If you want to share the best moments of your trip to San Jose, Santa Teresa Beach, or the Celeste River on social media, do not worry about expensive roaming rates in Costa Rica, or wifi pocket rentals, because with the SIM card with data for Costa Rica you can access cellular at a much cheaper price.
With the prepaid SIM card for Costa Rica, you will be able to surf the internet as if you were at home, a very valuable feature that will help you stay in touch with your family during the whole trip. Also, if you are one of those who like to share your adventure on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, etc. it is essential that you remain connected at all times! In this post, we are going to tell you about the prices and where you can buy a SIM card for Costa Rica.
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Where to buy a prepaid SIM card in Costa Rica?
You can buy a data SIM card for your trip to Costa Rica through online stores, this way you can get the SIM card at home before traveling and avoid mishaps and headaches of having to wait at the destination to look for a local SIM. Here are the advantages of this option.
Buy before you travel – Advantages
Besides being able to have internet in Costa Rica, acquiring a SIM card before traveling will improve your travel experience and can save you some headaches. Here’s what’s good about this option.
- Internet upon arrival
As we have said, the main benefit is the convenience and security that this option offers. When you arrive at your destination, all you have to do is insert your Costa Rica SIM card and you will be able to connect to the Internet right away, all shortly after landing. You can even get internet from minute zero if you insert the SIM card before getting off the plane.
- Avoid waiting or waiting in line
Depending on the time you arrive in Costa Rica, the number of travelers inside the airport will vary. This may force you to wait in lines or wait for a service rep at local stores. Also, in these places you will be asked for formal documentation to purchase a SIM card and for its activation.
Online store to buy a Costa Rica digital SIM card
You can order your Costa Rica virtual SIM card through the Holafly store. This product is delivered to your email after purchase. Holafly offers unlimited data plans. This can be used for up to 20 days. Here are some other features of these prepaid SIM cards.
- Unlimited data plans are available
If you are a data intensive traveler this is the best option. As long as you are within the usage period you will be able to use as much data as you need.
- Automatic activation
When you purchase a virtual SIM card you receive a QR code in your email for scanning. Once you do this you just wait for the digital SIM card to download and install. You must have an internet connection for this first installation.
- Recharge through top-ups
When you want more data or more days of use you can buy back any package for the same destination with a top-up.
How much does a SIM card cost to travel to Costa Rica?
The price of the SIM card with data for Costa Rica depends on the amount of data you want to have during your trip and the number of days you want to be connected to the internet. In order for you to have at hand all the SIM card rates for Costa Rica, below, we’ve set out a table below with the prices and features of all the cards available for Costa Rica.
Digital SIM card prices for Costa Rica
If you want to be connected to the internet only in Costa Rica for a certain period of time, Holafly virtual SIM cards have the following options for you.
| Days of use | Amount of mobile data | Price (USD) |
| 5 | Unlimited data | 27 |
| 7 | Unlimited data | 34 |
| 10 | Unlimited data | 37 |
| 15 | Unlimited data | 47 |
| 20 | Unlimited data | 54 |
Buy on landing
If you wish to shop at an airport or shopping mall in Costa Rica, you will not have the same advantages offered by online stores, however, we will show you the main advantage of shopping upon landing so that you can compare and choose the option that suits you best:
- More SIM card options
Once you are in a shopping mall in Costa Rica or in an international airport such as Daniel Oduber International Airport or Limon International Airport, you will find different stores, and therefore, a great variety of products, among which are SIM cards with data. As there are more varieties of SIM cards you will have more options to choose from.
Claro, Movistar and Tigo stores in Costa Rica
Coverage and signal quality are a few decisive factors in this country, keeping in mind that there are tourist areas where there is no signal available. The recommended networks for internet are those of Claro, since this company is known for being the pioneer in telecommunications in Costa Rica, and more than anything else, for being the vanguard company of internet in this country. You will find SIM cards in different places such as stores and customer service spots.
Besides Claro; Movistar, Tigo and Kolbi are also good telecommunication companies in Costa Rica. Holafly SIM cards use the Telefonica de Costa Rica TC network, in this destination to bring you the best connection. Therefore, if you don’t have coverage on one carrier’s network, it will connect to the other.
Frequently asked questions about the Costa Rica prepaid SIM card
If you want to connect to the Internet through options other than a data SIM card, we recommend that you consider the many disadvantages these options have. Most of them tend to be very expensive or insecure, as in the case of Free Wifi in public spaces, which despite not costing anything, the security of their networks leaves much to be desired, being very vulnerable to hacking. Other options provide internet in Costa Rica, such as eSIM for Costa Rica, roaming data service, or Wifi Pockets, although these options are mostly quite expensive.
The rates for roaming service in Costa Rica depend on the operator with which you are going to access this service since there are operators that charge more than others. However, the price per MB for roaming in this country is usually between 6.79 and 13.57 USD.
Among the things you should consider when choosing your ideal SIM card for your trip to Costa Rica are the number of days and the amount of data you want to have during your trip. It is essential to be clear about this, so you avoid buying SIM cards with many days of data that you will not use. Likewise, good customer service is essential for you to ask questions about the product and to help you configure the cell phone.
