Buying a SIM Card or eSIM for Travel in Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a beautiful country, with amazing beaches, rainforests, waterfalls, and hidden swimming holes. The jungles are rich with toucans, monkeys, lizards, sloths, and parrots. World-class surfing and fishing can be found dotted along the coastline.

Nothing moves very quickly in this tropical paradise, though—including, it must be said, cellular data.

Costa Rica has the highest cost of living of any country in Central America. Prices for drinks, hotels, restaurants, and groceries often remind me of prices in Hawaii, which is fitting given the scenery.

One of the few things that won’t break the bank, however, is buying and using a prepaid SIM card, a blessing given the lackluster speeds. Travel eSIMs are also an option, although you’ll usually pay more for them.

However you decide to do it, here’s what you need to know.

There are three big providers for prepaid SIMs in Costa Rica. The state-owned Kolbi ICE has the most customers and the best coverage. Kolbi is the name of the cellular service provided by ICE (Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad), the country’s electric company.

Liberty (formerly Movistar) is in second place in terms of coverage, while Claro is the most recent entrant to Costa Rica but can be found throughout other Central America countries. 4G/LTE is available with all three providers, although speeds aren’t great.

While it’s not exactly difficult to buy a local SIM, there’s still a certain amount of hassle and waiting around that goes with it. It’s also not particularly cheap in terms of how much data you get for your money, compared to elsewhere in the region.

If you’d prefer not to start your holiday by messing around with phone stores and balance recharges, it’s worth taking a look at travel eSIMs as well. I use them in much of the world these days, especially if I’m not in a country for long.

Being able to buy and set them before I leave home or wherever I happen to be is a real time saver, especially when (as in Costa Rica) you can’t buy local SIMs at the airport on arrival.

As for which company to go with, it depends a bit on how long you’re staying and how much data you need. I’ve found Instabridge cheapest for small, short-term data packs, while Nomad is typically better after that.

I maintain a table below with the latest prices from all of the companies I regularly use. Details are updated every week, most recently on 12 May 2025.

Like most travel eSIMs, it’s data-only: you don’t get a local number. I use apps for everything from communication to transport these days, so the lack of a local number very rarely matters to me, but you might have different needs.

If you’re new to eSIMs, they offer big benefits to travelers in terms of how quickly, easily, and (often) cheaply you can get connected when you arrive in a new country. Most recent phones support them, and you can read all about them here.

We’ve also got a quick and easy eSIM finder that lets you find the best provider in every country in a few seconds!

You can buy SIM cards at any of the provider’s official stores or at some of the larger electronics stores. There was also a store at San Jose airport, but it’s now closed, with the nearest place to buy a SIM now the nearby City Mall.

I bought mine at the electric company in the beach town of Quepos. The process was painless: a passport, an unlocked phone, and a little cash was all that’s required.

Don’t sweat it if your Spanish is weak. Many Costa Ricans speak transactional-level English, so they can likely help you get what you need. I was able to purchase two SIMs using one passport with no issue.

One important piece of info that wasn’t mentioned when purchasing my SIMs was that I shouldn’t toss the plastic card the SIMs were originally attached to. Fortunately I didn’t.

As an extra security precaution (i.e. pain in the butt) Kolbi requires you to enter the four-digit PIN on the back of that plastic card each time your phone is rebooted. No PIN, no service. Thankfully this can be turned off in the settings of your phone.

The Kolbi SIM card I purchased cost 1,000 colones (about $2 US) and included a modest balance (commonly called saldo). Using voice, text, and/or data decrements your saldo.

The rep who sold me the SIM didn’t know how much data usage was included, but did say that if I used it exclusively for voice it would last 30 minutes.

I tried to purchase additional saldo before I left but was unable to do so because there’s a 15-minute window in which no changes can be made to new activations. I was now within that window and in hurry, so I bought it later instead.

If you use data on a casual rate like I was, you’ll pay 8.6 CRC (~2c) per MB, or a little under $20/GB. That’s why you’re much better off buying one of the bundles, which start at 2539 CRC ($5) for 1GB of data, valid for 15 days.

Many other bundles are available, some that only include data, and others that have calls and texts as well. Just pick the one that matches how long you’ll be in the country and how much data you expect to use.

Topping Up

Kolbi

It’s very easy to top up your prepaid saldo: just look for a store with the Kolbi logo, and tell the person behind the counter what you’re after.

They’ll ask for the name of the provider, your phone number and how much saldo you want to purchase. Saldo can be purchased in set increments using either colones (the local currency) or US dollars. I recommend using colones in order to get the best exchange rate.

It’s important to know that your balance will expire if you don’t use it all. With Kolbi, for example, 1,000 colones of saldo will expire in 30 days, while 10,000 colones will be available for 60 days.

Nomad

Topping up with Nomad (or any of the other travel eSIM companies) is done by logging into the website or app. You just select your Costa Rica eSIM, hit the top-up button, and buy the same package again.

The top-up packs have exactly the same pricing and duration as the original eSIMs: there’s little difference between topping up your current eSIM and buying a new one, other than not having to activate it.

I used Kolbi on an LTE and HSPA+ compatible phone. I often got LTE in San Jose, but in beach towns, the little icon at the top of the screen flipped between LTE and H+ all the time.

Unsurprisingly, the download speeds in the capital were more than double those at the beach, but none of them were super impressive. That said, the speed is enough to do what I need to, and the connections are consistent, if slower than I’m used to.

It’s worth noting that all three providers advertise high-speed LTE capabilities, but whether you actually see those speeds is another question entirely.

If you’re going with an eSIM, you’ll likely get better coverage with Nomad and aloSIM than Airalo or easySim. The former uses both the Claro and Liberty networks as needed, while Nomad only offers service with Claro.

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Check out our guides to SIM cards and eSIMs in 65+ other countries here.