1 · The short answer
Booked on Tuesday, flying on Saturday? The data eSIM is the one part of the trip you can sort in two minutes from the sofa. Ringo Light's Global plan is one eSIM for winter sun wherever the deal takes you: $49.99 a month for 133 countries, renewing until you cancel. The Global plan covers Tenerife, Madeira, Hurghada, Marrakech, Dubai and Cyprus. Cape Verde is not on it and has its own trip plan, 2 weeks for $137.99 or 30 days for $273.99. The plan is at ringoesim.com/global.
For a single trip, the destination's own plan has nothing that renews, and for Tenerife, Madeira, Hurghada, Marrakech, Dubai and Cyprus it costs less than a month of Global. The table below has every one, from the catalogue.
Ringo Light is data only and sits next to your own SIM, so your number stays on your own line for calls and messages. The card to buy the plan is below this article.
2 · Which plan covers each destination
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The own trip plans are 2 weeks or 30 days. The Europe plan is 2 weeks for $22.99 or 30 days for $35.99 for 33 countries, and the Middle East plan 2 weeks for $45.99 or 30 days for $62.99 for 12 countries. Cape Verde is on none of these three plans; buy its own.
3 · Two minutes on the sofa
A last-minute trip is a list of small jobs: the transfer, the travel insurance, the passport check, the bag. The eSIM is the quickest. Buy it, and the QR code or the one-tap install link arrives on screen and by email. Install it on home Wi-Fi the same evening, not on airport Wi-Fi at the gate, and turn the eSIM line on for data when you land.
The only thing to check first is that your phone takes an eSIM and is not locked to your carrier; our has the 30-second check. If it does not connect on arrival, the cover the usual causes.
4 · Airport pickups and resort Wi-Fi
The pickup. Transfer drivers and holiday reps increasingly message you on WhatsApp when you land, with a photo of the car or the meeting point. Airport Wi-Fi at arrivals is often slow or wants a sign-up. A phone that is online as the plane taxis finds the driver before the queue at passport control is over.
The resort. Many all-inclusive resorts include Wi-Fi, but it is often strongest in the lobby, slow in the evening when every guest is online, and weak by the pool and on the beach; some charge for a faster tier. An eSIM with its own data is the backup for maps, excursion bookings and the video call home when the resort network gives up.
5 · Tenerife and Madeira
The Canaries are Spain and Madeira is Portugal, both inside the EU, so the Spain and Portugal plans cover them, and so does the Europe plan. On Tenerife the resorts of the south, Playa de las Américas and Los Cristianos, are well covered; up on Teide the signal is patchier, so buy the cable car slot before you drive up.
Madeira's levadas, the old irrigation channels with paths beside them, run through valleys, forest and tunnels where the signal comes and goes. Download the map of the walk and check the weather and the trail status in Funchal before you set off. The rest of the trip is in our .
6 · Hurghada and Marrakech
Egypt and Morocco are outside the EU, so an EU SIM pays roaming there. Both are on the Middle East plan, and each has its own plan, from $18.99 and $26.99. In Hurghada the resorts strung along the coast are covered from the town; out on a boat to the reefs and Giftun island, expect gaps.
Marrakech's medina is a maze in which a map that has to load gives up first. Download it offline, drop a pin on your riad before you go in, and agree taxi fares before the ride.
7 · Dubai
Dubai has strong coverage across the city, the Metro and the beaches, and you will use data all day: Careem and Uber, the Metro, restaurant bookings. Some internet calling features have been restricted in the UAE in the past, so check before you count on a video call home over an app. The UAE is on the Middle East plan and has its own plan, from $39.99.
8 · Cape Verde and Cyprus
Cape Verde, the islands off West Africa that sell winter sun on Sal and Boa Vista, is not on the Global plan today; it has its own trip plan, 2 weeks for $137.99 or 30 days for $273.99. Most holidays there are resort holidays, so the resort Wi-Fi does a lot of the work; the eSIM is for the transfer, the excursions and the beach.
Cyprus is in the EU, with the Cyprus plan from $22.99 and the Europe plan covering it too. Ayia Napa and Paphos are well covered. If you cross the Green Line into the north of the island, EU roaming rules do not apply there and the networks are different, so check before you go.
9 · EU and UK roaming rules
With an EU SIM, Tenerife, Madeira and Cyprus are inside the EU, so your own allowance works at home prices up to your carrier's fair-use cap. Hurghada, Marrakech, Dubai and Cape Verde are outside it, so EU roaming does not apply and most carriers bill by the day or the megabyte.
With a UK SIM, none of the seven has EU roaming protection since Brexit; many UK carriers charge a daily fee in the EU and more outside it.
Whichever SIM you have, switch its data roaming off and leave the eSIM as your data line, so your own line rings for calls and texts and never runs up a bill for data. Our shows the settings.
10 · What a month of Global data costs
Our priced the plans most people search for on the same day, 28 September 2026. Here is Ringo Light against the cheapest rival in each unlimited-style chart, with what each one sells.
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Prices change; the comparison post has every brand and the full method.
11 · Which Ringo plan, and how to set it up
Ringo Light is our own data eSIM, sold to fund the full Ringo, one plan that works everywhere with your own number ported onto it. Installed once, next to your own SIM. Your number stays on your own line for calls and messages; the eSIM carries the data.
- The Global plan, for winter sun this year and the next, wherever the deal is: $49.99 a month for 133 countries, renewing until you cancel. ringoesim.com/global
- A destination's own plan, for one trip: Spain from $14.99, Portugal from $14.99, Egypt from $18.99, Morocco from $26.99, UAE from $39.99, Cape Verde from $137.99, Cyprus from $22.99.
- The Middle East plan, for a trip that takes in more than one of Egypt, Morocco and the UAE: 2 weeks for $45.99 or 30 days for $62.99.
Install the eSIM on Wi-Fi before you fly, turn Data Roaming on for the eSIM line, and set it as your data line. The step-by-step is in our and .
The card below sells the Global plan; the same plan is at ringoesim.com/global.
