eSIM for Costa Rica

Your eSIM connects as an international roaming line on three of Costa Rica's main networks, and it picks whichever gives the stronger signal where you are. Expect solid 4G and LTE, with 5G in a few areas, across San José, Liberia, Tamarindo and Manuel Antonio, plus the main roads and Pacific coast towns most travellers pass through. The main local partner network has the widest reach and tends to hold up best once you leave the cities. Signal thins in the mountains, the cloud forest around Monteverde, the remote Osa Peninsula and parts of the Caribbean coast, where every network struggles.

Because this is a roaming line rather than a local SIM, you need to switch on Data Roaming for the eSIM line before it will connect. That is normal for a travel eSIM and costs nothing extra, as the plan price already covers it. It is data-only, with no Costa Rica phone number and no SMS, so keep your home SIM active in another phone for bank and login OTP codes. WhatsApp, iMessage and FaceTime all work as normal over the data connection.

Most plans start counting only when the eSIM first connects to a network in Costa Rica, so you can install it over Wi-Fi before you leave home and have it ready to go. If your phone shows No Service after you land at San José or Liberia airport, switch Airplane Mode on and off once to nudge it into registering with fast local partner networks. Coverage can also dip briefly inside thick jungle, deep valleys and some concrete resort buildings, usually returning as soon as you move back into the open.

Because roaming traffic may leave through an internet gateway outside Costa Rica, the odd website or app can treat you as if you are browsing from another country. It is a minor quirk rather than a blocker, and everyday tools like maps, messaging and browsing work normally. Rules like this can change, so if that routing shifts we will say so plainly.

• Install the eSIM over Wi-Fi before you fly, while you still have a steady connection at home, as setup only takes a minute.
• Set the Simzora eSIM as your mobile-data line and switch on Data Roaming for that line only, so your own number stays free of charges.
• If you are heading to Monteverde's cloud forest, the Osa Peninsula or a remote beach, download offline maps first, as signal on every network fades once you leave the main towns.