Comments on: Buying a SIM Card or eSIM for Travel in Costa Rica

By: Jake

Jake

As of Jan 2022, there are no SIMs for sale at Liberia Intl airport, although there is good free wifi.
I decided to just buy an esim online, and it worked well everywhere I went (movistar towers).
I’d recommend a Central American regional eSIM to anyone who plans on visiting more than one country in the area, as buying a new local SIM at each land border will be hassle and inefficient.
All Costa Ricans, and all small businesses, use Whatsapp so a local number is not necessary.

By: Dave Dean

Dave Dean

In reply to Bill. Both of those apps will still work, but it may take longer to calculate routes etc. You can pre-download map areas to Google Maps for use while offline or in poor connectivity areas, which should help a bit -- details here.

By: Bill

Bill

This article is very helpful – Thank you! If we purchased a Kobe/Ice SIM for my iPhone8 Plus do you think that the slower data speeds will affect our ability to use GoogleMaps and/or Waze for navigation?

By: Rebecca

Rebecca

Will it be possible to by a SIM in Tortuguero? We are landing late at night in SJO and then being taken to Tortuguero early next morning

By: Dave Dean

Dave Dean

In reply to Jay. Thanks Jay -- I've made a note in the article.

By: Jay

Jay

Update: Cell Phone Carriers are no longer in San Jose nor Liberia airport as of November 2019. Funny enough, Kobe/Ice still has an advertisement in the airport, but I asked the staff and they said they were all moved out last month. Nearest place to purchase is the shopping plaza.

By: Dave Dean

Dave Dean

In reply to Jackie.

Hi Jackie,

To answer your question about which will have better reception, you’d need to know which local cell company (or companies) Verizon partners with in Costa Rica — you’re using a local network either way. The company we recommend, Kolbi ICE, has the best coverage in the country — if Verizon uses them too, you’ll have the same level of reception either way. If not, you’ll have less coverage with Verizon.

By: Jackie

Jackie

Hi! Thank you so much for your article! Very helpful and nicely laid out. Thanks for making it so easy to follow and understand. My biggest question is whether I will get better phone reception (both calling and web browsing) using a SIM card or my Verizon phone as is with my international plan. I prefer using my Phone international plan because I can upload my pictures on facebook for free from my facebook App every day (and most places I’m staying at have free wifi so it won’t be any data used from my plan). I do not plan to use my phone much at all as we have tried to do all the research necessary prior to leaving so as to have stress free travel. However, there may be times I have to call our host because we cannot find their place or that I need to look up an address we have have forgotten. I have Verizon service and an iPhone 5. We will be traveling to Costa Rica and renting a car with gps. Thanks in advance for your advice!

By: Dave Dean

Dave Dean

In reply to Ronny Vargas. I wouldn't be too sure about it working right now -- not because it's an iPhone 4S, but because it's Sprint. According to a bunch of articles like this, and Sprint's support forums, Sprint locked the SIM slot of its iPhone 4S for both domestic and international use, and you had to ask them specifically to unlock it. If yours isn't, you can try calling them and asking. To turn off the SIM PIN, you go to Settings-Phone-SIM PIN, turn the option off, enter the existing PIN and tap Done.

By: Ronny Vargas

Ronny Vargas

Hi! I was born in Costa Rica and I’m taking my old 4s and give it to my mom. Lol

I guess I can do this even if the phone has a sprint card right? And then my second question. You said I need the pin every time I reboot the phone but that can be turned off from settings. How you do that?