Costa Rica SIM or eSIM: count general data, calls and the next renewal

A Costa Rica mobile plan can look generous until you separate the data you can use anywhere online from the benefits reserved for particular apps. A social-media allowance is useful, but it cannot automatically pay for every booking page, browser search or upload you make during the trip. The other important question is whether you need ordinary Costa Rican calls, rather than messages and calls inside an app.

Compare the general data and ordinary calls first, then work out what happens when either runs out. That reveals the useful differences between Liberty’s Prepago Ultra, Kölbi’s SIM Turista and a fixed travel-data allowance. Kölbi also needs a clearer final quote: its public price and data descriptions disagree.

Local offers were checked on 21 October 2026. We sell the travel-data options included here; our prices and terms were checked on 25 October. Costa Rican colones are marked CRC, with our prices in Australian dollars.

Kölbi’s linked telecommunications requirements document accepts a passport for foreign individuals, expressly directs new foreign passport holders towards prepaid service and names SIM Turista for overseas visitors. Its shorter web checklist lists other foreign identity categories without repeating the passport option; that omission is not enough to turn the linked passport route into a blanket refusal of tourists.

The Kölbi eSIM page supports prepaid and postpaid eSIM, issued through Kölbi shops or ICE agencies. It lists no additional eSIM charge for new services and number transfers, while other transactions cost CRC 2,255 including taxes. That general issue rule does not settle the tourist bundle’s disputed total or establish remote purchase of SIM Turista.

Liberty’s eSIM instructions likewise direct activation to its stores. Having eSIM support therefore does not make either local purchase the same as arranging an online travel-data order before departure.

The SIM Shop option covers internet use within its allowance. The Liberty Ultra offer and Kölbi tourist card also advertise ordinary calling. App benefits can add value, but keep them out of the general-data total unless their terms explicitly include the activity you need.

Liberty’s Ultra instructions use ULTRA to 606 for activation and early renewal. With enough balance, renewal occurs at 30 days or when the allowance is exhausted; with insufficient balance, it does not renew automatically. Mi Liberty displays consumption and the renewal date. The offer also includes social and mobility-app benefits, but its cross-border FAQ limits the no-extra-cost wording to the included mobility apps, so it should not be read as a general 5 GB allowance throughout Central and North America. (Liberty Ultra)

The separate English Plan Libre page lists CRC 5,900 and the renewal keyword LIBRE30 to 606. Its listed calling benefits differ too, so do not combine Ultra’s CRC 5,000 price with Plan Libre’s instructions or allowances. The English heading calls it a “Free Plan”, but the CRC 5,900 charge is rather less enthusiastic about that translation.

Take a hypothetical 30-day trip needing 4 GB of general data and 60 national minutes to numbers outside Liberty. Ultra’s advertised 5 GB and 70 national minutes meet those stated needs, leaving 1 GB and 10 minutes spare. The CRC 5,000 is the advertised pack charge, rather than a verified total for acquiring and issuing a new line.

Now change the data budget to 6 GB, with the other needs unchanged. One 5 GB general allowance is 1 GB short, even if the plan also advertises unlimited social apps. A documented option is a second full Ultra pack: two CRC 5,000 pack purchases add up to CRC 10,000, without treating the second purchase as a tiny 1 GB add-on or assuming unused first-pack resources are pooled into it.

If you use that early-renewal route, allow for the full CRC 5,000 rather than budgeting for a small 1 GB add-on. Keep the renewal date, consumption and prepaid balance visible in the app.

Kölbi’s tourist card shows 5 GB for social networks, then another 5 GB beside app logos, with an incomplete image in the display. Neither the rendered card nor its text made the unrestricted allowance clear at the 21 October check. Ask for the general-data amount before paying; adding the two mentions together could count app-only data as internet for any website.

The price also needs resolving: the card shows CRC 12,095, while the linked SIM Turista conditions say CRC 12,000 plus taxes. Adding a guessed tax calculation does not tell us which published amount the shop will actually charge.

If you need a known amount of general internet, this card does not establish that a 3 GB, 5 GB or 10 GB general-data budget is covered. Use an explicitly defined allowance for that purchase, or have Kölbi’s final quote state the unrestricted GB and total charge together before paying; the figures above do not yet make a settled all-in offer.

Its terms do answer the expiry question: the plan lasts 30 days or until the included allowances run out, followed by a seven-day opportunity to renew. That extra week is not seven more days of included data. After resources are used, continuing service can use up your main prepaid credit balance, which is another reason not to confuse remaining money with remaining gigabytes.

For a seven-day visit with an assumed 3 GB general-data budget and no ordinary local calls, our 3 GB/30-day option at A$14.95 meets the period and allowance exactly, with no data reserve. It is a straightforward choice when you want internet access without making the local calling line part of the errand list.

Our Costa Rica eSIM range also includes 1 GB/7 days at A$6.95, then 5 GB, 10 GB and 20 GB for 30 days at A$30.95, A$42.95 and A$76.95. These are fixed total allowances starting on the first network connection, without a daily reset. The selected network is Claro, so this is not a purchase of Kölbi service or a promise of reception throughout a national park.

For sharing data, Liberty Ultra describes personal use on one device subject to fair-use limits, while our hotspot availability depends on the network and handset. Neither description supports buying one plan on the assumption of guaranteed, unrestricted internet for several phones or essential laptop work.

Our Costa Rica setup guide covers the phone settings for that data-only purchase after arrival. If ordinary national calls are central to the trip, compare the local package’s full new-line price and likely renewal cost before committing.