How Is Cell Phone Coverage In Kona & The Big Island?

When she was good
She was very, very good,
And when she was bad she was horrid
“There was a little girl” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I know, I know, you don’t always want to be a slave to your cell phone. But what about when a ‘false missile alert‘ tries to text your phone, or if you need access to weather or hurricane resources or visit the government site for tsunami information from a far-away land that could pose a problem? Gotta’ have your cell phone.

 When She Was Good, She Was Very, Very Good: The above quote aptly describes cell phone coverage throughout the Big Island. In the ‘cities’ coverage is pretty good. My wife and I are on different plans and neither of us has experienced any issues in Kona.

When She Was Bad, She Was Horrid: But because the Big Island is very rural, with major volcanic mountains, you’ll find many locations without cell phone coverage (just like on the mainland). You can see in the cell phone coverage maps, below, that near Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, your mobile phone service can vary widely.

Cell Phone Coverage – Rough Rule Of Thumb: Near the major roads and in the ‘cities’ you can expect decent cell phone coverage. When you are in a valley, often near a remote beach, in a rural area or near any of the volcanic mountains, ‘you get what you get.’

T-Mobile Cell Phone Coverage: Here is the cell phone coverage map for T-Mobile (according to T-Mobile).

Verizon Cell Phone Coverage: Here is the cell phone coverage map for Verizon (according to Verizon).

ATT Cell Phone Coverage: Here is the cell phone coverage map for ATT (according to AT&T).

How is your Big Island cell phone coverage?

What carrier do you use?