Staying connected in Colombia.

Claro is the default here for the same reason Telcel is in Mexico: it reaches places the others do not, including much of the rural coffee region, the Santander highlands and the smaller Caribbean towns. A prepaid SIM with a data package is a few dollars, bought with your passport at a carrier shop, a mall counter or the airport. Movistar and Tigo compete well in Bogota, Medellin and Cali and fade faster outside them.

The comparison with roaming is not close: a week of AT&T or Verizon day passes is 70 to 84 dollars against a few dollars for the local package, and a travel eSIM costs several times the local option for less data. We earn on eSIM links and nothing on a Claro SIM.

In the cities you will have fast 4G and 5G in the bigger centers. The gaps are geographic and predictable: the Amazon around Leticia, the Pacific coast toward Nuqui and Bahia Solano where towns are reached by boat or small plane, much of La Guajira beyond Cabo de la Vela, and stretches of mountain highway between departments. Tayrona has patchy coverage inside the park.

Worth naming why data matters here more than the price suggests. Ride-hailing and InDrive, Uber, Cabify and DiDi availability varies by city and is how most visitors avoid the fare arguments and the security judgment calls that come with hailing on the street, and that needs a live connection. Having working data is a safety-adjacent convenience in Colombia rather than a luxury, which is a reason not to travel here on a throttled roaming connection.

AT&T and Verizon day passes are about 10 to 12 dollars a day, so a week is 70 to 84 dollars, and AT&T caps its Day Pass at 10 daily fees per line per bill period, about 120 dollars, and covers the rest of that bill period on land, so the daily arithmetic stops past day 10. T-Mobile's current tiers include roughly 5GB on Experience More, Magenta MAX and Go5G Plus, 15GB on Experience Beyond and Go5G Next and 30GB on Better Value, so check your own plan before buying anything.

The genuine case for a Nomad eSIM in Colombia is having a working connection before you leave the terminal, so you can order a ride rather than negotiate one, and that is worth a few dollars per gigabyte to plenty of people. It is the convenience option and not the cheap one, and both beat roaming comfortably. This guide is written for US travelers departing the US. For more, see cash or card in Colombia, taxis and apps in Colombia, and the Colombia money guide.

Common questions

Quick answers.

More on Colombia

The little money things nobody warns you about.

• Do I need cash in Colombia, or can I use cards?Short answer: cards in cities for hotels and nicer places, and peso cash for markets, small shops and taxis. Use ATMs inside banks or malls for safety. Here is how to handle it.
• Tipping in ColombiaIn Colombia, restaurants add a voluntary 10% tip that the server asks you about. Say yes and that is the tip, no extra needed. Here is what you actually owe.
• Taxi apps in Colombia, and the one rule that mattersIn Colombia the how-you-get-a-taxi matters more than which app. Here is the single rule to follow, the apps locals actually use, and how to leave Bogota's airport without the roadside gamble.
• Do US citizens need a visa for Colombia?Short answer: no visa, but yes to one free online form. US citizens enter Colombia visa-free for up to 90 days; the catch is Check-Mig, which every traveler files before flying. Here is how it works, and how not to overpay for it.
• Common money scams in Colombia, and what they cost youMillions of people visit Colombia and have a straightforwardly good time, and most trips pass without any of this. But we are not going to tell you a few habits defuse it, because that is not true here. The way money is taken from foreign visitors in Colombia is mostly not an inflated bill or a rigged meter. It is being made unable to refuse, by something in a drink or by a car you cannot get out of. That changes the advice: it is about not entering the situation rather than watching your wallet. The situations are few, specific and recognisable, and the decisions that avoid them are small. Note that this page covers money; the US State Department currently has Colombia at Level 3 with a kidnapping indicator, so read the full advisory for the wider picture.
• What does getting sick in Colombia cost a visitor?Colombia's big-city hospitals rank among the best in Latin America, and a visitor pays local prices for them, usually in cash. The two things to respect are the map, which thins out fast, and the elective-surgery trade, which carries a real warning.