Staying Connected at Sea: Internet, Phones, Satellite & VPNs for Sailors

Not so long ago, sailors had to make peace with being completely offline at sea.

Navigation relied on paper charts and plotters, or, later, clunky electronic chart plotters at the nav station. “Sending a quick message” meant a crackly VHF radio. If you wanted news from home, you waited until the next port for a stack of letters or, if you were lucky, an expensive international phone call.

Today, the story couldn’t be more different. Liveaboard sailors not only want to stay connected — many of us need to. Remote work, up-to-the-minute weather forecasts, online banking, video calls with family, and yes, even Netflix at anchor, are now part of life afloat. For most cruisers, connectivity is no longer a luxury. It’s assumed.

The challenge, of course, is figuring out how to stay online from a sailboat. Even in port, marina Wi-Fi is notoriously unreliable, and once you set sail, cell coverage can disappear quickly offshore or even just around a headland. Satellite internet is emerging as a game-changer but can still be expensive and technically complex. Add in the risks of public Wi-Fi, the frustration of international geo-restrictions, and the sheer variety of options, and it becomes clear: a solid connectivity plan is now as important to sailors as a trustworthy anchor.

This guide brings together everything you need to know about staying connected at sea — from local SIM cards and eSIMs, to cellular boosters and onboard routers, to satellite internet and the often-overlooked but essential VPN.

Our Experience Staying Connected

We’ve been living and working nomadically since 2018, and in that time, the way we connect has changed dramatically.

In our first year of traveling together, living out of a tiny van in South America, we spent a lot of time chasing expensive, patchy 3G just to make laggy video calls. It was stressful, frustrating, and often unsuccessful.

Even in the last few years aboard our boat in the Mediterranean, we’ve seen huge advances in connectivity infrastructure. Anchorages in dead zones that we’ve had to sail past previously now offer blisteringly fast 5G internet, just from our cell phones.

And for sailors with high-bandwidth needs, satellite internet is now more attainable than ever.

Today, with the proper setup, there really is no reason why any sailor — even on a tight budget — shouldn’t have access to fast, reliable, and safe internet.

📱 Phones and SIM Cards for Sailors

For many liveaboards, the easiest and cheapest way to get online is with a local SIM card. If you move between countries, swapping in a prepaid SIM (or loading an eSIM) lets you access affordable data at local rates.

Local SIM Cards

Local SIMs are widely available at airports, kiosks, and phone shops. They usually offer the best value for money — lots of data for a low price — but setup can be tricky. Some countries require ID registration, some only sell tourist packages, and in smaller ports, you may struggle to find English-speaking staff.

Arriving somewhere and trying to find a SIM card without a SIM is a real chicken-and-egg problem.

When we first washed up in Albania after a long sail from Montenegro, we were hot, dirty, and exhausted. What we hadn’t counted on was how little English was spoken. Our first few hours ashore were spent wandering aimlessly, trying to find a shop that could sell us a SIM at a fair price. Without internet to look up providers or translation apps, the whole process felt harder than it needed to be.

Lesson learned: always research in advance.

Before you arrive:

• Decide your first choice provider (plus a second and third backup).
• Note where to buy (airport kiosk, downtown shop, mall), bonus points if you mark them on an offline map.
• Screenshot current packages and prices.
• Bring your passport (often required for registration).
• Make sure your phone is unlocked.

Tourist SIMs vs Local Prepaid

• Tourist SIMs: Easy to buy at airports or convenience stores; usually pricier and limited in duration (7–30 days).
• Local prepaid plans: Better value for long-term use; often require paperwork, language wrangling, and sometimes aren’t available to non-residents.

Where to Research SIMs

We’ve found the best intel often comes from other cruisers:

• Facebook groups (country-specific liveaboard or digital nomad groups).
• NoForeignLand — cruisers share real-world notes on SIMs and coverage by region.
• Cruising forums & blogs — sailors are quick to report which provider is best in a given country.
• YouTube vlogs — often include up-to-date SIM hacks in country-specific sailing content.

A quick 10-minute search before you arrive can save hours of hassle ashore.

eSIMs: A Game Changer

eSIMs (like Airalo, Holafly, Nomad) let you download a data package before you even arrive in a new country. No plastic card, no shop visit. They’re perfect for quick stopovers or when you need instant connectivity.

On the other hand, eSIMs are not always the cheapest, and many don’t include calls or SMS.

We often use eSIMs as a bridge. Before we leave one country, we’ll activate a short-term eSIM (a week or so) for the next one. As we sail in, the eSIM kicks on and we’re online immediately. That buys us time to shop around for a local physical SIM — usually cheaper and with better coverage.

Dual SIM & Hotspots

An unlocked, dual-SIM phone (or a dedicated hotspot/MiFi) makes life much easier. For example, we keep one SIM from home for banking and two-factor codes, and another local SIM for data. With dual-SIM, there’s no swapping — just choose which card handles data.

Typical Costs (rough guide)

• Mediterranean: €10–25 for 20–50 GB / month.
• Caribbean: $30–50 for similar data.
• SE Asia: $5–10 for ~20 GB in places like Thailand.

It’s rarely apples-to-apples. Data in Europe is cheap compared to island nations, but having multiple options — eSIM + local SIM — means you’re rarely stuck.

🗺 Research Coverage Before You Sail

Before you spend money on SIMs, boosters, or satellite gear, check where coverage actually exists. If a company is spruiking “99% coverage,” it usually means 99% of the population, which is fine for big cities, less helpful for islands and remote anchorages.

Tools We Like

• nPerf — our go-to. Crowd-sourced, interactive coverage maps (2G/3G/4G/5G) you can compare by provider.
• OpenSignal — simple maps plus speed test data from real users.
• CellMapper — more technical; shows tower locations and network bands (great if you’re setting up an external antenna).

How to Use Coverage Maps

• Before buying a SIM: compare coverage for the actual coastal stretch you’ll sail.
• Passage planning: spot dead zones so you can download weather, charts, and entertainment in advance.
• Hardware setup: tower maps help you point a directional antenna or pick an anchorage with line-of-sight.

🌐 Internet at Sea

Cellular Connections

Once you leave the marina, your SIM still matters — because cellular internet is the workhorse of coastal cruising.

Within a couple of kilometers from an onshore tower (usually near towns or settlements), you’ll often have fast, stable internet. And even when sailing further offshore, you can sometimes hold onto a 4G/5G connection up to 5–10 nautical miles out, depending on tower height, weather, and terrain.

But signal is fickle. Being “close to shore” doesn’t guarantee a connection — what really matters is line of sight to a tower. As soon as that tower slips behind a headland, or cliffs, your signal can drop dramatically. We’ve had blazing 5G at anchor one minute, only to lose it completely when we swung a few degrees on the hook.

Boosting Cellular Signal

For cruisers who depend on connectivity for work, navigation, or staying in touch, a few pieces of kit can make all the difference:

• External antennas & boosters
  • These can take a weak 1–2 bar signal and make it usable. Perfect for anchorages just on the edge of coverage.
• Routers & Wi-Fi systems
  • These allow multiple SIM cards, failover between networks, and the ability to share one secure Wi-Fi network across the boat. They can also connect to marina Wi-Fi and auto-switch to cellular if the marina signal fails.
• Budget setup
  • Hotspot tethering from your phone. Cheap, simple, but drains your battery and only supports a few devices.
• Premium setup
  • Router + external antenna + booster. Expensive, but gives you the best chance of holding a signal offshore and sharing bandwidth with the whole crew.

Practical Tips

• Download heavy files early — charts, Netflix episodes, weather GRIBs — when you have strong coverage.
• Use Speedtest (or router stats) to hunt the “sweet spot” in the anchorage. We’ve literally spun the boat around holding a phone skyward, trying to catch a signal while other sailors probably thought we were mad.
• Redundancy is key — carry a backup SIM or eSIM on a different network. When one fails, the other often works.

Speeds You Can Expect

• 4G/LTE: 5–20 Mbps near shore. Plenty for video calls, work, and streaming.
• 5G: 50–200 Mbps where available (usually cities). Excellent for uploads, video editing, or remote work.
• Offshore: often nothing… unless boosted, and even then it’s hit-and-miss.

Setting Up Boat-Wide Wi-Fi

Many cruisers eventually install a marine router to create a single onboard network. The router can pull from multiple sources — marina Wi-Fi, cellular SIMs, or satellite — and distribute it as one Wi-Fi signal across the boat. That way, all devices (laptops, phones, tablets, even the smart TV) connect automatically, no matter which internet source is active.

It’s not essential, but it makes life a lot smoother than constantly swapping SIMs, phones, or tethering connections.

🛰 Satellite Internet for Offshore and Remote Areas

Cellular works well near shore, but what about crossings, remote islands, or long offshore passages? That’s when satellite systems step in.

For years, Iridium and Inmarsat were the go-to options, used primarily for safety and weather rather than true internet. Today, Starlink has completely changed the landscape, bringing near-land broadband speeds offshore — but not without trade-offs.

Iridium GO! — Safety Lifeline

• Speed: Extremely slow (<0.1 Mbps, think old dial-up).
• Coverage: True global, including high latitudes.
• Best for: Downloading GRIB weather files, sending/receiving text-based emails, and emergency SOS.
• Pros: Tiny, portable, low power draw. Works anywhere.
• Cons: Not usable for real web browsing or video. Cost adds up quickly.
• Cost: ~$700–900 for device + ~$150/mo plan.

👉 If you’re crossing oceans, Iridium GO! remains a reliable safety net, even if you also carry Starlink.

Inmarsat — Voice & Basic Data

• Speed: ~0.5–2 Mbps.
• Coverage: Global, though weaker at extreme latitudes.
• Best for: Voice calls, email, light browsing.
• Pros: Faster than Iridium; better for calling home or checking weather pages.
• Cons: Still very slow compared to modern expectations. Hardware costs more.
• Cost: $1,000+ device, $100–300/mo plans.

VSAT — Professional Grade

• Speed: ~5–20+ Mbps depending on contract.
• Coverage: Regional/global, contract-based.
• Best for: Superyachts, commercial vessels, research expeditions.
• Pros: High reliability, crew contracts, 24/7 support.
• Cons: Eye-watering prices. Complex installation.
• Cost: $5,000+ hardware, $1,000+/mo contracts.

Starlink Roam & Starlink Maritime — The Game-Changer

• Speed: 50–200 Mbps in many regions.
• Coverage: Expanding globally, though gaps remain at extreme latitudes. Expensive offshore plans often required for open ocean.
• Best for: Streaming, Zoom calls, cloud work, uploading videos, and making a boat feel like home.
• Pros: Huge leap forward in speed; affordable compared to VSAT; plug-and-play.
• Cons: Higher power draw (up to 100W+ continuous), not always stable at anchor in swell, variable rules on using “roam” vs “maritime” plans. Equipment is bulkier than Iridium.
• Cost: $600–2,500 equipment + $150–250/mo depending on plan.

We went back and forth on Starlink for ages. As mostly coastal cruisers, we were achieving increasingly faster speeds from mobile internet, and the cost seemed hard to justify. But the ability to work reliably from anchorages that were previously off-limits has finally tipped us over the edge. This season, we’re taking the plunge and installing Starlink.

At a Glance: Satellite Options for Sailors

Which Do You Really Need?

• Coastal cruisers: SIM cards + boosters will cover most needs; Starlink is optional but increasingly attractive.
• Offshore passagemakers: An Iridium GO! or Inmarsat unit is still the safety standard. Starlink can complement it for real broadband.
• Superyachts / commercial: VSAT remains common, but Starlink is rapidly replacing or supplementing it thanks to cost savings.

🔒 Why Sailors Should Use a VPN

Even with the best internet setup, you’re both vulnerable and limited without a VPN. Marina Wi-Fi, random café hotspots, and even some cellular networks can expose your data — and geo-restrictions can stop you from doing things you take for granted back home.

What a VPN Does

• Encrypts your data — keeping it safe on sketchy marina or café Wi-Fi.
• Hides your IP — so banks, work systems, and streaming sites see you as “back home.”
• Unlocks geo-restricted content — Netflix, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, YouTube, and more.
• Bypasses censorship — in some regions, a VPN is the only way to access certain apps or websites.

Why It Matters for Sailors

• Security on marina Wi-Fi — Shared networks are notoriously unsafe; a VPN makes them usable.
• Access banking & government sites — Avoid account freezes or log-in blocks when traveling abroad.
• Work remotely with confidence — Many clients require VPNs for data security, and it lets you appear to be logging in from your home country.
• Stream your favorite content — Skip the dreaded “not available in your region” screen.
• Protect the whole crew — Some routers allow VPN installation at the network level, so every device onboard is covered automatically.

Best VPNs for Sailors

Not all VPNs are created equal. Some prioritize speed and privacy, while others focus on connection stability. Here are three strong options:

• NordVPN — For Reliability
  A great all-rounder. Strong encryption, audited privacy policies, and fast speeds make it one of the best for banking, remote work, and streaming while hopping countries.
• Surf Shark — For Value
  Perfect for families or crews. One subscription covers unlimited devices, so you can protect every phone, tablet, and laptop onboard without extra cost. One of the most affordable choices.
• Speedify — For Smoother Connections
  Different from traditional VPNs. Its standout feature is channel bonding, which lets you combine multiple connections (like marina Wi-Fi + 4G + Starlink) into one more stable feed. This can save a video call or upload in a marginal anchorage. The trade-off: not as strong on privacy as Nord or Surfshark, and it logs more user data.

Our Take

We truly hate subscriptions — they creep into a sailing budget and multiply until you feel like you’re leaking money. But a solid VPN is one subscription we don’t mind paying for. It helps us do so much more with the internet we already have, and it’s something we use every single day.

After testing several providers we still use and recommend NordVPN for sailors. It’s fast, reliable, and works across devices, even when hopping countries weekly.

👨‍👩‍👧 Family and Crew Considerations

Connectivity isn’t just about the skipper downloading weather files. On a liveaboard, multiple people often need bandwidth at the same time:

• Kids streaming cartoons while parents upload work files.
• Crew members calling home.
• Devices running navigation and safety apps in the background (which quietly draw power and data).
• Increasingly, families using online schooling platforms to educate their kids while cruising.

When everyone is connected, it doesn’t take much for things to slow down — or stop completely.

Tips for Sharing Bandwidth

• Use parental controls (many VPNs and routers have built-in options).
• Schedule heavy uploads/downloads (videos, backups) for marinas or strong coverage.
• Limit background apps and auto-updates — they silently eat bandwidth.
• Prioritize critical tasks — if one person has a work call, Netflix can wait.

Life Onboard: Our Experience

Deciding who gets access to bandwidth (and when) can be a battle. If one of us has a work meeting and the other just wants to watch Netflix, the choice is obvious — but it’s still annoying.

Knowing exactly how much data you have, and building in redundancy, makes life onboard far more pleasant.

When we first started travelling, through until quite recently we usually shared a single SIM card between us to save money. It worked most of the time, but when we both needed a video call on a patchy connection… There could be a few death stares.

These days, we each carry our own connection — which felt like a luxury at first, but quickly became essential. And now we’re eyeing off satellite internet, because no matter what setup you have, you always end up wanting just a little more …

⚓ Connectivity Hacks for Liveaboard

Even with the best setup, connectivity at sea is never guaranteed. A few smart hacks can make all the difference when the signal drops.

Top 10 Connectivity Hacks for Sailors

1. Download GRIB files before you leave port
   Tools like PredictWind or Saildocs let you grab weather data in advance.
2. Keep offline apps and documents handy
   Apps like Navionics, Windy, and Maps.me all have offline modes. Enable them before heading off-grid.
3. Enable Google Docs offline
   Essential if you’re working remotely. You don’t want to be locked out of your files mid-passage.
4. Download entertainment in advance
   Netflix, Spotify, YouTube Premium — make sure the crew has something to watch/listen to when you’re out of range.
5. Carry a backup SIM or eSIM
   A second provider often saves the day when your main one fails.
6. Use a Garmin inReach or similar device
   Provides emergency backup messaging and position reporting if all else fails.
7. Create an onboard “download ritual”
   Before heading offshore, update forecasts, sync charts, refresh apps, and queue entertainment — then you’re ready.
8. Save power for connectivity gear
   Routers, boosters, and Starlink draw more than you think. Budget your batteries and solar accordingly.
9. Keep paper backups
   Even with offline apps, paper charts, almanacs, and tide tables are still worth their weight in gold when everything digital fails.
10. Prepare as if you’ll lose signal
    Whenever you’re near the edge of coverage, assume you’ll drop out. Download, prepare, and plan.

Why Offline Matters

Downloading offline resources is absolutely essential. We’ve been caught out more than once by vanishing signal that left us without the tools and forecasts we rely on daily.

On a passage to Italy, long after Croatia had faded behind us and the bars on our phones had vanished, the wind began to build much stronger than expected. Unfortunately, we hadn’t downloaded the most recent forecast — we were relying on one from the previous evening. Without updated data, we were left second-guessing whether the squalls were temporary or part of a larger weather system. It was a tense reminder that, even in an age of near-constant internet, you can’t always depend on it at sea.

The lesson? Prepare as if you’re already offline. When you’re sailing, you’re never more than a swing of the compass away from dropping off the grid.

Final Thoughts

Staying connected at sea isn’t always easy, but with the right mix — local SIMs, cellular boosters, satellite backup, and a good VPN — it’s possible to work, live, and cruise without losing touch.

That said, part of the beauty of sailing is about unplugging. The sea gives us space to disconnect when we want, but now we can log back in when we need to — for work, for safety, for family, or for comfort on long passages.

If you’re building your own connectivity toolkit, start with a VPN. It’s the simplest, most affordable step toward secure and reliable connection afloat.