Mail Service Costa Rica's postal system or Correos de Costa Rica offers postal services comparable to that in many countries abroad.

Curbside boxes for mail pick up are almost nonexistent in Costa Rica. You will have to mail your letters from the post office or from a hotel if you are a guest. Just as in the United States, mail may be received and sent from the post office (correo or casa de correos.) The main post office is in the heart of downtown San José at Calle 2, Ave. 1-3 (223-9766). Other small cities and towns in rural areas have their own centrally located post offices. Airmail between the United States or Europe and Costa Rica usually takes about five to ten days. At present, an airmail letter to the U.S. or Canada costs 30 cents or 100 colones. A postcard to North America is around 20 cents or 70 colones. An airmail stamp to Europe is about 35 cents or 120 colones. Cortel also provides other services, including M-bags for sending large quantities of books or other printed matter abroad, telegrams, fax service, courier services and delivery of documents.

As stated above, mail boxes are few and far between as are house numbers, so we recommend using your nearest post office for all postal related matters. The country's charming but exasperating "100-meters-east-of-the-church" present style addresses makes getting a post office box for local mail delivery a necessity. Obtaining a post office box (apartado) from your local post office in Costa Rica ensures prompt and efficient mail service. Getting a post office box is a straightforward process, but vacant boxes can sometimes be hard to come by. These P.O. boxes are in great demand, but you can usually get one in January, when most people give up leases on their boxes when annual renewal fees are due. If a box's annual renewal fee isn't paid by mid-February, it is sold to those on the waiting list at that time. Popular branches like San José's Central Post office or Escazú have long waiting lists, so it is much easier to find a box in suburban or rural areas.

Many people deal with the shortage of boxes by sharing with friends, neighbors, extended family or a business associate. In theory, said practice isn't permitted, but many people do it and nobody seems to check closely. To apply for a post office box, go to the post office nearest your office or home to fill out an application (solicitud de apartado). The annual rental fee ranges between $10, $30 or $40 dollars in the San Jose metropolitan area and provincial capitals depending on the size of the post office box. There are three size boxes-small, medium and large. In rural post offices, the costs are about half.

Once you fill out the paperwork and pay your annual fee, you are given an address that reads something like this: José López, Apdo. 7289-1000, San José, Costa Rica, Central America. The number before the hyphen is the apartado (P.O. Box) and the number after the hyphen is the post office's code.

You may also receive mail in the general delivery section (lista de correos) of your local post office. This is especially useful in isolated regions of the country. Register at the nearest post office and they will put your name on the local lista de correos. When you pick up your mail, you pay a few cents per letter for this service. All letters must have your name, the phrase lista de correos and the name of the nearest post office. The worst time to receive any correspondence through the regular Costa Rican mail is between November 20 and January 1st. Letters can be delayed up to a month by the enormous volume of Christmas mail and the vacations of postal workers during the month of December.

You should avoid having anything larger than a letter or a magazine sent to you in Costa Rica. Any item bigger than that will be sent to the customs warehouse (aduana) and you will make several trips to get it out. On the first trip to customs your package or parcel is unwrapped so you can fill out a declaration of its contents. On the second trip you usually will have to pay an exorbitant duty, equivalent to the value of the item plus the mailing cost. If you refuse to pay, your package will be confiscated-not sent back-just confiscated. So as you can see, because of the costs involved and wasted time, it is better to have friends bring you large items, pick them up when you're visiting the States, or use one of the private mail companies mentioned in this section.

In an effort to win back some of its customers, the government recently privatized the Costa Rican Postal Service (CORTEL). The service has officially shed its public status, and was reborn as Correos de Costa Rica S.A.. The overhaul aims to transform the notoriously slow service into an efficient operation. The country's archaic street address system will be changed to a systematic numbering of streets, avenues and buildings. For information about the Correos de Costa Rica's services contact them at: Tel: 800-900-2000, 253-3375 extension 343 and 345 or go to www.correos.go.cr.