Costa Rica country code +506 — call Costa Rica & get a number.
Costa Rica took the pura-vida approach to phone numbers: no area codes, no trunk prefix, just eight clean digits dialed the same way everywhere. Here's the simple system in full — formats from the US, UK, Canada and across Latin America, the mobile and landline ranges, live time and weather, and how businesses claim a Costa Rica virtual number with MCM.
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Costa Rica at a glance
The numbers and facts you need before you dial.
What is the country code for Costa Rica?
Costa Rica's code is +506, and what follows it is refreshingly free of fine print. There are no area codes and no trunk-prefix 0 to remember — every number is exactly eight digits, dialed identically whether you're in San José or on the Caribbean coast. Add +506, dial the eight digits, done.
Code +506 was assigned to Costa Rica by the ITU under the E.164 plan. The “+” means “dial your local international exit code”; on a mobile, press and hold 0 to type it.
All four mean the same thing — they connect your call to Costa Rica.
How to call Costa Rica from anywhere
Three parts, no surprises: your exit code, then 506, then the full eight-digit number. There's no city code to look up and no leading 0 to drop — the shortest dialing recipe in the region.
Full example: +506 ICE / Kölbi and others, all regions XXX XXXX — drop the local leading 0 when calling from abroad.
Costa Rica phone number format explained
When Costa Rica moved to eight digits in the 2008 renumbering, it folded all the meaning into the very first digit. That opening digit, not any area code, tells you whether you're calling a landline or a mobile — geography simply doesn't enter into it.
Landline
Landlines open with 2, then seven more digits. Format example: 2222 3333 → +506 2222 3333. Toll-free lines open with 800.
Mobile
Mobiles open with 6, 7 or 8, then seven more digits. Format example: 8888 7777 → +506 8888 7777. Numbers are portable between carriers.
Costa Rica area codes — major cities
Drop the local leading 0 when calling from abroad.
| City | Region | Area code |
|---|---|---|
| 2XXX XXXX | Landline | ICE / Kölbi and others, all regions |
| 6XXX XXXX | Mobile | Liberty range |
| 7XXX XXXX | Mobile | Claro range |
| 8XXX XXXX | Mobile | () |
| 4XXX XXXX | VoIP / other fixed | Alternative fixed services |
| 800 XXXXX | Toll-free | Freephone |
Costa Rica mobile network prefixes
The prefix after +506 tells you which network issued the SIM — though number portability means it no longer guarantees the operator.
Kölbi (ICE)
Claro (América Móvil)
Liberty (formerly Movistar/Telefónica)
Costa Rica time zone
Costa Rica keeps things steady here too: Central Standard Time (CST), UTC-6, every day of the year. With no daylight saving to chase, the offset you set never drifts — handy, since the country shares its clock with the US Central time zone all year round.
Because San José tracks US Central time, callers in Chicago or Dallas enjoy a near-perfect overlap with the Costa Rican working day. UK and European callers reach the Costa Rican morning by ringing in their late afternoon. Offices keep 08:00–17:00 CST.
Open the interactive best-time-to-call plannerEmergency numbers in Costa Rica
Free to call from any Costa Rica phone, landline or mobile.
Common mistakes when calling Costa Rica
Almost every failed international call is a formatting issue, not a network issue.
Hunting for an area code: This is the one habit Costa Rica breaks
there simply isn't one, so never wedge a city code in front of the number.
Adding a leading 0: There's no trunk prefix to drop or add; it's just +506 + 8 digits
Adding a leading 0: There's no trunk prefix to drop or add; it's just +506 + 8 digits.
Miscounting the digits: Costa Rican numbers are exactly eight long
one too few or too many and it won't connect.
Misreading the line type: The first digit is your tell
2 for landlines, 6, 7 or 8 for mobiles.
Adjusting for a summer clock that isn't there: Costa Rica holds at UTC-6 all year, so leave the offset alone
Adjusting for a summer clock that isn't there: Costa Rica holds at UTC-6 all year, so leave the offset alone.
Tips to reduce the cost of calling Costa Rica
Carry calls over VoIP or a virtual number rather than premium per-minute international rates.
Reach for landlines (the 2XXXXXXX range) when you can
mobile termination tends to cost more.
Call inside Costa Rican business hours
easy to time, since they line up with US Central — to cut the callback loop.
Hold a Costa Rican DID so local contacts reach you at an ordinary domestic rate.
Why businesses get a Costa Rica virtual number
Costa Rica anchors plenty of nearshore and tourism operations, and customers here treat a +506 line as shorthand for "actually based here." Show that local number and you read as part of the community rather than a distant call center.
Higher answer rates
A +506 caller ID gets picked up where a foreign number is left to ring.
Lower trust friction
A Costa Rican number reads as a real, reachable local business.
Cheaper inbound
Customers reach you at local rates.
Centralized routing
Send Costa Rica calls to any team, anywhere.
Faster expansion
Open in Costa Rica without a local office or carrier contract.
Real PSTN presence
A genuine Costa Rican number on the network, not a relay.
Costa Rica virtual numbers with My Country Mobile
A simple numbering plan deserves an equally dependable network behind it. My Country Mobile delivers carrier-grade Costa Rica numbers with the reliability and reach to back every call.
Local DIDs in major area codes — provisioned in minutes
Call forwarding to any mobile, landline, SIP endpoint, or softphone worldwide
HD voice with G.711, G.729, Opus & AMR-WB — auto-negotiated per call
Sub-150ms latency on major voice corridors via distributed PoPs
99.99% uptime SLA backed by geo-redundant infrastructure & sub-2s failover
WebRTC support for browser-based calling without softphone installs
REST APIs for provisioning, routing & call detail records (CDRs)
Built-in fraud protection with AI anomaly detection & STIR/SHAKEN
24/7 network monitoring and dedicated support
How to get your Costa Rica virtual number
Most businesses are live within hours, not days.
Choose your line — pick an eight-digit local DID.
Clear verification — a quick KYC and compliance pass.
Set your routing — forward to SIP, mobile, app or call center.
Go live — start taking Costa Rica calls within minutes.
Other country dialing guides
More country codes worth bookmarking.
Get a Costa Rica virtual number with MCM
Claim a local eight-digit number, route every call wherever your team is, and reach Costa Rican customers with a trusted +506 presence.
Costa Rica +506 — FAQ
Does Costa Rica really have no area codes?expand_more
Correct — none. Every number is eight digits dialed the same way nationwide, so you never look up or insert a city code.
How do I tell a landline from a mobile, then?expand_more
By the first digit. Landlines open with 2; mobiles open with 6, 7 or 8. That opening digit replaces what an area code would do elsewhere.
Is there a leading 0 I need to drop?expand_more
No. Costa Rica has no trunk prefix, so you just dial +506 followed by the eight digits.
How long is a Costa Rican phone number?expand_more
Exactly eight digits — a length set when the country renumbered in 2008.
How do I call Costa Rica from the US?expand_more
Dial 011 + 506 + the eight-digit number, for example 011 506 2222 3333.
How do I call Costa Rica from the UK?expand_more
Dial 00 + 506 + the eight-digit number.
Which operators sit on which ranges?expand_more
Kölbi tends to the 8 range, Claro the 7, Liberty the 6 — but numbers port between them, so treat ranges as a guide.
Can my business get a Costa Rican number without an office there?expand_more
Yes — MCM provisions local eight-digit Costa Rica DIDs you can route to any team anywhere.