The Lungi ferry crossing
The bit nobody warns you about. Lungi airport sits on the north shore of the Sierra Leone River estuary; Freetown is on the south shore. There's no road between the two — you take a hovercraft, a water taxi, or the longer road route around the estuary, and the boat ride costs almost as much as a budget airline ticket. While you're on the boat, the eSIM you set up at home is already attached, the WhatsApp to your driver in Freetown is moving, and your maps know where the dock at Aberdeen Beach is. The first half-gigabyte of the trip happens before you've cleared the water.
Roamzy charges $7.27 per gigabyte in Sierra Leone. That's $0.0071 per megabyte, billed in real time on Sierra Leonean networks. No subscription, no expiry on the unused balance, no minimum bundle. One per-MB rate across 192 countries — the figure on the invoice, not a marketing line.
How much will Roamzy actually cost on this trip?
A typical visitor uses 0.4–0.7 GB per day: maps in Freetown, the WhatsApp to a guide for the western beaches (Lakka, River No. 2, Tokeh, Bureh), the camera-translator on a Krio sign, voice notes home, the bank-app push for the contactless payment that occasionally works. Hotel Wi-Fi covers the heavier work. Call it 0.5 GB/day:
| Trip length | Roamzy ($7.27/GB) | Tourist roaming pass | Local SIM at Lungi |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 days (~1.5 GB) | $10.91 | $25–60 | $5–15 + KYC and a passport scan |
| 1 week (~3.5 GB) | $25.45 | $45–100 | $8–20 + paperwork |
| 2 weeks (~7 GB) | $50.89 | $90–200 (often two passes) | $15–35 + 30-day cap |
Competitor prices in columns 3 and 4 are 2025 ranges based on typical offerings; exact figures depend on your home carrier and the airport store you visit. Roamzy's rate in column 2 is our actual published rate from the pricing page.
A local Sierra Leonean SIM is sold at Lungi but the boat-ferry-to-counter logistics make it a hassle on arrival. The eSIM is the lighter call.
Where does Roamzy work in this country?
- Freetown (Aberdeen, Lumley, central business district) — 4G across the working city; signal on the road from the dock and along Lumley Beach
- Lungi airport and the north-shore villages — solid LTE
- Western Area peninsula beaches (Lakka, Tokeh, River No. 2, Bureh, John Obey) — 4G at most beaches and the connecting road
- Bo, Kenema, Makeni — workable LTE in the regional centres
- Tiwai Island and the Gola rainforest — 3G at the entry points; nothing inside the forest
- The Banana Islands — patchy; signal at the populated points, weaker on the boats
- Border zones — last few kilometres before Guinea or Liberia often pull toward neighbouring networks
How do I install my Roamzy eSIM?
| Plug type | Voltage | Frequency | iOS | Android |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type D, G | 230 V | 50 Hz | iPhone XS+ | Pixel 3+, Galaxy S20+ |
- Sign in to Roamzy via Telegram or Google
- Top up with a minimum of 20 USDT — stablecoins, no cards, no banks, no FX surcharges
- The QR code appears in the dashboard once payment confirms
- Settings → Cellular → Add eSIM → scan QR (on home Wi-Fi before flying)
- The counter starts when you land at Lungi (FNA) — the boat across the estuary already has signal
Outlets are 230 V Type D/G (UK-style with the older square-pin variant). Setup edge cases are in the FAQ. The dashboard handles top-ups in USDT.
What are Roamzy's honest limitations?
- No welcome promo that flips on the second top-up. Top-up #1 and top-up #20 cost the same per megabyte.
- No fine-print throttling. One rate, full speed — first GB and the tenth both cost $0.0071/MB.
- No auto-renewal. Balance runs out, the eSIM stops.
It's not a marketing gimmick — it's an engineering decision born from indifference to gimmicks.
What if my route continues across West Africa?
- Guinea — overland north, separate country rate
- Liberia — overland southeast, common rotation
- If you want the underlying mechanics — how roaming actually gets priced and why it hurts