Ken Marino wrote in
:

Fairly new to the group. My wife and I purchased a 40' sailboat about
6 months ago and are ready for our first long trip, We plan to spend
2-3 months in the Florida keys and Bahamas--mostly the latter. Any
suggestions on a reasonably priced ( I know cheap is out of the
question ) phone and or data plans out there? Many thanks in advance
for any and all suggestions. Also open to starting an ongoing exchange
of experiences with any who have done or are doing similar trips.



Get yourself the best plan for FL and/or wherever else you plan to cruise
in the US and place it on hold when you head to the Bahamas. Buy an
unlocked GSM phone for use in the Bahamas. You may be able to use the same
phone as you used in the States. For example, T-Mobile utilizes GSM phones
in the US. When you get to the Bahamas, purchase a SIM card from BATELCO
and purchase minutes as you go along. I think that it's about $1.15/minute
from the Bahamas to the US.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 08:54:06 -0600, Geoff Schultz wrote:

Ken Marino wrote in
:

Fairly new to the group. My wife and I purchased a 40' sailboat about 6
months ago and are ready for our first long trip, We plan to spend 2-3
months in the Florida keys and Bahamas--mostly the latter. Any
suggestions on a reasonably priced ( I know cheap is out of the
question ) phone and or data plans out there? Many thanks in advance
for any and all suggestions. Also open to starting an ongoing exchange
of experiences with any who have done or are doing similar trips.



Get yourself the best plan for FL and/or wherever else you plan to
cruise in the US and place it on hold when you head to the Bahamas. Buy
an unlocked GSM phone for use in the Bahamas. You may be able to use
the same phone as you used in the States. For example, T-Mobile
utilizes GSM phones in the US. When you get to the Bahamas, purchase a
SIM card from BATELCO and purchase minutes as you go along. I think
that it's about $1.15/minute from the Bahamas to the US.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

Thanks Geoff,
Any suggestions on data-ie internet

Ken Marino wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 08:54:06 -0600, Geoff Schultz wrote:

Ken Marino wrote in
:

Fairly new to the group. My wife and I purchased a 40' sailboat
about 6 months ago and are ready for our first long trip, We plan
to spend 2-3 months in the Florida keys and Bahamas--mostly the
latter. Any suggestions on a reasonably priced ( I know cheap is
out of the question ) phone and or data plans out there? Many
thanks in advance for any and all suggestions. Also open to
starting an ongoing exchange of experiences with any who have done
or are doing similar trips.



Get yourself the best plan for FL and/or wherever else you plan to
cruise in the US and place it on hold when you head to the Bahamas.
Buy an unlocked GSM phone for use in the Bahamas. You may be able
to use the same phone as you used in the States. For example,
T-Mobile utilizes GSM phones in the US. When you get to the
Bahamas, purchase a SIM card from BATELCO and purchase minutes as
you go along. I think that it's about $1.15/minute from the Bahamas
to the US.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

Thanks Geoff,
Any suggestions on data-ie internet

Is there no wi-fi out there?

Dennis.

Ken Marino wrote in news:KO-
:

On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 08:54:06 -0600, Geoff Schultz wrote:

Ken Marino wrote in
:

Fairly new to the group. My wife and I purchased a 40' sailboat about 6
months ago and are ready for our first long trip, We plan to spend 2-3
months in the Florida keys and Bahamas--mostly the latter. Any
suggestions on a reasonably priced ( I know cheap is out of the
question ) phone and or data plans out there? Many thanks in advance
for any and all suggestions. Also open to starting an ongoing exchange
of experiences with any who have done or are doing similar trips.



Get yourself the best plan for FL and/or wherever else you plan to
cruise in the US and place it on hold when you head to the Bahamas. Buy
an unlocked GSM phone for use in the Bahamas. You may be able to use
the same phone as you used in the States. For example, T-Mobile
utilizes GSM phones in the US. When you get to the Bahamas, purchase a
SIM card from BATELCO and purchase minutes as you go along. I think
that it's about $1.15/minute from the Bahamas to the US.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

Thanks Geoff,
Any suggestions on data-ie internet

The Bahamas are a BIG place, so this question is highly dependent upon
where you are. You'll find OK coverage in the Abacos and Nassua, but it
falls off to near nothing outside of that. One of the major providers is
Out Island Internet and you can see their coverage map at

http://www.abacoinet.com/locations.html

Other than that you'll have to use public Internet at libraries or at
marinas. Don't expect to be connected on a daily basis unless you stay in
populated areas. I remember another provider, something like Coconut
Internet, but I can't find anything online about them. Recent cruising
guides to Bahamas will have ads for providers.

Oh, get yourself a good external WIFI antenna setup. This has been
discussed extensively in this forum. You can use the advanced search
function of groups.google.com to search for this info.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 09:54:20 -0600, Geoff Schultz
wrote:

I remember another provider, something like Coconut
Internet, but I can't find anything online about them.

Coconut Telegraph. They also have a ham radio net on SSB:

0800 Coconut Telegraph 4003 KHz USB

Wayne.B wrote in
:

Coconut Telegraph. They also have a ham radio net on SSB:

0800 Coconut Telegraph 4003 KHz USB



4003 is NOT, repeat NOT in the ham radio bands! Utter your ham callsign on
4003 and you'll soon be dealing with FCC correspondence you'll regret.

Use your Ship Station License on 4003, which is dubiously legal.

Larry
--
Next time some broker tells you what a great investment he's selling,
ask him about Rhodium, a shiny metal used in Catalytic Converters.
Jan 1st 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Rhodium $452 $1341 $3006 $5339 $6775 PER OUNCE!
How much longer can we pay for new cars at this rate?
Feb '97 it was $182/oz

On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 08:54:06 -0600, Geoff Schultz
wrote:

Get yourself the best plan for FL and/or wherever else you plan to cruise
in the US and place it on hold when you head to the Bahamas. Buy an
unlocked GSM phone for use in the Bahamas. You may be able to use the same
phone as you used in the States. For example, T-Mobile utilizes GSM phones
in the US. When you get to the Bahamas, purchase a SIM card from BATELCO
and purchase minutes as you go along. I think that it's about $1.15/minute
from the Bahamas to the US.

That works, and there are a couple of other possibilities also. There
is good WiFi internet service available in much of the Bahamas which
means that you can also use Voice Over IP services such as Skype to
make calls at very reasonable prices if you are properly configured.
In addition, carry a hand held VHF radio with you when you go ashore.
People in the Bahamas use them for everything from calling a taxi to
just asking directions. Not legal in the US but very acceptable
there.

http://www.skype.com/

Geoff Shultz wrote:
same
phone as you used in the States. For example, T-Mobile utilizes GSM phones
in the US. When you get to the Bahamas, purchase a SIM card from BATELCO
and purchase minutes as you go along.

Hi Geoff,
I have T-Mobile here and while they do use GSM their phones are not
unlocked - you have to use their programmed cards (at least this is what
the guy selling all the brands of phones and services at his booth told
me). I was looking at unlocked GSM phones and found them to be a bit
pricey and not a big selection available, but it seemed to make sense to
get one if you're going to be abroad for awhile. If you are only
travelling for a week or so at a time it makes more sense to keep your
U.S. phone and have the phone company get you the service over there.
Red

Red wrote in
:

Geoff Shultz wrote:
same
phone as you used in the States. For example, T-Mobile utilizes GSM
phones in the US. When you get to the Bahamas, purchase a SIM card
from BATELCO and purchase minutes as you go along.

Hi Geoff,
I have T-Mobile here and while they do use GSM their phones are not
unlocked - you have to use their programmed cards (at least this is
what the guy selling all the brands of phones and services at his
booth told me). I was looking at unlocked GSM phones and found them to
be a bit pricey and not a big selection available, but it seemed to
make sense to get one if you're going to be abroad for awhile. If you
are only travelling for a week or so at a time it makes more sense to
keep your U.S. phone and have the phone company get you the service
over there. Red

Simply buy an unlocked phone via eBay or there are many services which will
unlock your existing phone. I purchased a Motorola T-Mobile GSM phone for
$51 last year on eBay.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org