What should I do about getting a phone plan in Costa Rica? - SRS-CR: Summerland Relocation Services

Pay as you go is probably the quickest and easiest thing to do. Many phone plans are now requiring that you be a resident in order to sign up for a plan. This is because the history has been that people coming to Costa Rica as tourists leave the country and as a result leave the phone company with a large unpaid bill.

However there are potential issues with pay as you go. For example if you plan on using your phone as a hotspot so that you can connect to the internet on your laptop, pay as you go might not allow for that. You definitely want to ensure that your needs are met and should either be fairly fluent in Spanish when signing up for a phone plan or take someone with you who is fluent in Spanish. It is the only way to ensure that whatever plan you sign up for has everything that you need.

Another idea to land a phone plan in Costa Rica is to make friends with a Tico!! Seriously if you have a good friend who is willing to get a plan in their name for you, see if you can make an arrangement with them. Just be sure to make your payments on time and keep them posted on your whereabouts so they don’t feel they are going to get stuck with a bill!

Your phone provider options in Costa Rica are Claro, Movistar and Kolbi (ICE). Each of these tend to have better and/or different coverages depending on where you are living in Costa Rica. In other words if you are in the mountains just north west of San Isidro in Perez Zeledon, you might want to go with ICE or Claro. Many people complain that Movistar doesn’t work well in those areas. A bad idea to try all 3 as prepaid if you aren’t sure about the coverage where you will be spending the most time. This will be another question you will want answered when you are discussing a plan. Some may be better than others in being 100% honest about where they cover better and it what locations.

Have you heard about Summerland’s Relocation Services? We can help you with situations like this anytime you need assistance! Subscribe to our service and you will earn a free consultation on any one thing you need help with – we will walk you through step by step. When you subscribe to our service we will become an ongoing source of information for all of your needs! Fill out the subscription information sheet here and send it to: info@srs-cr.com or simply click SRS Subscription Link to see the information we need and send it to us!