Before you start

An unlocked handset — a carrier-locked phone will reject a Colombian SIM
Your passport, which the law requires for registering any prepaid line
Your IMEI, from *#06#
A purchase receipt for a foreign-bought handset, in case the carrier asks during IMEI registration
A cédula de extranjería for a postpaid contract or a home-internet installation

Step-by-step

1
Arrive connected with an eSIM
If your handset takes an eSIM, install a Colombia plan from Airalo, Holafly or your own carrier before you fly. Rafael Núñez airport is inside the city and only minutes from Bocagrande, but arriving with data means you can order a fixed-price app ride rather than negotiating a meterless taxi fare in your first ten minutes. Plans start around US$5 and only start counting when you first connect.
Mobile appWho: You5–10 minutes before departure; activates on arrivalUS$5–50 depending on data and days
2
Buy a prepago SIM away from the tourist core
Official Claro, Movistar, Tigo and WOM stores in Centro Comercial Caribe Plaza, Mall Plaza El Castillo or along Bocagrande's Avenida San Martín are straightforward. Show your passport and the clerk registers the line in your name. The SIM is free to about COP 6,000. Avoid buying from street sellers inside the walls, where prices and provenance are both uncertain.
In personWho: You, at a carrier store15–30 minutesCOP 0–6,000 (under US$1.50) for the SIM
3
Register the handset's IMEI the same day
Colombia's anti-theft device database blocks unregistered foreign handsets after roughly twenty to thirty days, preceded by warning SMS in Spanish that are easy to ignore. Ask the clerk to register it at the counter: they need your passport and the IMEI from *#06#, and may ask for the phone's receipt. Activation can take a couple of business days.
In personWho: Carrier store staff, or you in the carrier app5 minutes to submit; up to ~2 business days to take effectFree
4
Top up with recargas and pick a bundle
Prepaid runs on recargas bought in the carrier app, at corner shops and pharmacies showing a recarga sign, or in supermarkets. A monthly bundle typically costs COP 16,000–45,000 for roughly 10–35 GB with unlimited calls and messages, and most bundle WhatsApp traffic free. Dial *611# on Claro to check your balance and find your own number.
Mobile appWho: You2–5 minutes, any timeCOP 16,000–45,000 (~US$4–11) a month
5
Ask what can actually be installed before you rent inside the walls
Claro, Tigo and Movistar all sell fibre in Cartagena and coverage in Bocagrande, Manga, Crespo and the northern developments is good. Inside the Centro Histórico and older Getsemaní, the IPCC's rules bar visible antennas, dishes and equipment on elevations and bar perforating walls and façades, so the answer for a particular colonial house can be a slower or more awkward connection. Ask the landlord which provider is already installed and test it during the viewing.
In personWho: You, with the landlord and the building administratorDuring the viewing; installation a few days if permittedCOP 80,000–180,000 (~US$20–45) a month
6
Budget for a UPS and protect equipment from salt and damp
Fibre is only as useful as the power behind it, and localised cuts do happen. A small uninterruptible power supply keeps the router and your laptop alive through a dip. Separately, salt air and humidity above 80% corrode connectors and grow mould in equipment left switched off — keep routers ventilated, run a dehumidifier in a closed flat, and do not store a laptop in a sealed cupboard.
In personWho: YouFirst weeksA small UPS runs COP 200,000–400,000

Documents you’ll need

Passport, mandatory for registering any prepaid line
IMEI number from *#06#
Purchase receipt for a foreign-bought handset, for IMEI registration
Cédula de extranjería for a pospago contract or home fibre installation

Things most newcomers don’t know

In the walled city, what a provider can install is constrained by heritage rules — visible antennas and dishes on elevations are prohibited, as is perforating walls, windows and façades.

The IPCC enforces visual-decontamination rules across the Centro Histórico, and the same provisions that stop an air conditioner appearing on a colonial façade also limit external telecoms hardware. The practical effect is that a specific house may only be servable by whatever is already installed, and 'we can just run a cable' is sometimes simply not available. Ask before, not after, you sign.

Source: IPCC — cartilla on visual decontamination of the Centro Histórico; POT Decreto 0977 de 2001, arts. 459–470 (Acuerdo 001 de 2003 is the IPCC's enforcement mandate)

Register your handset's IMEI the day you buy the SIM — an unregistered foreign phone stops working on Colombian networks after roughly twenty to thirty days.

Colombia maintains positive and negative IMEI databases so that stolen handsets become unusable, and a device that never enters the positive list is treated as unverified. Buying the SIM feels complete, the warning messages arrive in Spanish, and the block lands in the week you finally need the phone to work.

Source: MinTIC / CRC device registration rules

Prepaid needs only a passport; postpaid needs a cédula, credit history and usually a Colombian bank account.

Your first months are prepago whether you like it or not, and the subsidised handsets and best data plans sit behind pospago. Knowing this in advance saves a wasted store visit trying to negotiate a bundled phone before your cédula exists.

Source: Colombian carrier onboarding requirements (2026)

Salt air and 80% humidity are hard on electronics. Equipment left switched off in a closed flat grows mould inside it.

This is not folklore — humidity condenses inside cases and salt attacks connectors and contacts continuously. Residents who leave for a few weeks and shut everything down come back to corroded ports and mould on lenses. Leaving a dehumidifier or the aircon on a low setting while away is the standard local answer.

Source: Coastal maintenance practice; local service providers

Common mistakes to avoid

Signing a lease on a colonial house you intend to work from without checking what internet can lawfully be installed there.
Skipping IMEI registration and losing network access three or four weeks in.
Buying a SIM from a street seller inside the walls rather than an official store.
Working from home over fibre with no UPS, so a brief power dip takes the call down with the router.
Shutting a flat up for weeks with the electronics inside and no dehumidification.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.