Emergency Numbers in Costa Rica

Who to call in an emergency…

The main emergency number in Costa Rica is 911. This number covers the following emergency institutions:

  • Red Cross
  • Fire Fighters
  • National Emergency Commission
  • National Intoxication Center
  • Civil Guard
  • Police Patrols
  • Transit Police
  • Judicial Investigation Bureau (Organismo de Investigación Judicial – OIJ)
  • Read more about the 911 service (in Spanish)

There are alternative numbers to the 911 service; with the numbers below the following institutions can be reached directly:

  • Police (Fuerza Pública)
    Tel: 1117
  • Fire Fighters (Bomberos)  1
    Tel: 1118
  • Red Cross (Cruz Roja)
    Tel: 1128 / 2221 5818
  • Transit Police
    Tel: 2222 9330 / 800 8726 7486
  • Drug Control Police
    Tel: 800 376 4266

Understanding the Costa Rican Police Services

  • National Police (Fuerza Pública) (website in Spanish). Responsible for citizen security, crime prevention and response. They patrol the streets wearing blue uniforms
  • Municipal Police
  • Transit Police (Policía de Transito) manage all car traffic affairs and should be contacted for highway emergencies (website in Spanish)
  • Immigration Police (Policía de Migracion).These often conduct routine immigration checks at busy locations such as bars and beaches, and a passport with the appropriate stamps will need to be produced
  • Border Police (Policía de Fronteras)
  • Drug Enforcement Police (Policía de Control de Drogas)
  • Tourism Police (Policía Turistica)

The organization in charge of conducting criminal investigations in Costa Rica is the Judicial Investigation Bureau (Organismo de Investigación Judicial – OIJ), and any crime should be reported to them (website in Spanish).