Buying a SIM card at Puerto Princesa International Airport
Smart and Globe are both available at PPS arrivals at around $5, behind the shortest queue of any Philippine airport we cover. The honest caveat: on the El Nido and Coron boat tours, signal drops out entirely whatever you buy.
Philippines eSIM plans compared
Nomad50 GB · 30d$45$0.90/GB✓ checkedBest value8 plansData Days Price Per GB 1 GB 7 $4 $4 3 GB 30 $7 $2.33 5 GB 30 $11 $2.20 10 GB 30 $17 $1.70 Unlimited 5 $18 — 20 GB 45 $27 $1.35 Unlimited 10 $33 — 50 GB 30 $45 $0.90 
Airalo50 GB · 30d$48$0.96/GB✓ checked18 plansData Days Price Per GB 1 GB 3 $4 $4 3 GB 3 $7.50 $2.50 3 GB 7 $8 $2.67 5 GB 7 $11 $2.20 5 GB 15 $11.50 $2.30 Unlimited 3 $11.50 — 5 GB 30 $12 $2.40 10 GB 7 $18 $1.80 10 GB 15 $18.50 $1.85 Unlimited 5 $18.50 — 10 GB 30 $19 $1.90 Unlimited 7 $27 — 20 GB 15 $28.50 $1.43 20 GB 30 $30 $1.50 Unlimited 10 $34.50 — 50 GB 30 $48 $0.96 Unlimited 15 $48 — Unlimited 30 $71 — 
Saily20 GB · 30d$29.99$1.50/GB✓ checked5 plansData Days Price Per GB 1 GB 7 $3.99 $3.99 3 GB 30 $7.99 $2.66 5 GB 30 $11.99 $2.40 10 GB 30 $18.99 $1.90 20 GB 30 $29.99 $1.50 
HolaflyUnlimited · 3d$11.90unlimited✓ checked6 plansData Days Price Per GB Unlimited 3 $11.90 — Unlimited 5 $20.50 — Unlimited 7 $27.50 — Unlimited 10 $36.50 — Unlimited 15 $50.50 — Unlimited 30 $73.90 —
Providers marked ✓ checked were read from their own site on ; those marked indicative come from our earlier research and are not yet verified. Providers change pricing without notice — check before buying. Host networks marked ? are taken from provider listings and have not been confirmed by us; where no network is shown, the provider does not publish one. How we check prices.
Everything we hold on the PPS counter
Puerto Princesa is a small airport and there is not much to report, so here it is in full.
Smart and Globe are both available to arriving passengers. The queue is around 8 minutes at peak and 3 off-peak — the shortest of the four Philippine airports we cover. A passport is required, since Philippine prepaid lines must be registered to an identity document. A local SIM costs about $5.
We hold no shop names, no location within the terminal and no opening hours. Whether a desk is staffed for an early or late flight, we cannot say, and we are not going to fill the space with generic advice that would apply to any airport anywhere.
Buy here, because north of here it stops mattering
The reason to sort your connection out in Puerto Princesa is not the town. It is what comes after it.
Palawan's headline trips — the El Nido and Coron island-hopping tours — take you where signal drops out entirely. No SIM and no eSIM changes that. Nobody is selling coverage on those boats, and any page that implies otherwise is selling you something.
What a working connection buys you is the part before the boats: booking tours, arranging the van or ferry north, confirming a room, telling someone which day you will surface. All of that happens in Puerto Princesa or on the road out of it, and all of it is easier with data than without.
So the practical shape of a Palawan trip is: land connected, do the arranging in town, then expect to be offline for stretches and plan around it. Download your maps before you leave Puerto Princesa. That advice does not change whichever way you buy.
Which network to ask for
Smart, if you are buying at the desk. Our country data names it for strong signal across Boracay, Palawan and Siargao, along with the widest 5G footprint and good inter-island coverage. Globe's strength is Metro Manila and Cebu.
Palawan is one of the places where that distinction is explicitly in our data rather than inferred, so it is worth acting on. At the counter you can ask. With a travel eSIM you take whatever the provider assigns, and most of them do not tell you what that is.
What the alternatives cost
| Plan | Price | Per GB | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airalo 5 GB / 15 days | $11.50 | $2.30 | Verified |
| Airalo 10 GB / 30 days | $19 | $1.90 | Verified |
| Airalo 20 GB / 30 days | $30 | $1.50 | Verified |
Read from Airalo's own site on 13 August 2026. The country's ladder goes further — a verified 50 GB at $48, which is $0.96 a gigabyte and the cheapest rate we hold for the Philippines — but on a Palawan trip where half your days have no signal at all, buying that much data would be odd.
Against a $5 local SIM none of this competes on price, and we do not hold what allowance the $5 includes. The case for arriving with an eSIM already working is the 8 minutes you skip, the passport you keep in your pocket, and having a phone that works on the drive into town rather than at the end of a queue.
Full provider pricing is on the Philippines hub, and there is more on the coverage further north in our El Nido guide.
Common questions
Is there a SIM counter at Puerto Princesa airport?
Yes. Smart and Globe are both available to arriving passengers, the queue is about 8 minutes at peak and 3 off-peak, and a passport is required. We hold no opening hours, so we cannot promise a staffed desk on a late arrival.
Will my SIM work on the El Nido and Coron island-hopping tours?
Largely no. Our data is explicit that signal drops out entirely on those trips, and that applies to a local SIM and a travel eSIM alike. Do your booking and downloading in Puerto Princesa and expect to be offline on the water.
Smart or Globe in Palawan?
Smart. Our country data credits it with strong signal across Palawan, Boracay and Siargao and with good inter-island coverage, while Globe is strongest in Metro Manila and Cebu. If you buy at the PPS counter, ask for Smart.