Can anyone recommend an eSIM for northern Queensland travel?

[DistantEarlyWarning]

Could anyone recommend an eSIM for northern Queensland? We’re off to Cairns, Atherton Tablelands, Daintree etc. soon and will want data for when we’re not at our accommodation.

I believe the Telstra network is what we need to be able to use for good coverage, but I can’t work out whether I can get something partly set up before we leave the UK. Information online is confusing and contradictory.

I’m going to WA next month and getting an eSIM from here https://www.simlocal.com/esim/sim-local/australia-20-gb-for-30-days/ESFX-0073-SL1

Yes telstra is your best option--some cheaper providers use the telstra network but it's simplest to just use telstra.

Have you tried this chat option?
https://www.telstra.com.au/support/pre-paid

North Queenslander here. The Telstra network is definitely what you need, but I think a lot of esims you purchase in advance use Optus. Telstra is tricky to set up from overseas as the company likes to sight identification.

Your best bet would be to land at Cairns International and go straight to the Telstra shop at either Smithfield Shopping Centre or Cairns Central shopping centre, show your ID and purchase a prepaid Telstra card.

That said, the Optus network is not awful and lots of people use it here but you may lose coverage earlier than Telstra in remoter areas like the Daintree.

Thanks all.

We land about 5pm on a Monday so are picking up the car and going straight to where we’re staying at Palm Cove, so going to the Telstra shop doesn’t feel feasible.

However, I hadn’t realised that there was one at the Smithfield shopping centre, so going there on the Tuesday morning and speaking to an actual person seems like the best option. Navigating to the accommodation on arrival looks pretty straightforward using the old fashioned method, and we can use offline Google maps, perhaps.

Getting quite excited now!

Just done this trip myself, got a Three eSIM here and set up before I travelled, and it connected to either Optus or Telstra dependent on what signal was strongest.

This one? https://uktelecomdistribution.co.uk/three-mobile-esim-aio15-100gb-uk-voice-and-data.html

Yes! It worked perfectly from the moment we landed, and was much easier knowing it was all sorted before I even got on the plane.

Actually, I’ve just found very similar with SIMlocal, with a bit more data. Thanks so much for the lead!

I travel a lot for work and have had good luck with Airalo everywhere - including Queensland (though wasn’t in all of those places). It flips between networks as above.

To add that I’ve used in places like rural Mongolia, outer islands in Fiji and Papua New Guinea, and North West Territories (Canada).

Airalo only uses Optus according to their website or I’d have picked them days ago! Don’t think we can risk it as we know from our Atherton Tablelands hosts that we need to use Telstra.