Long Distance Rates: Calls made within Costa Rica are not Long Distance.

Countries

Cost Per Minute

Day

Night
7 AM to 10 PM 10 PM to 7 AM
USA, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, South America 45 cents 45 cents
Europe, Caribbean 60 cents 60 cents
Central America 40 cents 35 cents
Panama 40 cents 40 cents
Rest of the world 60 cents 60 cents
These rates were confirmed January 2002 with the phone company.  Of course, they are subject to change (hopefully cheaper!)   Many students have found that using their phone here to call Internationally is usually cheaper than using calling cards since there is no connection surcharge when direct dialing from your home phone.

ENLINEA: Offers a call back service which makes calling the US only 21 cents per minute and the billing is handled through your credit card.   This service is currently being blocked by the national phone company and is virtually useless.  They do have a service called Mango that is more expensive than the call back, but is still slightly less than the national phone company rates.   To find out more, visit their website at http://www.enlinea.com

EMERGENCIES: The emergency telephone number for Costa Rica is 911. There are bilingual dispatchers on duty at all times. We have also been warned that it can take a while and often a cab is faster to get you to the hospital. 

TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Costa Rica several years ago made a change from six-digit telephone numbers to seven-digit numbers.  Some of the signs, however, continue to display the six-digit number.  All prefixes starting with 20 through 29 just get a "2" in front of the old number so that they now begin with 220 through 229.

TELEPHONE USAGE :

Costa Rica from other countries 011 - 506 + seven digit number

Australia 0061 + area code + the number

Canada / United States 001 + area code + the number

England 0044 + area code + the number

Europe Code depends on Country

South Korea 0082 + area code + the number

New Zealand 0064 + area code + the number

AT&T 114 Direct Call: 0-800-011-4114

SPRINT 163 Direct Call: 0-800-013-0123

MCI 162 Direct Call: 0-800-012-2222

On your phone bill you may receive Excedental charges when you talk more than the basic rate allows.  If you phone or are phoned by someone with a cellular phone, you pay extra for the call.

NET2PHONE (and other internet services) allows persons with computers and internet access to call virtually any phone number in the world very inexpensively.  The person on the other side does not need a computer.  To find out more about this service and for rates to other countries, go to http://www.net2phone.com.

JFAX If you have a need to receive or send more than two or three faxes per month, you may would benefit by using JFAX.  This service allows you to send faxes as email attachments for about 8 cents per page as well as receive unlimited faxes and voice messages all for $12.50 per month.  The service will give you your own personal phone number in the United States or other country so that people can send you faxes or leave you voice messages as a local call. For more information, go to http://www.jfax.com

Global Access Call Back (GACB): Now you can make and receive international telephone calls and faxes paying America's lowest international rates, and using the US telephone system. You may also call Leslie Borrase in Cost Rica at 253-2182. The key benefits included for making international calls from your home are:

No charge for start-up, no minimum time period to sign up for, no hidden charges.  After the first 30 seconds, calls are billed in 6 second segments. Use the service with phones, faxes, modems, switchboards. Provide GACB clients with one of the cheapest telephone cards in the market (free of charge).

INFREQUENTLY DIALED NUMBERS: (we hope)

POLICE  911       FIRE  911

BRITISH EMBASSY  221-5816

CANADIAN EMBASSY  255-3522

U. S. EMBASSY  220-3939

LANGUAGE INSTITUTE  227-7366 (fax 227-0211)

(Space does not permit listing all embassies. To find your embassy numbers, look in the white pages under "Embajada.")

Institute Email: lespanol@racsa.co.cr                       

Student Phone List