Satelite phone

[Freespool]

Hello guys and girls,

I am looking to purchase a hand held satellite phone for my boat. The boat is in Fort Lauderdale and I will be driving it by Cuba, to the Mexican mainland and ultimately through the Panama Canal. I also will be taking it on a very remote trip to Alaska in a couple of weeks. I am zeroing in on the Iridium. My understanding it has better reception than the competitors.

I do not plan to use a ton of minutes. I plan to use it for emergencies and periodic check ins at home and work.

I am surprised by the cost of the minute plans. They are very expensive. Where have you found the best deals on phones and phone plans to be? Thanks in advance!

 

[folivier]

Would a text only satellite messenger like the new Spot X or Garmin Inreach work for you?

 

[Chrisjs]

The Iridium cost per minute decreases significantly as you purchase more minutes. When we cruised the Bahamas several years back I bought 120 minutes, good for one year (some packages time out in 30 days) Approx 6 months later with 6 months and many minutes left on the sat chip, I sold it for a good price on Ebay. Worked out more economical than buying a smaller chip and provided more minutes in the event we needed to use them. Suggest you go big!!