Various TV Systems Available in Costa Rica

Television has come a long way in the 14 years I have been living in Costa Rica. When I first moved here, there were only 2 cable companies and they offered a very limited amount of channels in English. Today, there are not only cable companies, but also satellite companies like SKY TV which was formally Directv and Dish Network direct from the US.

The two most popular cable companies are Amnet (www.amnet.co.cr) and Cable Tica (www.cabletica.com). You can contact Amnet by phone at (506) 2210-2929 and Cable Tica at (506) 2210-1450. They offer both TV and Internet and the basic package starts around $30 which includes CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS. I recommend buying a TV that has SAP since a lot of the channels are in Spanish but with a SAP capable TV, you can get it in English also.

You can also get a few HD channels like CNN and FOX Sports but this will cost a few bucks extra per month.

Sky TV which took over from DirectV Latin America, is also available in Costa Rica. They basically offer the same channels as cable but also have the NFL Sunday Ticket and MLB Package. The basic package starts off at $32 and you can find more information at http://www.sky.com.mx/program/int/centroamerica/ or calling (506) 2205-5151.

There is also Dish Network out of the US which I have along with basic cable. If you already have a Dish Network account in the US, you can bring down the receiver to Costa Rica and it will work. However, you will need a larger dish than the one used in the US to get the signal in Costa Rica. The cost of the dish is around $1800 and it’s about 2.4 meters in size. If you need the person who installed my Dish Network system, please email me at bantonb@yahoo.com

With Dish Network, you get over 250 channels including your locals (ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS), the MLB, NHL and NBA package, cricket and other pay per view events, all digital and most in HD. The only draw back is when it rains the signal goes out on some of the channels. Since I am not at home during the day and it hardly rains at night in Costa Rica, I am not really affected by this.

I have had Dish Network for over 8 years now, and it’s way better than Amnet or any of the other local cable companies in Costa Rica because you get all the US channels direct instead of the Latino version.

So basically, you can get the same television entertainment in Costa Rica as you do in the US.