passengers and suggests arranging your pickup in advance.

All of that depends on mobile data. With an eSIM active when you land, you can:

• Book a car in an app and see the driver’s name, photo and plate before you get in.
• Share the trip live with someone at home, so they can follow the route.
• Message your hotel driver on WhatsApp if your flight is late.
• Check the route against the map while you ride, without waving the phone around.

If you do take a street taxi, the Canadian advice says to avoid cars without plates, never get into one that already has a passenger, and send the plate number and driver’s name to a friend or family member. That message is easy to send when you have data.

For walking, download offline maps of each city in Google Maps using Google’s guide to offline maps. They help when signal drops in old buildings and save data, but live maps are still better for transit times and traffic in Bogotá.

Cartagena eSIM: the old city and the coast

Cartagena is where many Canadians start, often as a winter escape. Most time is spent inside the walled old city, in Getsemaní and in the Bocagrande hotel strip, with day trips by boat to the Rosario Islands.

What data does for you in Cartagena:

• Getting from the airport. The airport is close to the old city, so a booked car or app ride is quick and keeps the price clear.
• Finding your way in the walled city. The streets look alike, and a quick map check inside a café beats wandering with the phone out.
• Booking boat trips and restaurants, most of which reply on WhatsApp.
• Watching the weather before a boat day, since sea conditions decide whether trips run.

Expect patchy signal once you are out on the water and on the smaller islands. Screenshot your boat ticket, meeting point and return time before you leave the dock.

Medellín eSIM: metro, cable cars and neighbourhoods

Medellín sits in a long valley, and the city’s metro and cable car lines climb the hillsides on both sides. Visitors usually stay in El Poblado or Laureles and travel out to Comuna 13, the cable cars and day trips such as Guatapé.

Data helps in three ways here. Maps and transit apps show you which metro line and cable car connects where. Ride-hailing gets you up steep streets that are tiring to walk. And because Medellín has a busy nightlife, being able to call a car from inside a restaurant or bar, rather than standing on the street, fits the Canadian safety advice closely.

Bogotá eSIM: altitude, distances and traffic

Bogotá is a huge, high city, and distances between neighbourhoods such as La Candelaria, Chapinero and Usaquén are larger than they look on a map. Traffic is heavy, so checking live travel times before you leave saves real time.

A few Bogotá-specific points:

• Arrive with data. Canada’s advice points to authorized taxis at El Dorado, and having data lets you confirm a pre-booked pickup or order a car from inside the terminal.
• Check live traffic before dinner reservations or a trip up Monserrate.
• Dress in layers and carry your phone inside a jacket, which keeps it out of sight as well as warm.

If you are also visiting the coffee region or Cali, the plan covers the whole country. Before you head off the main tourist routes, check the regional section of Canada’s Colombia advice, which lists departments and border areas to avoid.

Before you fly: Check-MIG and other paperwork

Colombia requires visitors to complete a free online immigration form called Check-MIG. According to the Government of Canada page, you fill it in between 72 hours and 1 hour before your flight to or from Colombia, and you need your flight details, passport, email address, address in Colombia and a phone number. The form is on Migración Colombia’s Check-MIG website.

Canadians do not need a tourist visa for stays of up to 90 days, the same page says, and your passport must be valid for your whole stay. Do the Check-MIG at home on Wi-Fi when you install your eSIM, and keep the confirmation on your phone. You need to repeat it before your flight home, which is easy with data on the last day of your trip. Entry rules change, so confirm them shortly before you travel.

How much data do you need in Colombia?

Colombia trips tend to mix city days with travel days, and ride-hailing, maps and WhatsApp run constantly. As a rough guide for one phone:

Type of trip	Typical use	Suggested data
One week, Cartagena only	Maps, ride apps, WhatsApp, photos	3 to 5 GB
10 days, Cartagena and Medellín	Daily navigation, rides, social media	5 to 10 GB
Two weeks, three cities	Heavy maps use, video calls home	10 to 15 GB
Working remotely or sharing a hotspot	Video calls, cloud files, laptop use	20 GB or more

Video calls and streaming use the most data. Set photo backup to Wi-Fi only and pause app updates over mobile data. Our guide to how much data you need when travelling breaks usage down by app, and if your family wants to share one connection, read our guide to sharing mobile data abroad.

How to set up your Colombia eSIM before you fly

Setup takes about five minutes on home Wi-Fi. Because validity only starts when the eSIM first connects in Colombia, installing early costs nothing.

1. Check your phone. It must support eSIM and be unlocked. Use our compatibility checker or our guide to checking if your phone is eSIM compatible.
2. Buy your Colombia plan. The QR code arrives by email, usually within about a minute. Travelling as a group? You can buy up to 10 eSIMs in one order and send each QR code to its own email.
3. Install it on Wi-Fi. On iPhone, follow Apple’s eSIM setup guide. On Android, open Settings, find SIM manager or Network and internet, and add an eSIM by scanning the code.
4. Label your lines. Name the new one “Colombia” and your usual one “Canada”.
5. When you land, turn on the Colombia line, enable data roaming for it and set it as your mobile data line.
6. Turn data roaming off on your Canadian line, including during any US stopover, so your carrier cannot start a daily charge.

Apple’s guide to using Dual SIM with an eSIM explains how your Canadian line can stay on for texts, such as bank verification codes, while the Colombia eSIM carries your data. Our guide to keeping your Canadian number with a dual SIM covers the set-up in more detail.

For phone-by-phone steps, read our guide to installing an eSIM before you fly. If the eSIM does not connect when you land, our eSIM not working abroad fixes cover the usual causes, and the help centre is there for the rest.

Combining Colombia with other trips

A Colombia plan covers Colombia only. If you are pairing it with Costa Rica, Mexico or a US stopover, pick a plan for each stop from our destinations list or look at our global plans for multi-country routes. Our Costa Rica eSIM guide and Mexico eSIM guide cover two common add-ons.

Your next step

Read the Government of Canada’s Colombia advice, check your phone with our compatibility checker, then compare every Colombia eSIM plan by data and validity. Install it at home, switch it on when you land in Cartagena, Medellín or Bogotá, and keep your Canadian line’s data roaming off for the whole trip.