June 17, 2019 UPDATE:
Effective August 3, 2019, there will be no more special rules needed to to dial long distance nor between or to cell phones. Mexican phone dialing will be follow international dialing standards (as in Canada and the USA). http://www.ift.org.mx/comunicacion-y-medios/marcacion-a-10-digitos
In the meantime …
Dialing and Calling Into and Out-of and Within Mexico:
Imagine you are enjoying Merida and want to call a friend here in Mexico or back in the USA or Canada. The prefixes you need to dial depend on ~ where you are ~ and ~ what kind of phone you are using ~ (land-lines vs. cell phones). The rules for dialing phone prefixes within Mexico, and from outside Mexico, are different for land-line vs. cell phones.
Editor’s note: Mexico will be changed to 911 in 2016 for emergencies.
December 2018 UPDATE:
ATT’s international phone plans for using your ATT phone in the USA & Mexico with no special charges do work, except when calling to~from some US networks Tracfone. Note that it does take some special dialing to get the ATT plan to work here: Add +521 if you’re calling a Mexico cell phone. … If you’re calling a Mexico landline, add +52.
Notice that the “+” automatically directs your call to an international switch-board-computer.
~ Land-Line Phone Calls Within Mexico:
Land-line to local land-line: Dial the seven digit number (i.e. 924-1234)
Land-line to long distance land-line: Dial 01 & the ten digit number (i.e. 01-999-924-1234)
Land-line to local cell phone: Dial 044 & the ten digit number (i.e. 044-999-924-1234)
Land-line to long distance cell phone: Dial 045 & the ten digit number (i.e. 045-999-924-1234)
~ Cell-Phone Calls Within Mexico:
Cell phone to local or long distance land-line: Dial the ten digit number (i.e. 999-924-1234)
Cell phone to local or long distance cell phone: Dial the ten digit number (i.e. 999-924-1234)
==================================
~ Calling to Mexico from the US or Canada:
Dial a ‘+’ at the beginning of the number** … then dial the country code … and add the number +52-999-555-5555 …
**Dialing a ‘+’ from within any country (now) tells the phone company computers that you want an international line ~
Old School Dialing to a Mexican land-line phone: Dial 011-52 & the ten digit number (i.e. 011-52-999-924-1234)
Old School Dialing to a Mexican cell phone: Dial 011-52-1 & the ten digit number (i.e. 011-52-1-999-924-1234)
==================================
~ Calling from Mexico to a US or Canadian phone:
Dial a ‘+’ at the beginning of the number** … then dial the country code … and add the number +52-999-555-5555 …
**Dialing a ‘+’ from within any country (now) tells the phone company computers that you want an international line ~
Old School to the USA: Dial 001 & the ten digit number (i.e. 001-970-555-5555)
or dial a + at the beginning of the number (press & hold the ‘0’ key on a cell phone to make a +) and then dial the country code … +1-970-555-5555
**THE + SIGN is now the universal code to dial to EXIT any country’s phone system. By dialing a +plus then the country code and number works around the world, without knowing each country’s exit code.
==================================
~ Calling from Mexico to Other Countries:
Dial ‘+’ or ’00’ (to exit Mexico), then dial Country Code & phone number
(i.e. for England: + 44 7024065511 or 00 44 7024065511)
===============================================
~ Calling from Mexico to US or Canadian Toll Free numbers ~
For 800 numbers: Dial 001-880 & the seven digit number
For 855 numbers: Dial 001-884 & the seven digit number
For 866 numbers: Dial 001-883 & the seven digit number
For 877 numbers: Dial 001-882 & the seven digit number
For 888 numbers: Dial 001-881 & the seven digit number
=================================================
~ Mexican Area Codes (Alphabetically by State):
Acapulco, Guerrero – 744
Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes – 449
Alamos, Sonora – 647
Barra de Navidad, Jalisco – 315
Bucerias, Nayarit – 329
Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur – 624
Campeche, Campeche – 981
Cancun, Quintana Roo – 998
Catemaco, Veracruz – 294
Chetumal, Quintana Roo – 983
Chihuahua, Chihuahua – 614
Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche – 938
Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua – 656
Ciudad Obregon, Sonora – 644
Ciudad del Valles, San Luis Potosi – 481
Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas – 834
Colima, Colima – 312
Cordoba, Veracruz – 271
Costa Careyes, Jalisco – 315
Cozumel, Quintana Roo – 987
Creel, Chihuahua – 635
Cuernavaca, Morelos – 777
Culiacan, Sinaloa – 667
Durango, Durango – 618
El Fuerte, Sinaloa – 698
Ensenada, Baja California – 646
Fresnillo, Zacatecas – 493
Guadalajara, Jalisco – 33
Guanajuato, Guanajuato – 473
Guaymas, Sonora – 622
Hermosillo, Sonora – 662
Huatulco, Oaxaca – 958
Irapuato, Guanajuato – 462
Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo – 998
Ixtapa, Guerrero – 755
La Paz, Baja California Sur – 612
Leon, Guanajuato – 477
Loreto, Baja California Sur – 613
Los Cabos, Baja California Sur – 624
Los Mochis, Sinaloa – 668
Manzanillo, Colima – 314
Matehuala, San Luis Potosi – 488
Matamoros, Tamaulipas – 868
Mazatlan, Sinaloa – 669
Melaque, Jalisco – 315
Merida, Yucatan – 999
Mexicali, Baja California – 686
Mexico City, Federal District – 55
Morelia, Michoacan – 443
Monterrey, Nuevo Leon – 81
Mulege, Baja California Sur – 615
Nogales, Sonora – 631
Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas – 867
Oaxaca, Oaxaca – 951
Pachuca, Hidalgo – 771
Palenque, Chiapas – 916
Patzcuaro, Michoacan – 434
Piedras Negras, Coahuila – 878
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo – 984
Progreso, Yucatan – 969
Puebla, Puebla – 222
Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca – 954
Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo – 998
Puerto Penasco, Sonora – 638
Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco – 322
Queretaro, Queretaro – 442
Reynosa, Tamaulipas – 899
Rosarito, Baja California – 661
Saltillo, Coahuila – 844
San Blas, Nayarit – 323
San Carlos, Sonora – 622
San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas – 967
San Felipe, Baja California – 686
San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur – 624
San Luis Potosi, San Luis Potosi – 444
San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato – 415
Sayulita, Nayarit – 327
Tapachula, Chiapas – 962
Taxco, Guerrero – 762
Tepic, Nayarit – 311
Tijuana, Baja California – 664
Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala – 246
Todos Santos, Baja California Sur – 612
Toluca, Estado de Mexico – 722
Torreon, Coahuila – 871
Troncones, Guerrero – 755
Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas – 961
Uruapan, Michoacan – 452
Valle de Bravo, Estado de Mexico – 726
Veracruz, Veracruz – 229
Villahermosa, Tabasco – 993
Xalapa, Veracruz – 228
Zacatecas, Zacatecas – 492
Zihuatanejo, Guerrero – 755
Enjoy !
* * * *
Feel free to copy while giving proper attribution: YucaLandia/Surviving Yucatan.
© Steven M. Fry
Read-on MacDuff . . .
Surviving Yucatan 
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Great explanation. What’s missing? — Any mention of using Skype to reach the various destinations. Many thanks in advance for adding a discussion on this aspect!
~eric.
Hey Eric,
How would Skype be different from any other type of phone call from the US or Canada? Aren’t all Skype calls treated as if they originate from a US phone number – because Skype calls go from your ISP, then hop from internet server to internet server, until the call hits the Skype server, which dumps the call into the US/Canadian phone system, which means the Skype calls originate from the USA – which means you would follow the instructions given above for calling into Mexico from the US or Canada?
Do I misunderstand?
steve
Hi Steve,
Sorry for the long delay in responding. I guess I’m most interested if there is some protocol for calling a Mexican phone# (cell or landline) with skype.
And I’ve got a detail which you might want to add to the body of your text, above. It pertains to visitors calling for emergency assistance. My understanding is that 066 is used from landlines, and 113 from cell phones. (not sure which to call with skype.)
Also, since many folks are using wifi in Merida’s parks, it might be worth considering. Here’s an article from NYTimes, 2/16, titled New Hacking Tools Pose Bigger Threats to WiFi Users. IT’S SCARY !!
Here’s the link:
~eric.
Some additional details:
My wife and I are using AT&T cellphones now, as they work inexpensively in Mexico and USA. (We don’t talk on phones much.) We have them as GO-phones which is $100usd per year, plus 10¢ per minute. (25¢ if calling between nations; 35¢ to Canada), but if we call each other in Mexico it is only 10¢, as we both have the same area code back home. The ATT network shares towers with TelCel, I believe, so the signal availability is widespread.
I’ve added a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to my computer, as it adds security for use on wifi in the parks; and it allows us to watch various tv shows online by enabling us to conceal our exact location, enabling us to appear to be in US for shows which aren’t licensed to be viewed by be Mexicans. The vpn we like is made by Witopia; it got very high marks from NYT.
We are also using FaceTime (an Apple app) for free communicating on computer or on wifi, with family and friends also having Apple products. We bought my Mom an iPad, and are able to have video conferences with her for free, rather than calling by phone. ~eric.
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Hi Dr. Steve- I presume…just wondering on the 800 calls to the US with the numerical method you provide above. There is no charge same as a normal 800 call? Is that correcto? I called Netflix (San Francisco Bay area) in the US from Merida and a bumbling clerk on the phone left me suspended in the phone tree several times as I was attempting to get signed up for their service. So had a longer than necessary call. I used the Netflix 800# and Cablemas tagged me with close to 20 bucks USD for the call. I should be toll free using your method next time- yes?
Thanks, Channi, a.k.a. John Casper.
Hi John,
In the past there was no charge, except for your local cell phone or landline charges for accessing the number – which is why we like VOIP services like Magic Jack => no surprise charges.
steve
Great information! I just wanted to add a note re: calling toll-free numbers by the methods above.
It works fine, but I wasn´t aware that it seems to be much more expensive than ordinary long-distance dialing. For example, I got my Telmex bill today and noted that I paid 56 pesos for 56 minutes of calls to Canada using the usual method , and over 180 pesos for a 31 minute call to a 1-888 number…… If I need to use this method again, I´ll make sure I ask the callee first thing for their ten digit number, hang up and call back. .
hello, everyone why I cant call to Veracruz Mexico with skype? there is just specific city – Guadalajara y I cant remember other
Keep up the good work.
This blog was… how do you say it? Relevant!
! Finally I have found something that helped me. Thanks!
Glad you mentioned Magic Jack
As long as you start off registering in the States you get a U.S. number and then plug it into your computer in Mexico and you can call the U.S. or Canada for free and you can be called for free by people in the U.S. or Canada …….. of course Magic Jack costs you $29 a year so you have to factor that cost in.
Compared to Skype, Magic Jack is much better because first you have to buy Skype credit and then calls to anything other than a computer cost you 2c a minute.
We have also found the quality of the calls on Magic Jack far exceeds that of Skype
THANK-YOU.
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cell phone mexico
I just learned something about 800 numbers here in Mexico last week. I was trying to change an airline reservation with Southwest. I didn’t know that there is a big string of numbers required to access an 800 number. Nor did I know that it was NOT TOLL FREE. As the airline’s computer system was seriously overloaded due to a big sale, the wait times were lengthy. Fortune had it that I learned about the cost instead of waiting on hold for a half hour while the meter ran!
Don’t you know that even with all of Carlos Slim’s billions he still wants to gouge you for every centavo he can get. Like other people have said …. use MagicJack ( best ) or Skype ( 2nd best )
This is very interesting! We are considering getting MJ as we don’t have cell phones, but we should have a cell for driving in case the car breaks down. Am I correct that a cell with two SIM slots would let us call both the US and MX if it had one card for each? I thought I’d get AT&T but 10c and 25c/minute sounds kind of pricey to me (but maybe I’m as naive as I am inexperienced!). Also I think I recently read somewhere that the MX phone system now allows free calls to the US and Canada. Is this true? Our rental includes a landline and Wifi.
Hi Chris,
I think either of those per-minute rates you mentioned is very cheap, if you’ve broken down on the road. (But maybe those rates are high for folks who talk at length.) Dunno. I always buy one year of coverage from ATT for $100usd, which comes with a 1000 minutes. If I renew before it expires (which I always do) the remaining minutes roll over. This way, if there is a real road emergency when I need extended talk time, I’m ready.
I’m presently using a dual sim phone made by BLU, called a Jenny TV model (about $28usd from Amazon). But I believe ATT is about to invade the Mexican market, competing with Sr Slim for local calls. This might mean that a dual sim phone becomes redundant, meaning that I will give up my Telcel sim in a heartbeat, as their accounting always seems to “favor the house” in the extreme. Hey, they even charge customers to check their balance using a phone. Cheap cheap cheap.
Im here in rosarito,mexico trying to call my dad in cotija, mexico. My dad gave me this number and I can not get through
354 10 77 584
011 52 39 45 343 464
011 52 39 45 344 202
Could you help me figure how to call from my grandma to my dad. Her area code is 611 here in Rosarito.
Thank you
Geovoni
Geovoni, I don’t understand what you are asking there You said your dad gave you a number, then list three numbers. If 354-10-77-584 is the number of a house phone (not cell phone) within Mexico calling from a Mexican house phone (Not cell) then you dial 01-354-10-77-584.
The 011-52 numbers you list would be calling from the USA. First, 011 to get international calling, then 52 to select Mexico, then the 10 digit numbers shown. IF they are house phones and you call from a Mexican house phone, you remove the 011-52 and put 01 in front.
Please tell us what you want and I will try to answer.
Currently if you have Internet in Telmex phone service, you get free unlimited calling to the USA. Once, I had 1600 minutes in one month, cost zero. Except for 800 toll free type numbers. They cost a fortune. My Internet costs 381 pesos and up to 100 calls, no other charges of any kind (except to toll free numbers in the USA as I said.)
This started as ATT announced it was coming into Mexico, and you can be sure it will stop if ATT leaves.
This was excellent except would have been nice to also explain pay phone system or confirm in the article rates as well
I have a question. We have Telmex phone plan for Mexico/USA/Canada, so we are traveling in the US with our phones and cannot call anyone up here with these phones. Seems they knew where the border was!!! Have tried prefixes of 1,01,001, +1,+01,+001 and just the number with no prefix. Any suggestions? Otherwise will have to get a ‘burner’ phone Grrrr Thanks
yep…
even crude phones have GPS… and are well programmed for detecting movements of just 20 ft around the US/Mexico border crossings..
Similarly, the US govt. knows who’s gone to Cuba (illegally) when, & where… unless you pulled the battery out of even your crude cell phone ~before you arrive~ …
One US friend who flew from Mexico to Cuba 6 years ago… found they were screwing with his phone… editing the time… setting bogus alarms… .
scary? or funny?
Happy Trails,
steve
If your phones are GSM – with SIM cards… the cheapest option we found was to buy a Trac-fone SIM card with a fixed number of minutes…
When im in Mexico how do i call private to another Mexican phone i have Telcel n my additional setting wont let me change it to call private
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Here’s a fun flowchart for your refri:
HOW TO DIAL IN MEXICO
https://casapinasma.com/2017/02/27/updated-how-to-dial-in-mexico-v-2-0/
De nada, amigos!
Using the info in your “refri” flow chart is not working for me. I am using a Canadian cell showing it is on the ATT network while I am in Mexico, and trying to call a Mexican (Telmex) number. Following the chart, + then 52 then 1 then the 10 digit Mex cell does NOT work.
I’ll check into it.
When we created this article, ATT did not have their current special deals with Mexican phone calls.
My daughter found it took some really odd combinations of numbers to dial, to work within the relatively new ATT-Mexico network issues.
Because the Mexican ATT network sometimes serves US Cricket & US ATT customers – which has cheap-calling agreements in place with Mexico ATT, I understand that those customers simply dial the Mexican Telmex number as if they were in Mexico: just dial the 10 digit number: (999) 908-5555.
What cell phone carrier do you have?
Note that some US carrier plans do not work in Mexico – like Tracfone, et al.
I’ll talk with my daughter to ask how she gets it to work.
steve
Hi Steve – thanks for getting back to me so promptly. I am a Canadian who resides in Chapala Mexico during the winter. I bring my Canadian cell with me so as to be able to receive calls from Canada. My Canadian carrier is Rogers. They partner with Mexican cell service providers. For many years it was Telcel. I could see my cell flip to Telcel service as soon as I landed in Mexico each winter. Last year Rogers changed their partnership to Movil, and now this year it is AT&T according to what the screen on my iPhone 5 indicates. From time to time I need to use this phone to contact a friend who also lives in Chapala and who has a Telcel cellular. I figured I could just phone him as a local call, but seemingly not so. I can find no string of digits, including none at all, that will allow a call to him go through to him. That’s what prompted my original message to you. Any help from you would be most appreciated, so, thanks.
Have you tried putting a ‘ + ‘ in front of the number?
Our daughter is traveling in Europe for a wedding right now, so, we haven’t heard back from her.
steve
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Canadian visitor here in Mazatlan mx just figured out and successfully made local call in mx from Skype and I had to put country code 52 for mx then add the Canadian code 1 then the cell number here starting with 669 then 7 digit ph number – probably same for an American……
I missed a call from a potential job, area code is Mexico City, 55, I live in San Luis Potosí but when I try to call the number back it gives me a message saying call failed? How can I call this number back?
Time to update. Effective August 3, 2019, no need to consult your charts (as I have had to do many times over the past few years). No more special rules to dial long distance or between or to cell phones. Mexican phone dialing will be akin to international standards (as in Canada and the USA). http://www.ift.org.mx/comunicacion-y-medios/marcacion-a-10-digitos
The link says ¡Sin prefijos! — I hope this means that calling toll-free numbers is no longer a scam involving a prefix and a charge. (Or a nearly impossible task of reaching the number, such as an airline.)
Cool…
See you tomorrow AM.
Steve
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