Are you traveling to Palau and looking for the best sim card to stay connected? This is a complete guide for finding the right sim card for your trip to Palau. You will find where to buy a sim card, up to date prices as per May 2023, the best 4G/5G network in Palau, my recommendation and experiences and info about international and e-sim cards for Palau.
Being a full time world traveler and aiming to visit every country in the world I constantly change countries. Being in a new country every week I found out that local prepaid sim cards are in general the cheapest way to stay connected. Nowadays a great alternative are e-sim cards, but more expensive in most cases, especially if you use a lot of data.
On Traveltomtom you can find already more than 200 sim card guides from all over the world: Europe, Asia, USA, Thailand, Bangkok, Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, New York, Miami, Singapore, Samoa, Fiji and many more.
So next time you are planning your adventure abroad come check out Traveltomtom. Bookmark this page!
My recommendation
Traveltomtom recommends a PalauCel prepaid sim card to stay connected when traveling to Palau.
It is a very easy conclusion and recommendation as there is only one mobile internet operator in Palau and there are no international sim cards or e-sim cards available for Palau as of May 2023.
Normally if you travel to multiple countries Traveltomtom recommends global e-sim cards or global travel sim cards, but unfortunately non of these cards cover Palau.
May be for your next trip abroad this comes in handy. Check out my comparison of the best travel sim cards for traveling in 2023 in the link.
Why buying a sim card for Palau
First off to avoid high roaming costs. Don’t let your trip get ruined by excessive high roaming costs. Some operators charge up to $3 USD for 1 MB data that means opening Instagram will cost you $100 USD. No joke!
Also don’t be fooled by overseas data plans that make you pay $10 per day or so for unlimited data. Did you read the small letters? Unlimited data at what speed? Overseas data roaming plans often cap the data speed. Can you still handle a crappy E/3G signal?
Staying connected makes traveling to Palau so much more convenient. There are so many reasons for having data on your phone when traveling to Palau.
Registration process
For buying a prepaid sim card in Palau you need your passport. A copy of your passport page will be taken in the store for registering your new Palau prepaid sim card. You can buy as many sim cards as you want on one passport.
Where to buy a sim card for Palau
The easiest would be at the airport on arrival of course. At Palau International Airport in Koror there actually is a PNCC - PalauCel desk, but as of May 2023 there is no one working.
Keep in mind that there are only 3 international flights arriving in Palau these days: Manila, Guam and Taipei.
The easiest way to buy a prepaid sim card for Palau is at the official store of Palau National Communications Corporation store in Koror. It is on the main road next to The Taj, a recommended Indian restaurant.
The PNCC store is open from 8.00 am till 4.00 pm on week days. In weekends the PNCC store is closed. So where to get a Palau sim card if you arrive on the weekend?
Luckily there is Globus, a home goods store and they also sell PNCC prepaid sim cards for Palau. They are open 7 days a week from 08.00 am till 9.00 pm. The Globus store is also located in Koror on the main street, opposite Canoe House, a country style bar with good pizza where you can mainly find American expats.
Another tip for restaurants in Palau is Tori Tori, a Japanese fusion restaurant with good sushi and other great dishes in an uncomplicated setting. For a little more fine dining you head to Elilai Seaside Restaurant. Great setting to have dinner.
As said before unfortunately there are still no e-sim cards for Palau or international sim cards so you can NOT buy a sim card for Palau online as of May 2023.
Best 4G/5G network in Palau in 2023
Of course there is no comparison of the mobile network needed to find the best 4G/5G network in Palau as there is only one mobile internet operator.
We rented a car opposite Palau Hotel, called IR car rental. Very laid-back people and we dropped the car with the keys inside at the airport. Total price per day was just $35 USD, so totally recommended.
We drove all around the main island, visited the most northern tip of the island where you can find the remains of a Japanese Lighthouse, the waterfall of Ngardmau and of course the Rock Islands. Pretty much everywhere apart from out on the ocean on the Rock Island trip we enjoyed a 4G signal and the speed wasn’t too bad.
Only during peak-hours between 7.00 pm and 10.00 pm, the upload speed was pretty slow, but apart from that it was pretty ok.
There is no 5G yet in Palau as of May 2023.
Price prepaid sim card Palau
The registration of a new Palau prepaid sim card costs $10 USD and then you will need to add credit for local or international calls and for data.
Here are the available data packages:
- 2 GB data for 2 days = $2.10
- 4 GB data for 8 days = $8.50
- 11 GB data for 15 days = $15.75
- 15 GB data for 30 days = $26.50
Topping up is very easy and you can find prepaid cards for topping up in every bigger supermarket or gas station around the island. Hotels often also have them for sale. You can buy cards for $5 and $10. To recharge and to check your credit or activate a data plan dial *780#.
For checking your remaining data balance dial *500#.
I am sure some of the above tips for traveling to Palau and getting connected in Palau were helpful for your upcoming trip. If you have any more questions please leave me a comment below.
Curious what it looks like trying to visit every country in the world? Go check out my Instagram account @traveltomtom and follow along.
As of May 2023 I have visited more than 155 countries, so still a long way to go.
Enjoy your trip to Palau!
