Costa Rica destination information

All you need to know before visiting Costa Rica

Costa Rica summary

Costa Rica is a small country with around 5M Costa Rican. Official language is Spanish. Costa Rica uses metric system (kilograms, centimeters, °C). Time zone is UTC-06:00. Currency used in Costa Rica is Costa Rican Colon (CRC).

🎫 Border Rank #️⃣ 68
🗺️ Passport Rank #️⃣ 64

ATMs in Costa Rica are Very common. Internet speed in Costa Rica is on average 3.4 Mbps. In Costa Rica you drive on the right side. Most cars have manual transmission (stick).

🏙️ San Jose
🗣️ Spanish
👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 5M ☀️ ~25 °C 🌧 ~242 mm 👍 Developing 🚩 51k km2 (20k mi²)
🎫 Visa Exemption
🗺️ Passport Strength
📧 Costa Rican visa Online
🏥 Health regulation
🛃 Customs rules
🏛️ Embassies

General

Socket 🔌

Costa Rica uses 120V, 60Hz with sockets and plugs Type A and Type B.

Languages 🗣️

  • Spanish

Money

Currency 💱

100 CRC = 0.17 USD

Costa Rica uses the Costa Rican colón (symbol: ?), code CRC.Banknotes come in denominations of 50000, 20000, 10000, 5000, 2000 and 1000 colóns. Colón is subdivided into 100 céntimos. Coins come in denominations of 500, 100, 50, 25, 10 and 5 colóns.

ATM 🏧🏦

Very common

Automatic teller machines are very common in Costa Rica. You can find them in both large & small cities, tourist areas etc.You do not need a chip & PIN card to use an ATM — your standard magnetic card will work fine.

Tipping 💁🏽

Expected to tip

Tipping is quite common in Costa Rica and it's good etiquette to leave one. How much money you leave depends on the service and how happy you were with it. Receipts might sometimes include a service charge.

Card 💳

Phone

Mobile Phone 📱

Costa Rica uses GSM mobile networks GSM 850 and GSM 1800.

Roaming 🌐

If you don't want to buy SIM card in Costa Rica upon arrival, make sure to check the roaming charges with your telecom provider before your departure so there are no surprises when you return home.

Emergency Calls 🚨

Universal :

112

Police :

112

Ambulance :

112

Fire department :

112

Calling ☎️

International

To call Costa Rica, dial +, then 506 (the country code for Costa Rica), then the area code and the local number.

Locally

For local calls within Costa Rica, start with the area code. In the case above area code is 2 .


international: + 506 2 1234567
calling local: 2 1234567

Internet connection

Internet Speed 💯

Internet speed in Costa Rica is on average 3.4 Mbps.

Wifi 📡

WiFi coverage in Costa Rica is moderate. It's relatively easy to find one when needed.

SIM Card #️⃣

You can buy a SIM card for about 7,271.43 CRC, which includes 1 GB of data plan. You can choose from 3 telecoms: Claro, Kölbi or Movistar.

Driving

Rules 🚗

In Costa Rica you drive on the right side. Most cars have manual transmission (stick).

Limits 🚦

Unless otherwise posted, the speed limits for cars and motorcycles are as follows: 40 km/h (24 mph) in all built-up areas, 40-60 km/h (24-37 mph) on undivided highways, 80-100 km/h (49-62 mph) on motorways and 80-100 km/h (49-62 mph) on expressways.

Weather

Temperature 🌡️

Rainfall ☔

Countries nearby Costa Rica


More on Costa Rica travel and visa information

All the informations you need to schedule your trip to Costa Rica.

🎫

Visa Exemption

Check who can come to Costa Rica without visa requirement.

🗺️

Passport Strength

Check countries nationals of Costa Rica can visit without visa.

📧

Costa Rican visa Online

Apply for visa to Costa Rica online.

🏥

Health regulation

Want to visit Costa Rica ? Check health regulation !

🛃

Customs rules

Want to visit Costa Rica ? Check customs regulation !

🏳️‍🌈

LGBT Destination info

Check if Costa Rica is LGBT friendly for travel.

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Costa Rican embassies

Check list of Costa Rica embassies around the globe !