How to Buy a SIM Card in Oman in 2026
Oman sells tourist SIMs at fair prices, registers every one against a passport and keeps its tourist plans for visitors only, so the answer to how much a SIM costs in Oman is short and the rules are worth knowing before you reach the Muscat arrivals hall. This guide gives the three operators' tourist prices, explains the airport booths and the passport rule, and sets out our Middle East eSIM, which covers Oman and six neighbours and is working before the border queue. Our plans for the country are on the Oman eSIM page.
Omantel, Ooredoo and Vodafone Oman
Omantel is the national operator and has the widest coverage, which is the thing that matters on the road to Salalah, in the wadis and up Jebel Akhdar. Ooredoo is the strong second, excellent in Muscat and along the coast. Vodafone Oman is the newest and cheapest and best treated as a city network. All three sell a tourist plan that nationals and residents cannot buy, and all three now sell it as an eSIM as well as a card.
How much a tourist SIM costs
Omantel's Tourist Explore eSIM is 8GB for 14 days at OMR 5 including VAT, with 50 minutes of local calls. Ooredoo's Tourist 10 pack is 18GB for 15 days at OMR 10 plus 5 per cent VAT and OMR 1 for the SIM. Vodafone Oman's Visitor 4 plan is 8GB for seven days at OMR 4. An Omani rial is worth about two and a half dollars, so the tourist plans sit between ten and twenty-eight dollars, and the Omantel plan is the one with the best coverage for the money.
Muscat airport booths and the passport rule
Omantel, Ooredoo and the reseller Renna have booths in the arrivals hall at Muscat airport, and a tourist SIM bought there is registered against your passport while you wait. The passport is mandatory everywhere, not only at the airport, and a plan ordered online from Omantel or Ooredoo is collected and registered at an airport or city store in the same way. Tourist plans are not sold to Omani nationals or residents, so an expat friend cannot buy one for you.
A local tourist eSIM
Omantel and Ooredoo both sell their tourist plans as eSIMs online, with the passport check done at collection or through the app. That gives you an Omani number for calls within the country at local prices. The limits are the same as for the card: the plan ends at the border, and if your trip continues to Dubai, Doha or Riyadh you will be buying again.
Install before you fly
Our Middle East 5GB eSIM is $12 for seven days, the Middle East 10GB eSIM is $20 for 14 days and the Middle East 15GB eSIM is $28 for 30 days. They cover Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Israel, start on first use, include hotspot, use 5G where it exists and need no passport. For bank codes on a UK number, the O2 SMS Only eSIM is $8 a month and receives texts anywhere, with no data and no calls. The Global PAYG Data eSIM is $20 with €17.50 of credit for anyone passing through Oman on a longer multi-country trip.
Side by side
| Option | Price | Data | Calls | Passport | Works on landing |
|---|
| Omantel Tourist Explore eSIM | OMR 5 including VAT | 8GB, 14 days | 50 minutes, Omani number | Yes | From the booth |
| Ooredoo Tourist 10 | OMR 10 plus 5 per cent VAT and OMR 1 SIM | 18GB, 15 days | Omani number | Yes | From the booth |
| Vodafone Oman Visitor 4 | OMR 4 | 8GB, 7 days | Omani number | Yes | From the store |
| Middle East 10GB eSIM | $20 | 10GB, 14 days, 7 countries | Data only | None | Yes |
| Middle East 15GB eSIM | $28 | 15GB, 30 days, 7 countries | Data only | None | Yes |
Our recommendation
For a holiday in Oman alone, the Omantel tourist eSIM is good value and gives you a local number; buy it at the airport booth with your passport. If Oman is one stop on a Gulf trip, install the Middle East 10GB or 15GB eSIM before you fly and use the same plan in Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Either way, Muscat, Nizwa, Salalah and the coast are well covered; the Wahiba sands, the mountain roads and the Musandam fjords are not, so download maps before you set off. Set-up steps are in our eSIM installation guide, and the plans for the country are on the Oman eSIM page.
