Guadeloupe eSIM for Grande-Terre, Basse-Terre, and the island ferries

Guadeloupe is France in the Caribbean, a butterfly of two islands with a rainforest volcano on one wing and beaches on the other, and a rental car as the way between, and Pointe-à-Pitre's arrivals hall is the place to have a phone that already works. The best eSIM for Guadeloupe is the one added at home, on Wi-Fi, so the car is collected and the Les Saintes ferry booked before the bags come round.

Below: how a Guadeloupe plan works, how to set it up before you fly, what to expect on the two islands and the four smaller ones, and why the Caribbean plan, not a France plan, is the one that covers it.

Island trips rarely stay on one island, and most travel eSIMs make you start over at every stop. KnowRoaming doesn't. You add the KnowRoaming eSIM, called KR.One, to your phone once, then add a plan per trip: Guadeloupe this time, the whole Caribbean plan when you're hopping between islands, somewhere else entirely next winter. Nothing to scan again, nothing to delete when you get home.

The plan's days start when you turn it on and connect in Guadeloupe, 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 5 GB a day at full speed, 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.

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

1. Get the KnowRoaming app (available on iOS and Android) and choose your Guadeloupe plan.
2. Tap Add. First time on this phone? The app adds KR.One and your Guadeloupe plan together. Already have KR.One? Only the plan is added, with nothing to scan.
3. 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

1. 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.
2. 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, by device, is in adding your eSIM on iPhone, adding your eSIM on Android, and adding your eSIM on Samsung, or watch the iPhone QR walkthrough or the Samsung QR walkthrough. Still no signal after landing? Work through the no-signal checklist.

Pôle Caraïbes airport is about 15 minutes from Pointe-à-Pitre and 30 from the Gosier and Sainte-Anne beaches, and a rental car is the way around; the buses are thin and the taxis expensive. Guadeloupe uses the euro, takes cards everywhere, and runs on French rules; EU visitors need no visa. The Pointe-à-Pitre market, the Mémorial ACTe, and the Gosier islet are the first day.

Grande-Terre's Sainte-Anne, Saint-François, and the Pointe des Châteaux are the beaches; Basse-Terre's Soufrière volcano, the Carbet falls, the Route de la Traversée through the rainforest, and the Cousteau reserve's snorkeling at Malendure are the wild wing. Orange's 5G covers the towns and 4G the coast roads; the rainforest and the volcano's trail drop out.

Les Saintes' Terre-de-Haut, a ferry from Trois-Rivières, is the postcard bay; Marie-Galante's rum distilleries and empty beaches are an hour's ferry from Pointe-à-Pitre; La Désirade is the quiet one. The ferries book online and the islands have 4G at the harbors and thin coverage beyond.

Guadeloupe is on the Caribbean plan, 25 islands and destinations on one plan that also covers Martinique and Dominica, the next islands south by ferry, and Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy to the north; the phone switches networks by itself at each port. It is also on the Global plan. A France plan does not work here, and a Guadeloupe-only plan stops at the coast. Read do I need a new plan for every country? for the detail.

Carnival runs from January to Ash Wednesday, with the Mardi Gras parades in Pointe-à-Pitre and Basse-Terre; the Fête des Cuisinières in August and the Route du Rhum's arrival in even years are the other fixtures. June to November is hurricane season, when the ferries and the airlines post changes first; December to April is the busy season.

Your plan connects to Orange, with 5G in Pointe-à-Pitre, Basse-Terre, Le Gosier, and Sainte-Anne and 4G LTE across the coast roads and the smaller islands' harbors. Your phone picks the network automatically once the plan is on; there is nothing to choose by hand.

In the rainforest, on the Soufrière trail, and on the ferries, expect gaps on any network. Save what you need in town.

Most phones sold since 2019 support eSIM, including iPhone XS and later and most Android flagships from the same window. 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, carrier-locked vs unlocked: how to tell shows you where to look.

Adding a Guadeloupe 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.

On an island the alternatives are thin: a home-carrier roaming pass that treats every island as a new country, a local SIM from a shop that closes early, or resort Wi-Fi that stops at the pool. A Guadeloupe plan added at home beats all three: one price agreed before you fly, live the second you land, and a Caribbean plan if the trip takes in more than one island.

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.

One plan. No roaming surprises. Live the moment you land.

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