eSIM Colombia
Colombia eSIM from 4,95€ with 4G/5G where available: prepaid data packs, no contract and no sign-up — set up by QR code and you're connected the minute you land in Bogotá.
Your Selection
Your plan only starts counting when the eSIM first connects at your destination — so you can buy today and travel in three weeks.
How does Simbye eSIM work for Colombia?
Get connected in under 2 minutes
Set up in one tap at home
After the purchase you get an email with one link inside. Tap it and the eSIM lands on your phone, right next to your everyday SIM. It stays asleep for now — no data, no days ticking — so you can sort this out days before you leave.
Landed? One switch
Landed in Bogotá, Medellín or Cartagena? Open Settings and turn on data roaming for the Simbye line — that single switch is all it takes. The phone finds the local network on its own and you are online within moments, before your bag even reaches the belt.
Stay reachable, top up anytime
You keep both worlds: the Simbye line carries the data, while your own SIM keeps your number reachable for calls and texts as usual. Should the plan run low before the trip ends, add more in the app with a couple of taps — the eSIM stays untouched.
Check Device Compatibility
Make sure your device supports eSIM before purchasing
Which networks will you be on in Colombia?
One network carries you across Colombia — Claro — and your phone joins it on its own wherever you happen to land.
Average measured mobile internet performance, nPerf barometer (measured 01.04.2025 – 31.03.2026). What you actually get depends on where you are, the time of day and your phone.
You do not choose anything and you do not set anything up. Your Simbye line runs on Claro and registers by itself, usually while you are still taxiing at El Dorado in Bogotá or José María Córdova above Medellín. No APN to enter, no profile to pick, no app to open before it works — all of that was handled when you installed the eSIM at home. If you land and the bars stay empty, switch flight mode on, count to about ten and switch it off again; that makes the phone search for the network from scratch. If it still refuses, go into network selection, turn off automatic and choose Claro by hand — worth knowing on the coast and up in the mountains.
Cities are the easy part: Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Bucaramanga and Santa Marta, plus the towns people actually stop in — Guatapé, Villa de Leyva, Salento and the coffee farms around it, San Gil, Minca. It thins out fast once the road runs out. Expect gaps deep in Tayrona, on the Ciudad Perdida trek through the Sierra Nevada, along the Cocora valley trails, out in the Tatacoa desert, across the Llanos, and almost everywhere on the Pacific side of Chocó around Nuquí and Bahía Solano, where boats replace roads. The Amazon around Leticia holds the town and little else, and Caño Cristales in La Macarena is a place to leave your phone in your bag. Long bus climbs over the Andes drop in and out between villages.
eSIM or a local SIM card in Colombia?
You land in Bogotá already connected. A Colombian prepaid SIM is easy to find at El Dorado or a corner shop, but it gets registered to your passport and paid for at the counter.
| Compared | Simbye eSIM | Local SIM card |
|---|---|---|
| How fast you're online | Ready before the seatbelt sign goes off, because you installed it at home. | After immigration, a queue at a stand and an activation call in Spanish. |
| Papers and ID | Nothing shown to anyone on arrival; no forms, no photocopy of documents. | Colombia registers prepaid SIMs to an ID, so your passport gets copied. |
| Point of sale | Straight to your phone from home, days before the trip if you like. | Claro stands at El Dorado, shopping centres and street vendors across the city. |
| Settling the bill | Card or wallet in your own currency, one payment before you fly. | Cash at the stand, during opening hours, and change is often expected. |
| Your number stays | Your everyday number keeps ringing beside it, so family still reaches you. | You carry an unfamiliar number and your own SIM sits in a pocket. |
| More data later | Top up in the app in seconds, still sitting in the taxi. | Recargas at shops, pharmacies and kiosks, asked for in Spanish. |
| Signal quality | Runs on Claro, from Bogotá and Medellín out to the coffee region. | The same Claro masts and the same thin spots in the mountains. |
| Colombian +57 number | No +57 number is included; WhatsApp calls and messages work regardless. | A +57 number, handy when a Colombian hotel or driver calls back. |
Will Colombia block your phone by its IMEI? What actually applies
You will read that Colombia switches phones off by their IMEI, and that yours could go dark mid-trip. The true core: the country runs a device registry, and MinTIC states that if you do not register a handset yourself, your operator sends you a message giving you 20 days to do it. Miss that, and the device is blocked, so calls, texts and mobile data stop until you register.
That clock belongs to handsets on a Colombian operator's line. MinTIC excepts phones that are on international roaming, and a travel eSIM is exactly that: a foreign line riding the local network, so no 20-day letter reaches you. What you don't get is a Colombian number, so anything that verifies you by a +57 number stays shut.
What does an eSIM for Colombia cost?
Simbye offers 4 plans for Colombia from €4,95 to €27,95 — prepaid, no contract.
Plans for Colombia range from 1 GB to 10 GB.
Validity runs from 7 to 30 days and starts with your first connection in Colombia.
| Plan | Validity | Price | Per travel day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | 7 days | €4,95 | €0,70 |
| 3 GB | 30 days | €13,95 | €0,46 |
| 5 GB | 30 days | €18,95 | €0,63 |
| 10 GB | 30 days | €27,95 | €0,93 |
- Networks
- Claro
- Setting it up
- A link in your email, or the QR code — one tap is enough
- Network technology
- 4G/LTE — and 5G where the network already offers it
- APN and settings
- Nothing to set. The eSIM brings everything with it
- Hotspot
- Allowed — for a laptop, tablet or a travel companion
- Adding more data
- Top up any time, without setting anything up again
- Calls and texts
- Not included — WhatsApp calls run over the data
- Your own number
- Stays in the phone and stays reachable
- Contract
- None. The plan ends by itself
- Worth knowing
- Roaming on your home contract gets billed here — this eSIM is prepaid, so nothing is added afterwards
Frequently Asked Questions about Colombia eSIM
Data, calls, real phone numbers, top-ups and setup — everything you need to know before you buy a Simbye eSIM.
