Stay safe in the water & on the ground
Santa Teresa safety
Verified ·Ocean rescue · daytime tower hours
Santa Teresa Lifeguards (Guardavidas de Santa Teresa)
Daytime tower hours only (~8am–6pm). Outside hours, call 911.
5 towers + 3 stands across Playa Carmen, Santa Teresa, Hermosa, and Banana Beach.
Outside tower hours, or no answer — call 911. 911 is nationwide, toll-free, 24/7, and works even on a phone with no SIM.
Non-profit NGO that, per its own posts, operates WITHOUT government support, funded entirely by community donations and its nonprofit 'Lifeguards Gym', plus paid courses (Surf Rescue Courses ~$40-70 individual; private group courses $300-650; CPR/First Aid ~$30/person; Junior 'Nippers' $20/child donation) and sponsor/business donations (quads/boards). All proceeds reinvested. Donate via santateresalifeguards.org/donate. Support the lifeguards →
The #1 ocean hazard here
Rip currents — how to spot one, and what to do
How to spot a rip
- A channel of churning, choppy water cutting through the breaking waves.
- A gap in the line of incoming waves — calmer-looking water that's actually moving out.
- A streak of seafoam, seaweed, or sand being carried steadily away from shore.
- A noticeable difference in water color beyond the surf line.
If you're caught in one
- Don't fight it. A rip won't pull you under — it pulls you out. Fighting straight back to shore exhausts even strong swimmers.
- Stay calm and float. Keep your head above water, conserve energy, and don't panic. Most rips lose strength a short way out.
- Swim parallel to the beach. Rips are narrow. Swim sideways, along the shore, until you're out of the current — then angle back in with the waves.
- Can't escape? Signal. Float, wave one arm, and call for help. On Santa Teresa's lifeguarded beaches, towers watch the water during daytime hours.
Know the flags
The beach warning-flag system
Green
Calm conditions, low hazard — still swim with care.
Yellow
Medium hazard — moderate surf and/or currents. Caution.
Red
High hazard — strong surf or currents. Stay out unless experienced.
Double red
Water closed to the public.
Purple
Dangerous marine life (jellyfish, stingrays).
Santa Teresa's beaches are patrolled by volunteers and aren't always flagged. When in doubt, ask a lifeguard, watch where locals surf and swim, and never paddle out alone.
Save these before you need them
Verified emergency contacts
Life-threatening
Emergency (National) 911
Authoritative. Single nationwide number for police/fire/ambulance, toll-free, 24/7. Official 911 FAQ confirms calls are free even with no airtime, and any phone (even with no SIM) can call 911 without restriction. Keep as lead contact.
Santa Teresa Lifeguards - Aquatic/Water Rescue (ADD - critical gap)
INDEPENDENTLY CONFIRMED on the live EN page, live ES page, and the equipment blog post. This is the #1 missing entry. It is an 8-digit landline (2640-0911) and does NOT collide with 3-digit 911 when dialed in full. Tower hours are daytime only (see lifeguard.howItWorks) - outside hours call 911, which dispatches Cruz Roja.
Cruz Roja direct ambulance (national)
RECOMMEND ADDING. 128 reaches Cruz Roja ambulance dispatch directly nationwide, as an alternative to 911. Multiple 2026 sources confirm.
GSM mobile emergency fallback
RECOMMEND ADDING as a fallback. 112 is recognized from mobile phones in Costa Rica; useful if 911 fails to connect on a foreign/roaming SIM.
Fire (Bomberos)
118 is the verified national Bomberos number. 911 also dispatches fire. (1118 is widely cited too, but 118 is the form confirmed by authoritative 2026 sources - prefer 118.)
Medical
Red Cross Cobano (direct line)
Could NOT confirm 2642-0180 as a current direct line. Treat as unverified/possibly stale. Safest: relabel to 'Ambulance / Cruz Roja: 911 or 128' (both verified) and drop or flag the 8-digit number.
Unverified — confirm before relyingHospital La Anexion (Nicoya)
Number consistent with prior verification. Proper name is 'Hospital La Anexion' in Nicoya - use the real name. ~2hr drive accurate. (I relied on the prior citation here; treat as verified-by-prior, not re-pulled this pass.)
Clinica Cobano (CCSS Area de Salud / EBAIS)
HARDCODED 2642-0093 IS WRONG (that is the Cabo Blanco reserve number, reused by mistake). Correct CCSS Cobano clinic is 2642-0208. The CCSS Area de Salud Cobano facility is confirmed to exist; the exact 8-digit number rests on the prior CCSS-list citation - flag for a quick local confirm.
Corrected ’26Santa Teresa Urgent Care / Lifeguards Costa Rica (LGCR) - private medical
RECOMMEND ADDING. Private paid 24/7 urgent-care / ambulance service (LGCR / 'Santa Teresa Doctor') covering Santa Teresa/Mal Pais/Cobano/Nosara/Monteverde - distinct from the volunteer Santa Teresa Lifeguards. Valuable since the nearest public hospital is ~2hrs away.
Unimed Urgent Care - Santa Teresa (private clinic)
OPTIONAL ADD. Private urgent-care clinic in Santa Teresa, per the official Blue Zone Chamber of Tourism directory.
Police & Legal
Local Police (Fuerza Publica)
Hardcoded 2640-0770 UNVERIFIED. Recommend presenting 911 as primary and 117 as the national Fuerza Publica direct line (both verified). A Santa Teresa Tourist Police delegation now exists; its direct line should be confirmed locally. Tourist Police national assistance: 2222-1365 (Villa Firenze guide May 2026).
Unverified — confirm before relyingOIJ (Criminal Investigation), Cobano
HARDCODED 2640-0449 IS WRONG. OIJ regional office is in Cobano (2642 prefix); correct number is 2642-0480. Note: national OIJ denuncia/emergency lines also exist (800-8000-OIJ / 645; OIJ emergencias 2295-4911 per expat.com & costaricatelefonos.com).
Corrected ’26
Embassies
US Embassy (San Jose)
Correct. ADD after-hours emergency line +506 2220-3127 (independently confirmed).
Canadian Embassy (San Jose)
Correct and current (two independent 2026 sources).
Utilities
Coopeguanacaste (Electricity)
ELECTRICITY IN SANTA TERESA IS COOPEGUANACASTE, NOT ICE. Replace 'ICE (Electricity) 2640-0166' with 'Coopeguanacaste (Electricity) 2680-2000'. Keep ICE only for mobile/internet (the Chamber lists 'Internet and Cable Providers: ICE, Tel: +506 1115').
Corrected ’26ASADA Santa Teresa (Water)
HARDCODED 2640-0820 conflicts with the official Blue Zone Chamber listing of 2640-0150. Change to 2640-0150 (multiple ASADAs serve the area: ST, San Isidro, Delicias - confirm which serves the specific property).
Corrected ’26
Government
Government services / immigration (Tramite YA)
1311 is NOT a DGME-specific line - it is RACSA's general 'Tramite YA / Servicios al Ciudadano' citizen-services hotline that routes to many institutions (incl. immigration). Relabel from 'DGME Immigration' to 'Govt services / immigration (Tramite YA): 1311'.
Corrected ’26SINAC / Cabo Blanco reserve
2642-0093 historically = Cabo Blanco reserve, and is the SAME number wrongly reused for 'Clinica Cobano' - so the clinic entry is the error. Keep Cabo Blanco at 2642-0093 only if locally confirmed; SINAC/MINAE national line 1192 is the safer published contact. Curu refuge historically 2641-0100.
Unverified — confirm before relyingMunicipalidad de Cobano
FLAG: hardcoded 2642-0016 differs from the Chamber's municipality number 2642-0090. Could not reconcile which is the current main switchboard - verify locally; both may be valid lines for the Concejo Municipal de Distrito Cobano.
Unverified — confirm before relying
Transport
Ferry Tambor (Naviera Tambor)
SCHEDULE CONFIRMED from the official page: effective 20 April 2026, 8 daily departures each way (Puntarenas & Paquera) at 4:00am, 6:30am, 9:00am, 12:00md, 3:00pm, 6:00pm, 8:00pm, 10:00pm. The page's 'first ~5am, last ~8pm, every 2 hours' is OUTDATED - replace with 'first 4am, last 10pm'. Phone 2661-2084 is plausible/historical but was not visible on the current page; treat the number as carry-over, the schedule as verified.
Field-verified 2026-06-23. Spot an outdated number? Use “Report” on any row.
Visiting from abroad
Calling for help on a foreign phone
- 911 works on a foreign or roaming phone — toll-free, nationwide, 24/7.
- It works even with no SIM card and no airtime, so you don't need a Costa Rican number.
- Operators are primarily Spanish-speaking; bilingual English agents are commonly available.
- From a phone with no line, your location may not auto-populate — be ready to describe where you are (there are no street addresses in rural Santa Teresa, so share a GPS pin or landmark).
- 112 also reaches emergency services from a GSM mobile. For 8-digit local numbers, dial the +506 country code.
Tip: install the official 9-1-1 Costa Rica app before you arrive — it shares your GPS location with dispatchers automatically. 911 works on a foreign/roaming phone. Costa Rica's 911 is toll-free, nationwide, 24/7. The official 911 system FAQ (911.go.cr/preguntas-frecuentes) confirms calls are free and that ANY phone can call 911 without restriction - explicitly including a phone with no line, no SIM card, and no airtime - so you do NOT need a Costa Rican number. Note: from a phone with no line, your location may not auto-populate, so be ready to describe your location precisely. Operators are primarily Spanish-speaking but bilingual Spanish/English agents are commonly available for tourists/expats (confirmed by expat.com, Mar 2026); ask for English immediately if needed. If 911 will not connect on a foreign SIM, dial 112 (recognized from mobile phones in Costa Rica per Wikipedia's emergency-numbers list, updated May 2026) as a fallback. Verified direct alternatives: 128 = Cruz Roja ambulance; 118 = Bomberos (fire); 117 = Fuerza Publica (police) direct. Dialing local 8-digit numbers from a foreign phone: prefix country code +506 (e.g. the lifeguards at +506 2640-0911); from abroad use your exit code then 506 (011-506 from the US, 00-506 from Europe). On the call: rural Santa Teresa has no street addresses, so give GPS coordinates / a dropped pin plus landmarks (nearest hotel, beach tower, soda). Messaging/app: there is an official government emergency app (referred to as 'APP-911' / the 9-1-1 app, available on iOS/Android) that integrates Google Maps and includes a panic button for registered domestic-violence victims to share location - download and register it BEFORE arriving; do not assume a public WhatsApp 911 line exists. Connectivity (2026): Kolbi (state carrier/ICE) and Liberty give the most reliable Santa Teresa/Nicoya coverage; buy a Kolbi prepaid SIM or an eSIM before you fly so you have data on landing. Even with no SIM and no plan, emergency calls to 911 still connect. What to save before arriving: 911, 112 (fallback), 128 (Cruz Roja), 118 (Bomberos), Santa Teresa Lifeguards +506 2640-0911, your embassy (US +506 2519-2000 / after-hours +506 2220-3127; Canada +506 2242-4400), Hospital La Anexion Nicoya +506 2685-8400, private 24/7 medical LGCR +506 8512-9111, and the official 9-1-1 app installed + registered.