Tuvalu eSIM

Because we do not carry a product for Tuvalu, there is nothing to buy in advance for that part of the trip. The direct route is to ask the guesthouse or the contact you have arranged in Funafuti what is available once you arrive, and to finish anything that needs the internet while you are still in Fiji. If your itinerary passes through Fiji before or after, arrange a plan for that leg on its own.

Almost everyone flies in from Suva in Fiji on a small aircraft that lands at Funafuti (FUN), and it operates on only a few days each week. If a flight is missed or moved, the next one may be several days away, so leave buffer nights in Fiji on both sides, never book a tight onward international connection on the same day, and keep the ticket confirmation saved on the phone because you may not be able to open it online while you are there.

The outer islands are reached by the government ship out of Funafuti, an overnight-to-several-day passage whose timing depends on the sea and on cargo, and you should assume you cannot reach anyone for the whole of it. Before you sail, tell someone at home and your guesthouse in Funafuti which island you are going to, which ship you are on and when you expect to be back, then add a few days of slack because the boat often returns later than planned. Load enough offline reading, music and maps to cover the crossing.

Plan the trip as a cash trip. The currency in use is the Australian dollar, so bring enough before you leave Fiji: paying by card and withdrawing cash are not things to build a plan around here, and when the connection drops there is no online fallback either. Carry enough for your room, food and boat fares, plus a reserve in case a delayed flight keeps you there several extra days.

Most plans here start when the phone first connects to a network at the destination, so you can install in advance at home and switch it on after landing. Each plan page states its own rule.

No. The eSIM is a second line, so you keep your home number for SMS OTP. Turn off roaming data on the home line and set the eSIM as the data line.