Calling in Costa Rica

Costa Rica has the country code +506

All numbers in Costa Rica are 8 digits. No area codes. Numbers starting with 2 or 3 are land- lines, the numbers with 8 are the mobile networks of ICE (Kölbi), the national telephone company. In the end of 2011, due to the free trade agreement TLC, the international competition came. Since October 2011, Movistar (Telefonica, numbers beginning with 6) and Claro (numbers 7) provide their services and other will follow.

Calling within Costa Rica is pretty cheap, that is why in a lot of Hotels (for example, in Posada Nena in Santa Ana) this service is offered for free. You will have to dial the 00 + country code (see below) to make an international call.

If you want to bring your own cell phone from Europe, you will have to consider some things. The cellphones work with your own SIM Card, which work immediately with the network of GSM 1800 and UMTS 3G 850. However, the costs of Roaming are high.
Any Quad-Band mobile phone is capable of receiving both frequencies.

It is quite simple to buy a SIM-Card in Costa Rica. You can buy it after landing, at the international airport in a stand of ICE Kölbi. Otherwise you can buy it inside the country in any office of ICE, Movistar and Claro, and they are also offered in hotels and posadas (for example, the Posada Nena in Santa Ana) as well as pre-paid SIM Cards. These cards are available for 3000, 5000 and 10000 colones. After the expiry of the credit, it can be easily refilled. SIM cards available.