Bermuda's SIM decision is narrower than a three-network market suggests. Paradise Mobile, the newest operator, sells only monthly postpaid contracts, so a visitor buying locally chooses between One Communications and Digicel, and both run their main counters a few minutes' walk apart in the City of Hamilton. Prices are posted in Bermuda dollars, which are pegged one-for-one to the US dollar and circulate side by side with it, so every figure on this page reads the same in either currency.
The headline is that One's prepaid packs are the best-value mobile data on the island, local or international: 15 GB over ten days with unlimited local calls and texts for 35 dollars, or 4 GB over three days for 12. That beats every travel eSIM per gigabyte, but not by the dramatic margins found in some smaller island markets, and there is no SIM counter waiting at L.F. Wade when you land. For most short stays the choice comes down to a handful of dollars weighed against a morning's errand.
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One Communications Prepaid, Pack by Pack
One Communications rebuilt its prepaid range on 1 May 2025, when it became the first operator in Bermuda to sell unlimited prepaid data packs, and it markets the result as the island's only 5G prepaid network. Every data pack below except the smallest also carries unlimited local talk and text, which is what the T&T in the pack names means. Packs are added from the handset by dialling the code shown once there is credit on the line, so the counter assistant can do it for you in seconds.
| Pack | Price (BMD) | Data | Valid for | Dial code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily 1GB T&T | $5 | 1 GB | 1 day | *777*29# |
| 3-Day 4GB T&T | $12 | 4 GB | 3 days | *777*44# |
| 10-Day 15GB T&T | $35 | 15 GB | 10 days | *777*45# |
| 30-Day 20GB T&T | $70 | 20 GB | 30 days | *777*38# |
| 30-Day Unlimited | $90 | Unlimited, 25 GB at full speed | 30 days | *777*32# |
| 90-Day Unlimited | $200 | Unlimited, 90 GB at full speed | 90 days | *777*37# |
| Data Only Daily | $3 | 100 MB | 1 day | *777*1# |
For a visitor, the 10-Day 15GB pack is the tourist product in everything but name. At 35 dollars it works out at about 2.33 dollars a gigabyte, a ten-day window matches the length of a typical Bermuda holiday, and 15 GB is more than most people use in that time. The 3-Day 4GB pack at 12 dollars is the one to buy for a long weekend. Note that the 30-Day 20GB pack is poor value next to it: two consecutive ten-day packs give you 30 GB over twenty days for exactly the same 70 dollars.
Two small print details worth knowing
Prepaid credit on a One line expires if it is not used within 90 days, and the account stays active only if you top up within 90 days of the last top-up, so a number bought this summer will not survive to next summer without attention. One's prepaid support pages also refer to a daily government licence fee of 40 cents on prepaid lines. Ask at the counter whether it is already folded into the price you are quoted, because on a ten-day pack it adds four dollars.
Digicel's Prime Ultra Bundles and the Social Data Split
Digicel prices its Bermuda prepaid range around Prime Ultra bundles that divide the allowance in two. The any-use data works for everything: maps, browsers, the Shorelink bus app, video calls. The social data is counted per app and only applies to the social and messaging services named in the bundle terms. The table shows both, but only the left-hand data column should drive a comparison.
| Bundle | Price (BMD) | Any-use data | Social data (per app) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Day Prime Ultra | $6.50 | 2 GB | 2 GB |
| 7 Day Prime Ultra | $36 | 6 GB | 10 GB |
| 14 Day Prime Ultra | $60 | 8 GB | 20 GB |
| 30 Day Prime Ultra Pro | $100 | 30 GB | 45 GB |
Measured on any-use data, Digicel is dearer than One at every length a visitor would buy. Seven days with 6 GB costs 36 dollars at Digicel, while ten days with 15 GB costs 35 at One. The 1 Day Prime Ultra is the exception and a genuinely good product: 2 GB of any-use data plus unlimited local calls for 6.50 dollars suits a single day ashore or a stopover better than One's 1 GB daily pack at 5 dollars. Digicel also runs student bundles, which are aimed at residents and not relevant here.
Reasons to choose Digicel
Reasons to choose One instead
Digicel's main Hamilton store is on Cedar Avenue, a short walk uphill from One's Church Street shop, so it is perfectly practical to compare both counters in the same half hour before committing.
Why Paradise Mobile Is Off the Visitor Shopping List
Paradise Mobile is the operator Bermudians talk about most, because its 5G-first network has won Ookla's fastest 5G award for the island twice, including the second half of 2024 with median 5G downloads around 281 Mbps. For someone moving to Bermuda for work it is a serious option. For someone visiting, it is not, because every plan it publishes is a month-to-month postpaid contract with all fees included, and there is no prepaid, day or visitor product anywhere on its plans page.
| Plan | Monthly price | Data in Bermuda | Roaming |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essentials | $73 | 10 GB high speed, then slower | None |
| Data Freedom | $103 | Unlimited high speed | None |
| Ace | $153 | Unlimited high speed | US, Canada, Mexico, UK and a few more |
| Atlas | $193 | Unlimited high speed | More than 70 countries |
Even the cheapest of those, Essentials at 73 dollars, costs more than two of One's ten-day prepaid packs, and signing up requires the kind of account a short stay does not justify. If you have seen Paradise mentioned as a tourist option in older articles, that predates the plan range it actually sells in 2026.
The regulator is pushing monthly prices down
In September 2025 Bermuda's Regulatory Authority ordered One and Digicel, as the operators with major market power, to offer mobile plans of at least 10 GB for no more than 50 dollars a month from 1 October 2025, and set annual price reviews each August through 2028. The ruling targets residents on monthly plans rather than visitors on prepaid packs, but it signals that local prices are under pressure, so check the counter price on the day rather than trusting any figure older than a season, this page included.
Where to Buy in Hamilton, and What Is Open on a Sunday
One Communications' retail store is at 18 Church Street in Hamilton, open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm, and it is the dependable place to walk out with a new SIM and a pack on it. Its payment centre kiosk at 30 Victoria Street runs 24 hours a day for top-ups. One also lists card-only payment kiosks at Heron Bay Plaza on Middle Road in Southampton, open until 9pm Monday to Saturday and 9am to 7pm on Sundays, at the Pizza House in Shelly Bay Plaza on North Shore Road in Hamilton Parish, and at Audio Visual Electronics on Mangrove Bay Road in Sandys. Those outer kiosks are for adding credit rather than buying a SIM. Digicel's main store is on Cedar Avenue in Hamilton.
Check the phone is unlocked
A handset tied to a US carrier contract will reject a Bermudian SIM. Confirm with your carrier before you fly, because the store cannot unlock it for you.
Carry photo ID
SIM registration asks for identification and a passport is what visitors use. Bring the document itself rather than a photograph of the data page.
Name the pack you want
Ask for the 10-Day 15GB or the 3-Day 4GB by name and have it added at the counter with its dial code, then load a web page before you leave to confirm the data is live.
Plan around the calendar
The Church Street store is closed on Sundays and public holidays. If you land on a Saturday afternoon, the next realistic chance to buy is Monday morning.
That last point is the real weakness of relying on a local SIM. There is no telecom counter at the airport, bus tokens are not sold there either, and a weekend arrival can leave you two days from the nearest open SIM store. A small travel eSIM covering those first days removes the problem entirely, and you can still buy a One pack on Monday if the trip is long enough to justify it.
What a Local Line Gives You That an eSIM Cannot
Price is not the only difference, and for some visitors it is not the most important one. A One or Digicel SIM comes with a 441 number and unlimited local calls on the packs above, which matters in a place where restaurants confirm reservations by phone, some taxi drivers still prefer a call to an app message, and a dive or sailing operator may ring to move a pickup because of the wind. It also puts you on the operators' native networks, including 5G, where a travel eSIM roams and may be held to 4G.
A local prepaid line
The trade-offs
The single-SIM point deserves attention. If your phone takes one physical SIM and has no eSIM slot, swapping in a Bermudian card takes your home number offline, including the text messages your bank uses for verification codes. Most recent phones handle a physical SIM and an eSIM together, which is the combination that avoids that problem, and it is one more reason many visitors keep the home line and add data rather than swapping cards.
Where the Line Falls on a Bermuda Trip
Bermuda sits in the middle of the range on this question. The shops are cheaper per gigabyte, but the gap is a few dollars rather than a multiple, and the practical frictions of no airport counter and a Monday to Saturday store count for more on a short stay than the saving does. Here is roughly where each option makes sense.
| Your trip | Cheapest sensible option | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cruise stay or 1 to 3 nights | Airalo 1 GB for US$6.50, or 3 GB over 7 days for US$19 | No store visit, working before you step ashore |
| 4 to 7 nights | Nomad 5 GB for US$25 | A few dollars more than the local pack and no errand |
| 8 to 10 nights, near Hamilton | One 10-Day 15GB for BMD 35 | Best data per dollar on the island plus a 441 number |
| 8 to 10 nights, no store visit | Holafly 10 days unlimited for US$41.90 | Uncapped for less than seven dollars over the local pack |
| Two weeks or more | Consecutive One 10-day packs | The eSIM premium compounds with every extra week |
Two situations shift the answer. If you are on AT&T or Verizon and planning to lean on the twelve-dollar day pass instead, both of these options are dramatically cheaper and the only question is which one. And if Bermuda is one port on a longer cruise that also calls in the Bahamas or the Caribbean, buying a separate local SIM at every stop stops making sense; our guide to eSIMs for a Caribbean island-hopping trip covers the regional plans that include Bermuda alongside those islands.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I pick up a Bermudian SIM as soon as I land at L.F. Wade?
No. The airport's published amenities in the arrivals hall are a Somers Isle Trading Company shop and a Fast Track desk, and neither One Communications nor Digicel sells SIM cards in the terminal. The nearest dependable counter is One's store at 18 Church Street in Hamilton, roughly 20 to 40 minutes away by taxi, open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm. If you want a working phone for the ride from the airport, install a travel eSIM before you fly and buy the local pack later if the stay is long enough.
Do One's data packs include calls, and will I get a local number?
The packs with T&T in their names include unlimited local talk and text on top of the data, and the SIM itself gives you a 441 Bermuda number. That covers calls to restaurants, taxis and tour operators on the island. The Data Only Daily pack at 3 dollars for 100 MB carries no calling allowance. Calls to numbers outside Bermuda are not part of the local talk allowance, so for calls home most visitors use WhatsApp or FaceTime over the data instead.
Will my Bermuda number still work when I come back next year?
Only if you keep topping it up. One's prepaid rules expire unused credit after 90 days and keep the account active only when you top up within 90 days of the previous top-up. A visitor who comes once a year will lose the number between trips unless they add credit remotely every three months, which usually costs more than simply buying a new SIM on the next visit.
Should I count Digicel's social data when comparing bundles?
Mostly no. Digicel's Prime Ultra bundles split the allowance into any-use data, which works for everything, and per-app social data, which only counts toward the specific social and messaging apps named in the terms. Maps, web browsing, the Shorelink transport app, taxi apps and video calls outside those apps all draw on the any-use portion. Compare bundles on the any-use figure, which is 6 GB on the seven-day bundle, and treat the social allowance as a bonus.
My hotel is out in Southampton or near Dockyard. Do I need to go into Hamilton?
For a new SIM, realistically yes. One's card-only kiosks at Heron Bay Plaza in Southampton and on Mangrove Bay Road in Sandys handle credit and top-ups, but the Church Street store in Hamilton is where you can count on buying a card. From Dockyard the Blue Route ferry reaches Hamilton in about 20 minutes for 5 dollars cash or 4.50 with a token, which makes the trip easy to fold into a day in the city.