How does calling work while I'm on vacation in PV?

So you are on vacation in sunny Puerto Vallarta and you want to brag to your friends and family back home about how great of a time you are having. We approve. How do you go about it? Well of course there are a number of apps out there like Whatsapp or Skype, Facebook messenger, Facetime, etc that you can use to text or video chat back and forth, but sometimes you just need to make a good old fashion call and you can’t connect to Wi-Fi or maybe you are trying to call somewhere local to make reservations for dinner or to go on an adventure.

Check with your provider, some carriers like AT&T have a $10 a day international pass and you only have to pay the daily fee for the days you are abroad! If you are on the T-Mobile ONE plan you can get texting and unlimited date in over 200 countries and Mexico is one of them! One thing to remember is you may want to keep your phone on airplane mode so you don’t rack up a nasty roaming charge if you don’t decide to do one of these phone plans.

Some people recommend bringing an unlocked phone to PV and having a sim card installed. The sim cards are cheap if you do want to go that route and it won’t take more than 15 minutes to set up. This would make sense if you plan to make a lot of local calls but won’t be at your accommodation. Telcel and Movistar are the two big cell phone carriers. Today there are so many restaurants, cafes and places around town do have free Wi-Fi you can use, and of course if you book accommodation with Vacation Vallarta, all of our properties do have Wi-Fi too.

Here is the logistics of making phone calls:

If someone will be calling you (say at the villa you are staying at) from the US or Canada, you will need to have them dial the necessary international access code, then 52 (which is Mexico’s country code) the area code, and then the rest of the number. PV and Nuevo Vallarta’s area code is 322. 

When you are in PV and you need to call internationally dial 00, then the country code (1 for the US and Canada) and then the area code and the number. Always ask the place you are staying if they allow international calls. Some may have a fee associated.

When you call a cell phone in Puerto Vallarta you need to add the area code of 322 and then the rest of the seven digits. If you are calling a landline however you can skip the 322. Most places will not charge for local calls from their landlines.

Be sure to ask the staff at the property you are at for assistance if needed.