Azores eSIM

MEO, NOS and Vodafone Portugal all operate in the archipelago, and no plan in the list says which of them it roams onto. No coverage figure for the islands exists on the public record, so we quote none and make no promise about signal on every crater rim or coastal path. Download trail maps for Sao Miguel before you fly, because those are exactly the places where you do not want to be loading map tiles. Internet in the Azores is one list for all nine islands, so the inter island flight from Sao Miguel to Terceira or Faial does not change your plan. Data roaming in the Azores is covered at home rates for lines from EU or EEA countries, just as it is in Lisbon. Visitors on contracts from outside Europe pay their own carrier's roaming charges instead, which is where a travel plan helps most. While island hopping, keep cellular data off on the home line and data roaming on for the Azores line. Cell phone service in the Azores on your normal number continues on every island for incoming calls and texts, billed under your carrier's terms. Our catalogue lists the Azores as their own destination, so a plan bought on our Portugal page is not the plan listed here. If the itinerary also includes Lisbon, check both pages before buying, because neither plan is described as covering the other.

To buy an eSIM for the Azores, check two things on the handset first, eSIM support and no carrier lock, both of which take a minute. Dialing star hash 06 hash at home, not at the Ponta Delgada rental desk, shows whether an EID sits beside the IMEI. Install from the QR code at home, since installing needs internet while activating on Sao Miguel does not. Most plans start their day count on the first connection in the Azores, so the flight out over the Atlantic uses none of your days. When the plane touches down at Ponta Delgada or Horta, switch the travel line on and allow data roaming for it. An eSIM card for the Azores stays tied to the phone it was installed on, so it cannot follow you into a borrowed handset if yours takes a swim at Horta. The plans are data only, so none of them gives you a Portuguese number for island tour bookings. An Azores prepaid SIM card bought in person from a local operator shop is the route to a local number, and that Azores SIM card is not something we sell. For a week or two of hiking and whale watching, having an eSIM in the Azores ready before departure spares you that shop visit.