Communications in Puerto Vallarta
Keep In Touch!
One of the most attractive aspects of life as a long-term visitor to Puerto Vallarta is its outstanding communications infrastructure.
Mexico's landline telephone network is one of the most comprehensive in Latin America, delivering clear call quality and reliable internet service in even the most remote areas of the country. Thanks to national regulations, all calls placed from land lines are charged as local calls, and long term visitors can take advantage of this resource with home phone service.
Puerto Vallarta in particular benefits from a well-developed network that includes several high-speed connection resources and an expanding fiber optic network that delivers speeds comparable to virtually any North American locale. This means that there are an array of methods to stay in contact with friends and family during an extended stay in Mexico, and these are a few of the most popular.
Cell Phones
Though Wi-Fi connectivity is widely available in bars, restaurants, hotels and other establishments, some tourists are surprised to find that their phones from their home countries do not receive carrier service in Mexico. Fortunately, temporary SIM cards from major Mexican carriers such as Telcel and Unefon are widely available, and they are compatible with many domestic and foreign phones.
Once installed in your phone, these convenient chips typically offer up to 30 days of unlimited calling to Mexico, Canada and the United States as well as unlimited texting and a substantial data allowance for less than $30 USD, making them an outstanding and affordable resource for all North Americans in the area.
For those whose phones may be incompatible with Mexican phone cards, it may be wise to consider purchasing an inexpensive Mexican phone, which are of good quality and ubiquitously available. An important note for long term visitors regards international roaming. Although the feature is almost universally included on mobile devices by carriers, they are typically associated with incredibly high fees and tariffs.
A few absent minded calls or texts to family and friends back home using the network from your home country could quickly incur fees totaling hundreds of dollars, and therefore it should only be used in an absolute emergency. For that reason, anyone considering staying in the area for some time will want to invest in a Mexican phone card. Be sure to record new local contact numbers preceded by the country's international dialing code (+52).
Once installed in your phone, these convenient chips typically offer up to 30 days of unlimited calling to Mexico, Canada and the United States as well as unlimited texting and a substantial data allowance for less than $30 USD, making them an outstanding and affordable resource for all North Americans in the area.
For those whose phones may be incompatible with Mexican phone cards, it may be wise to consider purchasing an inexpensive Mexican phone, which are of good quality and ubiquitously available. An important note for long term visitors regards international roaming. Although the feature is almost universally included on mobile devices by carriers, they are typically associated with incredibly high fees and tariffs.
A few absent minded calls or texts to family and friends back home using the network from your home country could quickly incur fees totaling hundreds of dollars, and therefore it should only be used in an absolute emergency. For that reason, anyone considering staying in the area for some time will want to invest in a Mexican phone card. Be sure to record new local contact numbers preceded by the country's international dialing code (+52).
Smartphone Apps
Residents and longer term visitors also make use of smartphone apps such as WhatsApp and social media messaging services to stay in touch with others with the app anywhere in the world. Use of these utilities is especially prevalent in Mexico, as most of the major carriers allow unlimited use of these services for calls, texts and multimedia messages without counting against the data cap.
VoIP
The Internet of today has made international communications easier than ever before. Thanks to Voice over Internet Protocol--a process through which audio and image data are captured and transmitted instantly across great distances--travelers abroad can make both voice and video calls at little or no cost.
Services like Skype also offer an instant messaging resource for text and pictures along with an associated smartphone app. All that is needed to use these utilities is a computer, laptop, tablet or other device with the appropriate program installed.
Puerto Vallarta in particular provides convenient resources for travelers who may not have access to these items in the form of small Internet cafes located throughout the city that are available for public use at a rate of less than $1 USD per hour.
Services like Skype also offer an instant messaging resource for text and pictures along with an associated smartphone app. All that is needed to use these utilities is a computer, laptop, tablet or other device with the appropriate program installed.
Puerto Vallarta in particular provides convenient resources for travelers who may not have access to these items in the form of small Internet cafes located throughout the city that are available for public use at a rate of less than $1 USD per hour.
Internet Service
Along with major Internet service providers in the country including Telmex and Izzi, who provide home Internet service to service the needs of longer term visitors, Puerto Vallarta and Mexico at large have access to a range of Internet utilities of interest to short term visitors.
The country provides high speed internet access over cellular networks, which is designed to connect with smartphones and other devices. A common solution for visitors who may be in the area for business or an extended vacation who may require access to the Internet through their laptop computers is using a special connectivity device that plugs into a devices USB port to provide high speed cellular access.
The country provides high speed internet access over cellular networks, which is designed to connect with smartphones and other devices. A common solution for visitors who may be in the area for business or an extended vacation who may require access to the Internet through their laptop computers is using a special connectivity device that plugs into a devices USB port to provide high speed cellular access.
Mail in Puerto Vallarta
Of course, the country is serviced by major international carriers such as DHL, FedEx and UPS, which present a reliable option for international deliveries, particularly those of a time sensitive nature. Mexico is also serviced by a federal postal service, and stamps for postage can be purchased at airports and travel terminals as well as from the post offices themselves.
Puerto Vallarta has two post office locations where local mail is processed. In order to receive mail in Puerto Vallarta, you'll need to know the name of the Colonia or neighborhood in which the destination address is located as well as details such as the full street address. Driver's licenses are generally not accepted as identification, and so you'll need to have your passport as well as your travel visa in some cases in order to pick up a shipment.
Thousands of part time residents are able to call Puerto Vallarta their second home because staying in touch with their loved ones back home is very simple. The city is built as modern and well connected, making the transition from tourist to long term visitor into a smooth transition.
Puerto Vallarta has two post office locations where local mail is processed. In order to receive mail in Puerto Vallarta, you'll need to know the name of the Colonia or neighborhood in which the destination address is located as well as details such as the full street address. Driver's licenses are generally not accepted as identification, and so you'll need to have your passport as well as your travel visa in some cases in order to pick up a shipment.
Thousands of part time residents are able to call Puerto Vallarta their second home because staying in touch with their loved ones back home is very simple. The city is built as modern and well connected, making the transition from tourist to long term visitor into a smooth transition.
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