Best eSIM for Réunion 2026 – Data from $3.90, and Where the Mountains Take It Away
Best eSIM for Réunion 2026 — Data from $3.90, and Where the Mountains Take It Away
Updated August 2026 · Prices in USD, verified at checkout · Network data from our supplier’s live catalogue
Réunion is a volcano in the Indian Ocean with a French motorway around the edge and, in the middle, some of the most serious hiking terrain in the world. Connectivity here is excellent where people live and absent where people walk — and the gap between those two facts is the whole point of this guide.
Orange 5G · QR by email · No shop visitGet your Réunion eSIM — 10 GB for $8.90 →If you live in the EU, this includes you
Réunion is an outermost region of the European Union, not a foreign territory — EU and EEA contracts cover it under “roam like at home” exactly as they cover mainland France. If you are travelling from within the EU you very probably need nothing at all. This guide is for visitors from the US, Canada, the UK and elsewhere.
What the Réunion plans cost
| Réunion data package | Price | Cost per GB | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 GB / 30 days | $3.90 | $1.30 | A stopover en route to Mauritius |
| 5 GB / 30 days | $4.90 | $0.98 | A week of coast and cirques |
| 10 GB / 30 days | $8.90 | $0.89 | Two weeks of hiking |
| 20 GB / 30 days | $16.90 | $0.85 | A month, or hotspot use |
Réunion Unlimited runs from $4.30 for one day and $28.31 for a week (about $4.04 a day) to $91.63 for 30 days — $3.05 a day. As with the French Caribbean, this is far below what the surrounding Indian Ocean islands cost, because it is a French network.
The fair-use number, stated openly
Réunion Unlimited allows 5 GB per day at full speed, then continues at 512 Kbps until the next day resets. Five gigabytes is a heavy travel day — maps, messaging, social media and a few videos rarely come close. At the reduced speed maps, messaging, tickets and email still work; HD video does not.
Which network you connect to
The Réunion eSIM roams on Orange (5G) — a single network, and the incumbent here. Coverage along the coastal ring is genuinely good: Saint-Denis, Saint-Pierre, Saint-Gilles, Saint-Paul and the whole route nationale are strong, as are Cilaos and Salazie in the accessible cirques.
Where there is no signal, and it matters here
Réunion’s interior is not a place to improvise. Cirque de Mafate has no road at all — it is reached on foot or by helicopter, and it has no meaningful mobile coverage. The Piton de la Fournaise approach across the Plaine des Sables loses signal well before the crater. The GR R1 and R2 traverses spend days out of range, and the weather changes fast enough that the Grand Raid ultramarathon is run here for a reason.
If you are walking in the cirques: download offline maps, tell your gîte your route, and treat the phone as a camera rather than a safety net. Emergency calls (112) work on any available network — where there is one.
The apps worth having
Kartor and Google Maps both cover the island, but for hiking the IGN maps are what people actually use, and they can be downloaded for offline use before you leave the coast. The Réunion tourism site publishes trail and volcano access status, which changes with eruptions and weather and is worth checking the morning you set off rather than the night before.
For getting around, Car Jaune runs the intercity buses; hiring a car is what most visitors do, and the road up to Cilaos has four hundred bends, which is easier with navigation than without.
The honest caveat: your internet exits in France or the Netherlands
Like most travel eSIMs, this one is home-routed. Your phone attaches to a mast in Réunion, but your traffic reaches the public internet through a gateway in France or the Netherlands. Websites see a European address — which here is less strange than usual, since Réunion is legally part of the EU anyway. Anything geo-locked to France Télévisions and some French banking portals may still object. Latency is a little higher; maps, messaging, browsing and video calls are unaffected.
Getting online, step by step
1. Buy the plan; the QR code arrives by email within about a minute.
2. Scan it at home on Wi-Fi: Settings → Cellular/Mobile → Add eSIM.
3. Label it “Réunion”, switch it off, and fly.
4. On landing at Roland Garros (Saint-Denis) or Pierrefonds, turn the Réunion line on with data roaming enabled for that line only.
5. Keep your home SIM on for calls and SMS codes, with its own data switched off.
Your QR code stays valid for 180 days before you install it, and the plan clock only starts when the eSIM first connects to a network in the destination country — not when you pay.
Questions travellers ask before buying
Do I need an eSIM if I am French or EU-based?
Almost certainly not — Réunion is an EU outermost region and “roam like at home” applies.
What is the best eSIM for Réunion in 2026?
The 10 GB package at $8.90 for a fortnight of maps, trail status and photos on Orange 5G.
Does it work in the cirques?
In Cilaos and Salazie, yes. Mafate has no road and effectively no coverage — plan for that rather than around it.
Does it work on the volcano?
Along the road to the Pas de Bellecombe, patchily. The crossing of the Plaine des Sables and the crater trail have no signal.
Which network does it use?
Orange, with 5G. It is a single-network plan and Orange is the incumbent here.
Does it cover Mauritius?
No — Mauritius is a separate country and a separate plan, which matters because the two are often combined on one trip.
Can I hotspot my laptop?
Yes — tethering is included on both plan types at no extra charge.
When does my plan start?
On first connection to a Réunion network, not at purchase. The unused QR code stays valid for 180 days.
Ready for Réunion?
A gîte in Cilaos confirmed before the four hundred bends, volcano access checked the morning of, a beach at Boucan Canot found without circling — the coast is easy and the interior is honest about what it is. Install tonight, land connected.
Install today · Activates when you landGet your Réunion eSIM — 10 GB for $8.90 →Prices checked August 2026 at aerosims.com and subject to change; per-day figures derived from listed plan prices. Network partner, fair-use allowance and gateway country come from our supplier’s live package catalogue and are accurate as of 9 August 2026. Coverage descriptions reflect the partner network’s footprint; no plan provides service in Cirque de Mafate or on the high volcano trails.