eSIM and SIM cards in Guatemala

The local SIM

• Claro and Tigo are the two networks, and between them they cover the country including Peten and the Atitlan basin.
• Prepaid SIMs are sold everywhere - network shops, supermarkets, corner shops - and cost very little. Take the passport.
• Coverage follows the population, not the road. You will have signal in Antigua, Panajachel and Flores and lose it on the mountain roads between them.

An eSIM instead

• The reason to have data from the moment you land is the FCDO's own advice: do not hail a taxi in the street, use Uber or a radio-dispatched cab. Both need a connection.
• Install and test it before you fly. Both Guatemalan networks are well supported.

Wi-fi

• Antigua is unusually well connected - it is a language-school and remote-work town and cafes there have real internet.
• Lake Atitlan villages vary enormously between one another; San Pedro and Panajachel are fine, smaller villages are not.
• Assume nothing in Peten outside Flores.