Planning a trip to Cape Town and wondering if you can buy a sim card at Cape Town Airport? Avoid high roaming charges! This is a complete guide with everything you need to know before buying a sim card at Cape Town Airport in 2025.
Find out where to buy a tourist sim card, up to date prices as per January 2025, my recommendation, info about eSIMs for South Africa and more.
In the past I always used to buy a prepaid sim card in every country, nowadays I mostly use eSIMs to stay connected.
Looking for an eSIM then check out my comparison of the best South Africa eSIMs in 2025.
Table of Contents
- Why buying a sim card for South Africa
- My recommendation
- Arriving at Cape Town International Airport
- Where to buy a sim card at Cape Town Airport
- Buying a sim card in Cape Town City Center
- Prices tourist sim cards at Cape Town Airport
- Best sim card at Cape Town Airport
- Best eSIMs for South Africa
- Order a prepaid sim card for South Africa online
- My experiences buying a sim card at Cape Town Airport
- Vlog about buying a prepaid sim card at Cape Town Airport
Some links in this article about buying a sim card in Cape Town are affiliate links. If you buy any of the products after using an affiliate link I will earn a small commission. Don't worry this is at no extra cost to you.
Why buying a sim card for South Africa
First of all we want to avoid high roaming charges on your sim card from home. Don't use data roaming, it comes with excessive high costs.
On top of that we want internet on our phone as it makes your trip to Cape Town so much easier and more fun.
With a working data connection on your phone you order an Uber, call a restaurant via WhatsApp, get directions from Google Maps, check your banking apps, etc. These are just some of the reasons why having data on your phone is useful.
Being an avid world traveler one of my first travel tips is always to stay connected when traveling abroad. Whether you use an eSIM or buy a prepaid sim card on arrival.
As Traveltomtom is aiming to visit every country in the world and I also like to document all my travel tips you can already find more than 200 sim card guides on Traveltomtom from all over the world: Europe, UK, London, Italy, Rome, Portugal, New York, USA, Toronto, Canada, Istanbul, Dubai, Germany, Frankfurt, Mexico, Brazil, Australia and many more.
Traveltomtom also wrote a complete guide for buying a tourist sim card for South Africa in 2025 as well as a specific sim card guide for Johannesburg Airport.
So next time you are planning your adventure abroad come check out Traveltomtom for the latest prepaid and eSIM advice for your next holiday destination. Bookmark me!
My recommendation
Traveltomtom recommends buying an MTN prepaid sim card at Cape Town Airport. Vodacom might have slightly better 4G/5G network coverage in South Africa, but Vodafone tourist sim cards are much more expensive than MTN sim cards.
Having an eSIM will make things so much easier as you are online as soon as the plane lands and you dont need to buy a sim card at Cape Town Airport.
Also regarding the price there is not much difference. A Sim Local eSIM for South Africa with 10 GB is $24.50 USD. An eSIM from Airalo with 10 GB is $26 USD or an eSIM from Ubigi with 25 GB is $39 USD.
Check out my comparison of the best South Africa eSIMs in 2025 for more detailed info.
Another great alternative is a world travel sim card. These pre-activated physical sim cards will be delivered to your home address before your trip.
Check out Traveltomtom's comparison of the best international sim cards for traveling overseas in 2025.
Arriving at Cape Town International Airport
Don't worry you won't get lost at CPT. Cape Town Airport is a pretty small and easy to navigate airport. There are only 5 luggage belts and only one exit door into the arrival hall for international arrivals. People are very friendly and helpful and there is free WiFi at Cape Town International Airport.
Where to buy a sim card at Cape Town Airport
Finding where to buy a South African sim card for your trip is very easy at Cape Town Airport.
As soon as you arrive in the baggage claim hall you will see a Vodacom kiosk with big signs saying FREE SIM VODACOM.
First off, the kiosk is often not operational and second, a Vodacom sim card at Cape Town Airport is not free. The Vodacom kiosk is located at Luggage Belt 3.
After you picked up your luggage and went through the last customs baggage check you walk through the sliding doors into the arrival hall. On your right hand side you will see a Vodacom and an MTN store, see the picture above.
The operating hours for the shops are:
- Vodacom: 7.00 am - 8.00 pm
- MTN: 7.00 am - 6.00 pm
There is also an MTN and a Vodacom store at the Domestic Arrival Hall, prices for sim cards are the exact same.
Buying a sim card in Cape Town City Center
If you missed the opportunity to buy a sim card at Cape Town Airport then don't worry. All the popular tourist destinations in Cape Town have mobile phone shops that sell prepaid sim cards for South Africa. The best places to buy a prepaid sim card in Cape Town center are:
- V&A Waterfront - Victoria Wharf Shopping Center
- Cape Quarter Lifestyle Village
- Downtown Cape Town
- Seapoint
Locating the nearest phone shop? Go to Google Maps and type in the by you preferred mobile operator: MTN, Vodacom, Cell C or Telkom.
When buying a prepaid sim card in South Africa you need to register with your passport. You can buy up to 5 sim cards per passport.
Check out Traveltomtom's complete guide on how to buying a prepaid sim card in South Africa in 2025.
Prices tourist sim cards at Cape Town Airport
All info and prices are updated as per January 2025. Prices are in South African Rand: $1 USD = 19 ZAR and 100 ZAR = $5.3 USD.
Vodacom Cape Town Airport
At Vodacom they keep it simple and offer 3 tourist packages:
- 3 GB data + 30 min + R30 Airtime + 30 sms = R499 - $27 USD
- 5 GB data + 50 min + R50 Airtime + 50 sms = R649 - $34 USD
- 10 GB data + 100 min + R100 Airtime + 100 sms = R899 - $47 USD
The 30 Rand Airtime is like credit and the packages are valid for 30 days.
You can also make your own bundles, but then a Vodacom sim card costs R100 ZAR ($5.55 USD). The most common available packages valid for 30 days are:
- 1 GB = R99 - $5 USD
- 3 GB = R229 - $12 USD
- 25 minutes = R55 - $3 USD
- 60 minutes = R110 - $6 USD
The Vodacom tourist sim card prices at Cape Town Airport are expensive!
Keep in mind that an Airalo eSIM with 10 GB data only cost $26 USD, cheaper than buying a Vodacom prepaid sim card at Cape Town Airport.
MTN South Africa
At the MTN store there is whole lot more options available and an MTN sim card at Cape Town Airport is also FREE! MTN offers multiple packages with more flexibility. Tourists can opt for a sim card with a package valid for 1 week also.
Another great thing about buying an MTN sim card is that you can easily compose your own packages with data + voice. I like that!
Airtime/voice cost 1 ZAR per minute, so 60 minutes = 60 ZAR - $3 USD.
The most common prepaid MTN sim card data packages at Cape Town Airport are:
For 7 days:
- 1 GB = R85
- 2 GB = R149
- 5 GB = R199 - $11.5 USD
For 30 days:
- 1 GB = R99 - $5 USD
- 5 GB = R299 - $16 USD
- 10 GB = R469 - $25 USD
- 100 GB = R999 - $56 USD
Then MTN offers also packages that give you 1 or 2 GB data per day, with a renewal every day at 00.00.
- 2 GB every day for 7 days = R149 - $8 USD
- 3 GB every day for 7 days = R199
- 1 GB every day for 30 days = R299 - $16 USD
- 2 GB every day for 30 days = R399
- 3 GB every day for 30 days = R599 - $32 USD
MTN claims to have the best mobile data network in Cape Town. Both Vodacom and MTN have a very good 4G/5G network in Cape Town.
Best sim card at Cape Town Airport
Comparing MTN and Vodacom as the best prepaid sim card for Cape Town is quite difficult. Remarkable is that Vodacom prepaid sim cards are much more expensive. A Vodacom tourist sim card with 10 GB data cost $26 USD.
An eSIM Airalo eSIM for South Africa with 10 GB data also cost $26 USD. Sim Local charges $24.50 GB for 10 GB data.
Of course I would recommend an eSIM over buying a prepaid sim card in Cape Town. When the plane lands you are online and you don't need to go to a phone store in South Africa.
See for more details my comparison with the best eSIMs for traveling to South Africa in 2025.
MTN prepaid sim cards are much cheaper than Vodacom sim cards and MTN also offers much more flexible plans for tourists. Since MTN also has a great 4G/5G mobile data network Traveltomtom rates MTN as the best sim card at Cape Town Airport.
Best eSIMs for South Africa
The easiest ways to stay connected when traveling to Cape Town in 2025 is an eSIM. You arrange everything online within just a couple clicks. No more swapping physical sim cards or visiting a phone store in South Africa.
You order an eSIM for South Africa on the internet, you receive a QR code, scan it, follow the simple steps and within less than 2 minutes you have a South Africa eSIM installed on your phone.
Upon arrival in Cape Town it automatically connects you to an available network and you enjoy data on your phone pretty much when the plane lands.
For more detailed info on how eSIMs work and an answer to all FAQ about using eSIMs check out my guide with everything you need to know before ordering an eSIM for South Africa.
Here are some recommendations.
Airalo
Airalo is a reliable eSIM provider and Traveltomtom has used Airalo in more than 50 countries around the world and never had an issue.
Check out the Airalo South Africa eSIM plans for 2025:
- 1 GB data for 7 days = $4.5 USD
- 2 GB data for 15 days = $8 USD
- 3 GB data for 30 days = $11 USD
- 5 GB data for 30 days = $15.5 USD
- 10 GB data for 30 days = $26 USD
Click here to order a South Africa eSIM via Airalo.
The above data-only eSIMs you can order via Airalo are from CellSA and are valid in South Africa only. They operate on the 4G/LTE network of Vodacom, the best 4G/5G mobile network in South Africa.
Ubigi
On Ubigi you always find lots of different eSIMs and sometimes it is hard to figure out the best ones. Read the Traveltomtom's full review of Ubigi with all pros and cons.
For South Africa I spotted some amazing eSIMs deals and that is why Ubigi is ranked high in South Africa eSIM comparison.
Here are the Ubigi eSIMs for South Africa in 2025:
- 1 GB data for 30 days = $6 USD
- 3 GB data for 15 days = $9 USD
- 10 GB data for 7 days = $19 USD
- 10 GB data for 30 days = $22 USD
- 25 GB data for 30 days = $39 USD
- 50 GB data for 30 days = $59 USD
Click here to order an eSIM for South Africa from Ubigi.
The Ubigi eSIMs for South Africa operate on the MTN 4G/5G network and are data-only. Incoming and outgoing calls are not supported. But 5G is supported.
The Ubigi 25 GB data plan for just $39 USD is actually is the best value eSIM for South Africa in 2025 and therefore also Traveltomtom's first pick.
Make sure your phone is eSIM compatible before ordering an eSIM for South Africa.
Traveltomtom wrote a detailed guide and comparison of the best eSIMs for South Africa in 2025.
Order a prepaid sim card for South Africa online
If your phone is not eSIM compatible but you would like to order a sim card for traveling to South Africa online before your trip then check out the following.
Arrive prepared in South Africa with an international prepaid sim card. You order them online and a physical prepaid sim card will be delivered to your home address. You put this sim card in your phone and it automatically connects to an available network upon arrival in South Africa, basically when the plane lands you are instantly online.
SimOptions is the only sim card provider that sells physical prepaid sim cards for South Africa:
- 10 GB data for 14 days = $49.90 USD
Click here for more info or to order an international prepaid sim card for South Africa via SimOptions.
Last reminder that if your phone is eSIM compatible you can arrange everything directly online without visiting a phone store. Get yourself an eSIM for South Africa in just a couple clicks.
My experiences buying a sim card at Cape Town Airport
On my recent trips to Cape Town I always used an eSIM, but here are some experiences from before...
On arrival at Cape Town Airport I checked out both mobile operators first and then came to the conclusion that MTN had better deals. So I decided to buy an MTN prepaid sim card for my trip to Cape Town. Everywhere I went in Cape Town I had a good 4G connection, even when hiking off the beaten path.
I chose the R149 packages and got 1 GB data daily for 7 days. My trip to Cape Town was only 5 days, so that was perfect. This MTN packages is perfect for tourists staying less than 1 week in Cape Town. Just $10 USD.
Every night at 00.00 you get a text saying that they renewed your 1 GB daily allowance. Also when you use 50% of the daily allowance you get a message from MTN.
After a couple days I needed to make some phone calls and I went to the supermarket to add airtime/voice. I added just R20 ($1 USD). It was fixed within seconds. All my experiences using my MTN sim card in Cape Town were good!
Vlog about buying a prepaid sim card at Cape Town Airport
To make it even easier you can also watch this short 2 minute vlog about my arrival at Cape Town Airport and buying a sim card for my trip to Cape Town.
How to get from Cape Town Airport to the city
The airport is located not far from the city and within less than 30 minutes you will be at your hotel by taxi. I recommend taking a taxi as they are only about $25 USD one way. The most trusted way is to order an Uber or Bolt, normal taxis offer rides for the same price.
I am sure some of these tips for buying a sim card in Cape Town were helpful! If you have any question please leave me a comment below and I am happy to assist you.
Interested what it looks like visiting every country in the world? Then check out my Instagram @traveltomtom. As of January 2025 I have visited more than 155 countries around the world.
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Enjoy your trip to Cape Town!