Gavinview, There is a Telcel store in Plaza La Isla shopping mall, which is at about km 12 in the Hotel Zone. You pay $149 to get the SIM and that includes $50 in credit for calls. At the same time you can purchase the data thing that Tori and Gringation speak of. This is a full fledged store with 8 cashier windows (cajas). You can do the same thing at a kiosk but this is a bit different than the "standard" transaction so my recommendation is to go to the full blown store. The exchange rate for USD was $13.66 Mxn per $1 USD yesterday with a US ATM card at (bank) Santaner Serafin. Downtown Telcel does not accept dollars any longer so you may need to grab some pesos before going to Telcel. Good luck.
TJ - Many thanks for your advice re. Telcel Popped down to La Isla , found the store, went in , 2 members of staff on duty spoke english and knew exactly what I wanted. First I purchased the SIM card from the service desk, then went to the payment kiosk and paid for it plus the $500 topup. Then back to the service desk , the SIM was activated, credit added and internet service setup automatically. Very pleased with the staff, and the whole experience, took approx. 30 mins in total, coverage and data transfer speeds all over the HZ/Downtown were acceptable, getting H+ in some areas. Cheers Gavin
What is the best/cheapest way to get internet on a unlocked phone for use in the Cancun/playa /isle area? Willing to buy a CDMA router if it would help. Will be there for 8 days and plan on using about 1 gb to 2 gb of internet during that time. Would also like to have charges capped or fully know current amount owed. Any suggestions? have easy access to almost any type unlocked phone. Thanks