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Manage your plans, your data and your eSIM from your phone, wherever you land.
What travelers ask us most?
Yes, both. The Middle East and North Africa plan covers Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and 13 other countries, and your phone switches networks by itself on the causeway. A Bahrain-only plan stops at the border. Details in does a region plan cover every country in it?
In Bahrain your plan connects to STC or Zain, with 5G across the whole island. Your phone joins the network automatically once the plan is switched on. If it hasn't connected a minute after landing, work through the no-signal checklist.
Yes, over the plan's data, with the phone number you already have. A Bahrain plan is data only; calls home go over an app, and your home number keeps working on your home SIM.
Usually, though calls over apps have been restricted in the Gulf at times and the rules change. Messaging works. Test the app when you land and keep an alternative installed.
A fixed plan costs less overall; an unlimited plan (a daily high-speed allowance, then slower) works out to a lower daily rate the longer you stay. The price depends on how much data you want and how many days you're staying; every current option and price is in the plan selector at the top of this page.
In the app: open My plans, choose your Bahrain plan, and tap Top up. The extra data lands on the same eSIM within a few seconds, with nothing new to add or scan. Full steps are in topping up data without reinstalling the eSIM.
Weeks ahead. The plan's days don't start until you turn it on and connect, so a plan bought a month before departure is still complete when you land. Plans need to be activated within 90 days of purchase. See what plan validity means and when it starts.
Yes. Bahrain has 5G across the whole island. On the causeway's border island and offshore, the phone may drift between networks, so give it a minute at the checkpoint.
Bahrain eSIM for Manama, the Grand Prix, and the causeway to Saudi Arabia
Set it up before you fly. It's live the moment you land, nothing to check, nothing to remember.
Already with us? Get the app on the App Store or Google Play.
Bahrain is a small island kingdom joined to Saudi Arabia by a causeway, a business stop on the Gulf circuit, and a Formula 1 weekend, and Bahrain International's arrivals hall is the place to have a phone that already works. The best eSIM for Bahrain is the one added at home, on Wi-Fi, so the Careem to Manama is booked before the visa desk and the first call is taken from the car.
Below: how a Bahrain plan works, how to set it up before you fly, what to expect in Manama and around the island, and why a Gulf itinerary usually wants the MENA plan.
Travel across the Middle East and North Africa tends to run through a hub, and most eSIMs want a fresh profile for every leg. KnowRoaming doesn't. You add the KnowRoaming eSIM, called KR.One, to your phone once, then add a plan per leg: Bahrain for the stay, the Gulf for the layover, a Middle East and North Africa plan when one trip covers several countries. Nothing to scan again, nothing to delete when you get home.
The plan's days start when you turn it on and connect in Bahrain, not at checkout. Buy it weeks ahead, add it at home, and a delayed flight costs you nothing. The full rule is in what plan validity means and when it starts.
Choose a fixed plan for a set amount of data at the lowest overall price, or an unlimited plan when you'd rather not count. Unlimited plans give you a daily high-speed allowance, then a slower speed until the allowance resets the next day. If a fixed plan runs low, top up in the app and the extra data lands on the same eSIM. Hotspot works on every plan, fixed or unlimited; a laptop or a travel partner's phone shares the same eSIM data.
See it in two minutes: Meet KR.One, iPhone setup with KR.One, or Samsung setup with KR.One.
Do this at home on Wi-Fi. It takes about a minute.
Before you leave
- Get the KnowRoaming app (available on iOS and Android) and choose your Bahrain plan.
- Tap Add. First time on this phone? The app adds KR.One and your Bahrain plan together. Already have KR.One? Only the plan is added, with nothing to scan.
- Leave data roaming off on the KnowRoaming line until you land, and turn it off on your home line too so it doesn't run up charges in the background. Steps are in turning off roaming on your home line.
When you land
- Turn the plan on in the app, then turn data roaming on for the KnowRoaming line. That setting lives in your phone, so the app can't flip it for you.
- Give the phone a minute to find the network. If nothing happens, turn airplane mode on for 30 seconds and off again.
Prefer a QR code? The checkout page and your confirmation email both carry one; scan it from your phone's settings. Every tap is in how to add your plan, start to finish, or watch the iPhone QR walkthrough or the Samsung QR walkthrough. Still no signal after landing? Work through the no-signal checklist.
The airport on Muharraq is about 15 minutes from Manama, and Careem and Uber run from the terminal with the number you already have; most passports get an e-visa or a visa on arrival. The dinar is the currency, cards work everywhere, and cash covers the souq. The Bahrain National Museum, the Manama souq, the Al Fateh mosque, and the Bab Al Bahrain are the first day; the island is a car country.
Manama: the souq, the Grand Mosque, and Adliya
In the capital, Bab Al Bahrain, the twin-arched gateway on Customs Square, opens onto Manama Souq, the country's oldest market, a warren of lanes selling spices, textiles, gold, and tailoring. The Al Fateh Grand Mosque, the largest in Bahrain, has guides for visitors and closes to them on Fridays, and the Bahrain National Museum covers Dilmun and the islands' later history. In the evening, the restaurants and bars move to Adliya, especially Block 338, with its murals and terraces. The souq and the old center are best on foot; buses and taxis cover the rest.
Qal'at al-Bahrain, the Dilmun fort and a UNESCO site, the pearling path on Muharraq, the Tree of Life alone in the desert, and the Bahrain International Circuit's tours are the island's days; STC's and Zain's 5G cover the whole island, including the desert south.
Manama is a finance center and the Gulf's most relaxed city for a weekend from Riyadh, and most visits are a week of meetings with video calls from a hotel in the Seef or the Diplomatic Area; 5G handles that. The weekend is Friday and Saturday, Ramadan shifts the day to the evening, and the summer keeps everyone indoors between noon and dusk. For a posting of weeks, an unlimited plan, with a daily high-speed allowance, covers the calls and the hotspot.
The King Fahd causeway to Saudi Arabia is 25 km and an hour with the checks, and Bahrain is on the Middle East and North Africa plan, 15 countries on one plan that also covers Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman, switching networks by itself at the causeway's border island; a Gulf circuit fits it without any change in the app. Bahrain is also on the Global plan. A Bahrain-only plan stops at the causeway. Read do I need a new plan for every country? for the detail.
The Formula 1 Grand Prix, usually in March or April, fills the island's hotels and the causeway from Saudi Arabia; the Spring of Culture festival runs alongside it, and the pearl-diving season in summer is the other tradition. Voice calls over apps have been restricted in Bahrain at times, as elsewhere in the Gulf; test the app when you land and keep an alternative installed.
Your plan connects to STC or Zain, with 5G across Manama, Muharraq, Riffa, and the rest of the island, including the desert south. Your phone picks the network automatically once the plan is on; there is nothing to choose by hand.
On the causeway's border island and offshore, the phone may drift between networks; give it a minute at the checkpoint.
Most current iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, and Google Pixel phones support eSIM. Check yours before you add a plan; it takes a few seconds. On iPhone, go to Settings, General, About and look for an EID or Available SIM. On Android, go to Settings, Network & Internet, SIMs and look for an option to add an eSIM. On Samsung, dial *#06# and look for an EID.
Your phone also needs to be carrier-unlocked. If you're not sure, the same check shows you where to look.
Keep your home number too
Adding a Bahrain plan doesn't touch your regular SIM. Calls and texts on your usual number keep working exactly as before. The new plan handles data while you're there, and most phones run both at once without you doing anything else. Bank codes and two-factor texts still arrive on your home number, as long as that line stays switched on.
One plan. No roaming surprises. Live the moment you land.
In this region the alternatives are a home-carrier roaming rate that is often eye-watering or not offered at all, a local SIM that means ID registration at a counter, or hotel Wi-Fi. A Bahrain plan added at home beats all three: one price agreed before you fly, live the second you land, and a Middle East and North Africa plan if the trip takes in more than one country.
Real travelers rate KnowRoaming 4.5 out of 5 on Reviews.io. More than a decade in travel connectivity, more than 200 destinations, and support that doesn't clock off: WhatsApp and live chat, any time, any day.
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Trusted by frequent travelers.
Works like a bomb. The new app layout needs to be easier to navigate. Especially when trying to topup in a hurry.
Renier
Reliable service throughout our trip in China.
Arlindo
Pretoria, ZA
Works very easily when sorting out an eSIM
Chris
Oslo, NO