eSIM for Tunisia: from beach resort to desert

In most Hammamet and Sousse hotels, Wi-Fi covers the rooms, the lobby, and often the pool area, but past the gate — on the beach promenade, in a taxi into town, or on a morning walk to the next hotel — the hotel network usually drops out.

That's where the difference shows: your own mobile data works the same in the room, in the taxi, and at the medina market, while hotel Wi-Fi only ever covers the property itself. That gap is especially noticeable on a shopping trip or a visit to a neighbouring hotel's breakfast buffet — the moment the gate closes behind you, the hotel network disappears from your phone.

On Djerba, the Midoun resort strip with its hotels is usually well covered, while further into the island — in Houmt Souk with its market and alleyways, or Berber villages like Guellala — coverage can be less consistent in places.

The ferry between the mainland and Djerba takes only about half an hour, and signal generally holds up the whole crossing, so following the schedule and navigating on arrival isn't usually an issue. Signal is also steady at the docks on both sides of the crossing, so you can check the next departure time online instead of relying only on a printed schedule.

A popular excursion from the coastal resorts — a day in the desert near Tozeur, Douz, or the Chebika oasis — usually means several hours by car or bus through semi-desert terrain, where signal only appears near a few villages along the way.

The oasis and the town of Tozeur itself are reasonably well covered, but on the approach to the dunes and during a quad bike or camel ride, connectivity can drop for 20 to 30 minutes — worth knowing if your group plans to call each other or share location along the way. Guides on these excursions usually flag this in advance and set a meeting point at the bus rather than counting on a phone call once everyone has scattered among the dunes.

Sousse's medina, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a dense web of narrow streets inside old fortress walls, and navigation there can get confused for the same reason it does in any old medina: the satellite signal bounces off walls rather than reaching open sky.

In the capital, Tunis, with its wider boulevards and more modern layout, network and navigation both tend to work more smoothly than in the coastal cities' historic quarters. If your Tunisia trip includes a day in the capital — for the Bardo museum, say — there's no need to set anything up separately, since the same local plan covers it too.

A handful of practical points that come in handy regardless of which Tunisian resort town you're staying in.