64 verified reviews
Based on 64 reviews
Jordan A.
Johannesburg, ZA · Jun 2026
The eSIM from esima was a lifesaver on my Reunion adventure! I needed to stay connected while hiking and exploring the island. The setup took no time at all, and I had reliable data access everywhere I went. Definitely worth it!
Priya S.
Mumbai, IN · Jun 2026
I enjoyed my time in Reunion and the eSIM made it easy to share photos and stay connected. Support replied after a few hours, but they were very helpful. Just wish I'd bought the bigger data plan.
Jordan A.
Johannesburg, ZA · Jun 2026
I was worried about connectivity on Reunion, but esima delivered! The eSIM worked perfectly for all my apps. It even helped me find the best local restaurants. A must-have for anyone visiting!
Anna V.
Amsterdam, NL · May 2026
I had a great experience with the esima eSIM during my Reunion trip. Fast data for navigating local attractions, but I found the email confirmation took a couple minutes to arrive, which felt long when I was eager to connect.
James K.
Manchester, GB · May 2026
The eSIM worked perfectly as soon as I landed in Reunion. I was able to use Google Maps to navigate right away. Highly recommend for any traveler!
Emma T.
Edinburgh, GB · May 2026
With the eSIM, I never worried about roaming charges. It was straightforward to install, and I could keep up with social media without any hassle. Loved my time in Reunion!
Ethan O.
Dublin, IE · May 2026
Had a fantastic experience with the esima eSIM in Reunion. Everything worked well, but I wish I had gone for the larger data plan. Still, I was able to use Google Maps and stay connected with friends easily.
Emma T.
Edinburgh, GB · May 2026
I relied on my eSIM for everything from navigation to photo backups during my time in Reunion. The connection was steady and I never once worried about being offline.
Typical home-carrier roaming
£12–£25
per day
Esima eSIM
£1.49
Flat rate
Most international carriers treat Réunion as a non-EU overseas territory and bill it at international roaming rates, not domestic or EU roaming rates. That means a daily roaming pass typically covers one to two gigabytes before throttling to unusable speeds, and hotspot is often blocked or capped separately.
If you are coming from Europe, do not assume your EU plan will work here — it will not. If you are coming from elsewhere, expect your carrier to charge the same rate it would for Madagascar or Mauritius.
A Réunion eSIM gives you a flat data pool at local prepaid pricing, hotspot enabled by default, and no throttling after the first gigabyte. The cost stays predictable whether you use half a gigabyte or ten, and you avoid the surprise bill that arrives two weeks after you return home.
Different trip, same eSIM — here is how it lands for the most common visitors to Réunion.
You are tracking Piton de la Fournaise eruptions in real time. The eSIM streams the live volcano-cam app at Pas de Bellecombe, sends eruption alerts via WhatsApp, and keeps Google Maps live for the winding drive up from Saint-Pierre. You cache offline maps for the lava fields where cellular drops to nothing.
Volcano chaser
You are hiking the three Cirques over ten days. The eSIM gives you evening connectivity at refuges in Cilaos and Salazie for weather updates, WhatsApp check-ins, and Airbnb confirmations in the next town. Most of the trail has no signal, so you download offline maps and tell your hotel you will be unreachable for stretches.
GR R1 through-hiker
You are driving the RN2 from Saint-Denis to Saint-Pierre, stopping at beaches, markets, and lagoons. The eSIM keeps Google Maps live, runs Reezit for parking in Saint-Denis, and handles CarPostal Réunion bus schedules when you leave the rental car for a day. You hotspot your laptop at beachside cafés when hotel Wi-Fi fails.
Coastal road-tripper
The apps locals and travelers actually use — the ones that need real cell data, not just hotel Wi-Fi.
CarPostal Réunion
Bus schedules and real-time delay alerts for island routes
PayByPhone
Street-parking payment used across French cities including Saint-Denis Réunion — pay by the minute, extend remotely, no meter visit.
Vroom
Shared scooters and bikes in Saint-Denis
Live volcano-cam app
Real-time Piton de la Fournaise eruption streams and alerts
Météo France
Hyperlocal weather for the Cirques and highlands
Google Maps
Turn-by-turn navigation and offline map downloads
~40MB/day for chats and photo sharing, ~120MB/day if you make regular voice calls from the highlands.
Maps
~150–250MB/day for live turn-by-turn navigation on the coastal roads and mountain routes; cache offline maps to cut this to ~50MB/day.
Rideshare
Ride-hails are rare in Réunion; taxis booked via WhatsApp or SMS use ~5MB/day for confirmations and location sharing.
Cyclone season runs November through April, and heavy rain can close mountain roads and cut cellular in the Cirques for hours at a time. Orange has the most resilient backhaul, but even its towers go offline during major storms.
Download offline maps and cache weather alerts before driving into the highlands during wet months. May through October is the dry season; roads stay open and cellular is more reliable, though the Cirques still have natural dead zones year-round.
Mafate is car-free and accessible only by helicopter or foot. Cellular is patchy and limited to a few refuges; most of the cirque interior has no signal on any carrier. Download offline maps and tell your hotel you will be unreachable if hiking overnight.
Yes, at the Pas de Bellecombe parking and viewpoint you will get 4G from Orange. The crater itself and the lava fields drop to 3G or no signal. The live volcano-cam app streams eruption footage at ~200MB/hour, so cache alerts on Wi-Fi before you drive up.
The village of Cilaos has LTE from Orange and SFR. The drive up from Saint-Pierre on the D242 has long dead zones; expect to lose signal for 20–30 minutes at a time. Download offline maps before leaving the coast.
The GR R1 crosses the three Cirques and spends most of its length in dead zones. You will use data only in towns and refuges — budget 500MB to 1GB total for the week, mostly for evening WhatsApp photo uploads and weather checks.
Yes. WhatsApp voice and video calls work over the eSIM's data connection. Coastal towns have strong enough LTE and 5G for clear calls; the highlands and Cirques will drop calls when you lose cellular.
CarPostal Réunion uses ~5–10MB per day for schedule lookups and real-time delay alerts. The app needs live data to show cancellations on mountain routes, which happen often during rain.
Both carriers have strong 4G and 5G in Saint-Denis. Orange has slightly denser coverage in the hills above the city and better reach into the Cirques. SFR is solid in the urban core and along the coast but thins faster inland.
Orange has broader coverage along the west coast and into the highlands toward Mafate. Free Mobile is reliable in Saint-Paul and the beach towns but drops off faster once you climb above 500 meters.
Yes. Reezit is the digital parking app for Saint-Denis and requires live data to start, extend, and end sessions. Paper tickets are not sold in most zones, so you need the eSIM active to park legally.
Yes. The app streams live footage from Piton de la Fournaise and uses ~200MB per hour of video. You will have 4G at Pas de Bellecombe; the crater itself has weak or no signal, so cache eruption alerts on Wi-Fi before you drive up.
A physical SIM from an Orange or SFR shop at Roland Garros Airport costs the same as a local eSIM but requires a passport scan, a form, and 20–30 minutes of your arrival time. The eSIM activates the moment you land and lets you keep your home number active for two-factor SMS.
No. Réunion is a French overseas department, so EU consumer protections apply but EU 'Roam-Like-At-Home' does not. Your EU carrier will charge international roaming rates, the same as it would for a non-EU country. A local eSIM is cheaper.
The Route des Plaines and the Forêt de Bébour have long stretches with no cellular on any carrier. Download offline maps before leaving the coast. You will regain signal in Plaine-des-Palmistes and Plaine-des-Cafres.
Yes. Vroom is a shared-mobility app for Saint-Denis and needs live data to unlock scooters and bikes. Coverage in the city center is strong on all three carriers.
Budget 3–5GB for two weeks if you use live navigation daily, stream occasional volcano-cam footage, and upload photos to WhatsApp. Add another 1–2GB if you hotspot a laptop or tablet regularly.
Going further than Réunion? These plans include Réunion plus everywhere in between.
Réunion is a French overseas department, which means EU consumer protections apply but EU 'Roam-Like-At-Home' does not — your EU carrier will charge international rates the moment you land at Roland Garros Airport. A Réunion eSIM connects you to Orange, SFR, or Free Mobile's local network at prepaid rates, so you skip the roaming surcharge and get the same coverage a Saint-Denis resident does.
Balanced use — social, navigation & light streaming
How many travelers?
Landing at Roland Garros Airport in Saint-Denis, your eSIM will latch onto Orange, SFR, or Free Mobile within seconds of wheels-down — no SIM-card kiosk, no passport photocopy, no €20 deposit. Installation happens before you board: scan the QR code esima emails, toggle the eSIM on, and you are done.
The profile sits dormant until it sees a Réunion tower, then activates automatically. You will burn through data faster than you expect — live volcano-cam streams for Piton de la Fournaise eruptions, CarPostal Réunion bus schedules, Reezit parking in Saint-Denis, and constant WhatsApp photo uploads from the lava fields all add up.
A local eSIM gives you a flat data pool with no per-MB overage; a physical SIM from a tabac or Orange shop offers the same rates but costs you 30 minutes and a passport scan.
The eSIM advantage is speed and the ability to keep your home number active for two-factor SMS while the Réunion line handles data. Coverage quality changes sharply with altitude — 5G in the coastal cities, LTE in the mid-altitude towns like Cilaos, and nothing reliable once you hike into the Cirque interiors.
If you are chasing waterfalls or doing the GR R1 trail, assume you will be offline for hours at a time.
Three reasons travelers pick esima for Réunion. First: pricing mirrors local prepaid, not international roaming — you pay what a Réunionese subscriber pays, not what your home network bills for a DOM tower.
Second: the eSIM hands off between Orange Réunion, SFR Réunion, and Free Mobile Réunion automatically, so you get the strongest signal in Saint-Paul rather than one carrier's blind spot.
Third: hotspot is enabled by default — important if you are traveling with a laptop or a partner whose phone does not support eSIM, and critical when hotel Wi-Fi dies halfway up the coast.
Your QR code lands in your inbox minutes after purchase.
Pay one upfront price — no surprise charges abroad.
Your physical SIM stays active for calls and texts.
Connect to top-rated local networks at full speed.
Real humans ready to help, any time zone, any day.
Scan once and you're online — no app, no SIM swap.
Our Réunion eSIMs run on Orange Réunion, SFR Réunion, and Free Mobile Réunion. Orange has the densest 4G and 5G footprint across the island; Free Mobile and SFR are well-developed in the Saint-Denis, Saint-Pierre, and Saint-Paul urban triangle but thin out faster in the highlands.
The Cirques — Mafate, Cilaos, Salazie — are deep volcanic amphitheaters with patchy cellular; Mafate is car-free and helicopter or foot only, with signal only at refuges. Piton de la Fournaise has 4G at the Pas de Bellecombe parking and viewpoint; the crater itself drops to 3G or none.
The coastal road RN2 between Saint-Denis and Saint-Pierre holds LTE most of the way; the interior Route des Plaines and Forêt de Bébour have long dead zones. Download offline maps before any drive into the highlands.
Network
Make sure your phone supports eSIM — most recent models do.
Pick a plan and pay securely. Your QR code arrives by email in minutes.
Scan the QR code, enable data roaming on arrival, and you're online.
WhatsApp +44 7367 063273
