Getting a prepaid SIM card in Costa Rica is very easy and not that expensive. We recommend getting a Costa Rica SIM card so you can have a local phone number and data which is very useful in case of emergencies.
In this article you will learn all about getting prepaid SIM cards in Costa Rica.
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Where Can I Get a prepaid SIM Card in Costa Rica?
You can buy a prepaid SIM card at any phone store, supermarket or computer store in Costa Rica.
At the San Jose International Airport, there is a Claro (name of the phone company) stand left of baggage claim 5 where you can purchase a SIM card.
It is open from 6 AM to 9 PM and sometimes to 11 PM on weekends. They’ll help you insert the SIM card and set up your phone to use it.
Claro offers a couple plans. 15 days for $60 USD and $30 USD for 7 days. They have a vending machine that you can just buy the card from and then you can ask the agent for assistance to insert it into your phone.
In the Country
You can go to any of the phone companies’ offices in Costa Rica. Additionally, you can get a prepaid SIM card at most cell phone or computer stores in Costa Rica.
Some supermarkets sell prepaid SIM cards that come with a prepaid plan (already have a set amount of credit on them).
Which SIM card to get in Costa Rica?
For tourists going to popular tourist destinations in Costa Rica, we recommend to get a Kolbi SIM card. Kolbi is the government cell phone network company and has the widest coverage in Costa Rica. You can buy prepaid SIM cards at any of their branches.
There are Kolbi offices throughout the country and close to the airports. Search for the closest one to you in Google Maps or Waze. Just look for the office with a big green frog on it that says Kolbi.
Do keep in mind that most offices close from 5-7 PM. If you fly into Guanacaste Airport, there is a Kolbi office in Liberia 15 minutes away by car where you can get a SIM card.
Car Rentals and SIM Cards
Our partnership with Adobe Rent a Car includes a free Costa Rican SIM card with 1000 CRC preloaded that you can put in your unlocked phone for the duration of your car rental booking.
This way, you can have a Costa Rica number in case of emergencies and you can recharge it if you need to. 1000 CRC gives you about 30 minutes of local minutes.
Requirement to get a SIM card in Costa Rica
To buy your own prepaid SIM card in Costa Rica, you must have your original passport or photo ID (passport works best) and cash.
You have to fill out a short form and present your photo ID to purchase a prepaid SIM card in Costa Rica which costs around 2000 colones or (~$3.50 USD).
It is also best to pay in Costa Rican colones, not USD or credit card. When you purchase your SIM card, you can then load as much credit on there as you want.
Additionally, your smartphone must be quad band, it must use a physical SIM card and it has to be unlocked.
The type of phone doesn’t matter. It can be an iPhone or Android, Samsung, HTC, Blackberry, whichever, as long as it fits those three requirements.
Make sure you call your home provider to see if your phone it unlocked and can accept international SIM cards before you leave.
Once you purchase a SIM card in Costa Rica, you can’t return it if you find out your phone is still locked.
Prepaid SIM cards typically expire after 90 days of no use.
Costa Rica Cell Phone Companies
The 3 major phone companies in Costa Rica are: Kolbi, Liberty and Claro. With these companies you can buy the SIM card for 1-2000 colones (around $2-4 USD) and they will give you the same amount for phone credit on the SIM card itself.
Some prepaid SIM cards already have a plan and credit loaded. You will see signs like this at the supermarket for them:
This is an option if you’re not sure how much credit you want to put. However, most people like to do the pay as you go and then recharge when needed.
Our Recommendations for Costa Rica Prepaid SIM Cards
Kolbi is best for nationwide use, especially if you plan to stay in the city and main destinations. However, Claro also has good coverage nationwide, but more for rural areas.
For example, Kolbi does not have as good coverage down in the Osa Peninsula. Instead, Claro worked well there.
When we visited Pavones, Kolbi had 0 service but Claro had 3g. In Guanacaste, Liberty tends to have a teeny bit more coverage than Kolbi.
Using T-Mobile in Costa Rica
Samantha used to use her US phone with T-Mobile in Costa Rica. T-Mobile offers plans with free international data and calling/text included.
No set up required so you don’t need to switch your SIM card or take it out. Just keep your T-Mobile SIM card in your phone.
On their Go5g plan, they don’t charge roaming fees and offer high speed data abroad in over 200 countries, including Costa Rica. Depending on which Go5g plan you have, it’ll be either 5gb of high speed data or 256 kbps on the basic plan.
If you plan to use your T-Mobile plan in Costa Rica, when you land in Costa Rica, take your phone off airplane mode and turn on data, T-Mobile will send you a text message.
It’ll say something like “Welcome to Costa Rica!” and then detail what exactly is included in your plan (how fast your internet is, costs of calls, etc.) They will also include a link in case you want their International Pass for $5 USD a day.
TMobile Plans
The T-Mobile Go5g Next, Go5g Plus and Magenta MAX and Plus gives up to 5GB of high speed data, unlimited texts and calls at $.25/min. The T-Mobile Go5G, Magenta & ONE plans only gives 256Kbps.
I used to have the Go5g Next plan that has up to 5gb of high speed data. The high data works decently in the cities, but in more rural areas, it’s sometimes OK, sometimes only 3g and slow.
It worked well enough for simple emails, Whatsapp texts and Google Maps/Waze but anything more like downloading/uploading or streaming on Youtube, opening heavy websites (surfing the web) or watching videos on Instagram, it was pretty slow.
If you need high speed Internet throughout your whole trip, I recommend to get their International Pass or rent a wifi hot spot.
ur partnership with Adobe Rent a Car gives an extra benefit for wifi hot spots, get more details here about our Costa Rica car rental discount and benefits.
How to Recharge Your prepaid SIM Card in Costa Rica
You can recharge your prepaid SIM card at the supermarket, convenience store, cell phone stores or the phone company’s office.
Business will have a sign with the phone company’s logo to indicate they can recharge SIM cards.
To add more credit, you must pay in cash in local currency (Costa Rican colones). Just tell the cashier Me puedo recargar mi X (Kolbi/Libery/Claro/etc.) and tell them how much or give them the cash.
Or just hold out your phone and say the name of the company.
You will also need to give them your phone number. Your phone number will be on your original receipt. There’s a good chance you’ll throw it away so I recommend taking a photo of your phone number.
How Much Credit Should I Put On My SIM Card in Costa Rica?
This depends on what you plan to use it for and how long you’re in Costa Rica. For one week in Costa Rica, we recommend to put 5000 colones on your prepaid SIM card (~$10 USD) at first and then you can recharge it later if need be.
This is usually a good amount to start with for those just using it for email and occasionally surfing the web.
Remember that uploading and watching videos will suck up your data on your SIM card fast so do that on Wi-Fi only.
If you plan to be uploading and using Instagram and Youtube a lot, I recommend to add more than 5000 colones to begin with because those apps suck up a lot of data.
With Kolbi, if your SIM card has not been used, recharged or have any activity, the card will expire after 90 days.
How to Check Your Balance (Kolbi)
For Kolbi customers, type *888# and then select option 1 to check your balance. You can also send a text to 888 with the word SALDO.
eSIM
Many of the latest phones have eSIM which you can use in Costa Rica. eSIMs are actually very practical and convenient as you do not have to have a physical SIM card anymore.
The app will present you options of various international packages that you can choose from. Once you choose the package you want and purchase it, they’ll show you the steps on how to activate the eSIM which is fairly simple.
Then you can upgrade your package, purchase another one or modify it right within the app. There is no need to purchase any physical SIM card for eSIMs.
Our iPhone 14s uses eSIMS. We have used two different eSIM providers when we travel abroad. Both of them have plans in Costa Rica: Airalo and Holafly.
Get 10% off your Airalo eSIM package with our promo code “mytanfeet” and use our promo code MYTANFEET to get 5% off Holafly. Holafly has plans with calls, text and data. Airalo is mostly data only.
Get ready for Costa Rica with these other posts!
Guide to finding accommodation in Costa Rica
Immigration and customs in SJO and LIR Airport
Costa Rica Vacation Checklist
- First time to Costa Rica? Read our First Time in Costa Rica guide.
- Not sure how to move around Costa Rica? Read our How to Get Around Costa Rica guide to find the best transportation method for you.
- Click the link to get our detailed Costa Rica Packing List so you know what essential items to bring.
- Check our Costa Rica destinations map and Costa Rica restaurant map
- Do not forget to purchase Travel Insurance for your trip to Costa Rica.
- Save money with Mytanfeet Deals for tours and hotels and our Costa Rica Car Rental Discount.
George D says
Is it possible to get a cheap phone at a reasonable cost? And if so, what would you recommend?
Sammi says
You can buy cheap not smart phones in Costa Rica but I recommend buying it online on Amazon because they’re not as cheap in Costa Rica and they will all be in Spanish. And the “cheap” smart phones in Costa Rica are still pretty expensive, the cheapest one will be at least $100 or more. I recommend getting one like this one: http://amzn.to/2DyrPsg if you don’t want a smart phone.
Gordon says
As of October 5, 2017, the Kolbi kiosk in SJO will not sell you a SIM if you have a passport with letters in it. Both my Canadian and fiancee’s Filipino passport have letters and we had to go elsewhere looking for a SIM. The explanation was nonspecific except it my be a limitation in their computer system.
Sammi says
Hi Gordon, that’s odd! Did you try your driver’s license? I have shown my driver’s license before and they accepted that.
Gordon says
No, I didn’t try. She asked for a passport and then said she couldn’t do it with letters so I moved on. I ended up finding a movistar van on the side of the road with three employees hanging out. It ended up working better, in my opinion, because it had free Waze, which was the main reason I wanted the SIM. It also had some data and voice (I forget the exact amount, but in 8 days I didn’t run out) for only 3000 CRC.
Sammi says
Ohh that is weird. Well I’m glad it worked out and good note about the free Waze, forgot Movistar had that.
Valerie says
Do you know the hours they are open? Also would they have a SIM card for iphone 6 plus?
Sammi says
I’m not sure exact hours the KOlbi store in SJO is open but it was still open when we arrived at 830 PM. They should have a sim card, they can cut it if you have a nano card.
Draxz says
Does anyone know how much credit would be sufficient for a 10 day trip in Costa Rica and specifically a data heavy plan for GPS navigation; its hard to figure out how much $ equals to how much MB of data
Sammi says
I would put at least $10 on it at first. GPS uses a lot of data but you can download the maps and use them offline to save credit and then you can refill at any supermarket easily if you need to.
Lee says
How do I use the maps offline? Do I turn GPS off and just read the map like a paper map but on my phone?
Sammi says
In the Google Maps app, you can save sections of the map so you can open it up later even if you don’t have internet but you need to first download them (so you need internet) and then Gmaps will save it for you.
Jiri says
Hello,
does anyone know which operator is the best for using a data for GPS navigation? I want to use a google maps in my smartphone, but I don´t know how much credit I need to recharge for 11 days?? Thank you. George (CZECH)
Sammi says
Kolbi has the most coverage and I recommend actually to use Waze, not Google Maps (google maps here is awful). For 11 days, I’d put at least $20 if you’re going to be using GPS a lot and then you can check how much credit you have and recharge when you need to.
Nisha says
Can you use your phone on Wi-Fi in your hotel/apartment without getting a SIM card? I was planning on leaving my phone in Airplane mode and using Skype in the apartment instead of calling. Does that work?
Sammi says
Yup, you can do that. As long as you can connect to the Wi-Fi, you can use it even if your phone is in airplane mode. And depending on what kind of phone you have, you can do wi-fi calling. My samsung does that.
Nisha says
Oh really? I have an iPhone 6 with AT&T. Do you know if I can call on Wi-Fi with that? Thank you so much!!!
Sammi says
I don’t know about iphones, but in my samsung drop down menu on the top I have an option that says Wi-Fi Calling. I don’t think Iphone 6 has it because Yeison has one and his doesn’t have wi-fi calling.
Sarah says
I’m in costa rica now aND bought a $5 kolbi sim. I think it’s for a week of data or service. I don’t really know. I haven’t needed to make any calls and have only used it for Internet when I’m not near WiFi. I didn’t have an ublocked phone but the guy at the kiosk in the airport seemed to make it all work. I have a Samsung Galaxy s4. Maybe he has a code to do it. Anyway. What’s the best way to extend the service ? If I wanted data for a month?
Sammi says
You’ll have to add more credit on your card, you can do it at the supermarket and you have to pay in colones. You can use activate a plan when you add more credit or you can just use it as pre-paid and it’ll deduct credit as you go. Most Samsung phones are unlocked depending on who your carrier is or if you bought it retail.
Me says
If I use my US phine plan on aoiplane mode, will I need a sim card for free WiFi calling?
Sammi says
To use free Wi-Fi calling, you need to be connected to Wi-Fi so you can’t do that with just the data from a sim card. You will need to be connected to Wi-Fi to be able to use the free Wi-Fi calling that way.
Todd Gallant says
Wow, the article and your answers to all these questions have been great! We’re travelling with friends to CR this April and you’ve convinced me to get my iPhone 6 Plus unlocked before I leave Canada, rather than buy a cheap one there to use it. Thanks!
I’ll probably go with Kolbi. I know it’s probably just the Google translation of the page, but I found it difficult to find pricing information on simply buying a local SIM and adding credit for minutes and data. Does anyone know if a SIM can still be bought for just a few dollars and I can add more credit for 2 weeks of travel? I did see some information on their site about plans with x amount of data to use during y amount of days…
…but that was data only. Nothing about talk minutes. We’ll not really need many minutes, as we’ll likely only be calling a few hotels and tour operators while visiting, but it would be nice to know how that works.
Can you help clarify?
Sammi says
You can buy the sim card for about $4 and then add as much credit as you want. They have options for plans or you can just do pay as you go, so you put a set amount on there, say $20 and then you can call/text/use data and it’ll just deduct from your credit. I like to do that so I can have the option of minutes and texts instead of just data.
Patricia says
Hi, I coming to Costa Rica 10-22 February. I was wondering if my old Nokia non-smart phone would work. It is only a dual band model, 900/1800. I really just want it for quick messaging with friends in country while there. I will have my iPad with me with a roaming program with my carrier. I don’t normally use a cell phone at home and have this Nokia phone left over from a trip a few years back to Thailand.
BTW, I will mostly be in the Playa Potrero area but plan on a few excursions away from from the coast while there.
Sammi says
As long as the phone has a slot for a sim card and is unlocked, you can get a sim card for it here.
Jeff says
Hello, does anyone know how much data is available on 1 $4 sim card? I don’t need the card for calls, I just need it for data to create a mobile hotspot with my iPhone and then connect my laptop to that hotspot. Also, does anyone know average speeds I would see in Tamarindo on the sim cards’ network? Thanks in advance!
Sammi says
You won’t get much done with just $4 for data… in Tamarindo I am getting around 2-3mb (it’s super slow) on my phone which is good enough for apps, surfing the web and checking emails but watching Youtube is kind of annoying and slow. If you need it for video chatting/downloading/uploading, I suggest when you buy your sim card to see if they have a plan with faster speed. If I remember correctly when I had Movistar, I was able to pay for a 1 week or month plan with 5mb.
Ester says
Hi ill be going to the Arenal for a few days and then to Playa Tamarindo, any idea on which company prepaid sim card I should purchase, i would need one that has good data speed with good pricing. Thank you!
Sammi says
Hi, Kolbi should work fine and hotels have Wi-Fi.