Costa Rica time · San José

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Costa Rica's official time is CST, UTC-6, set by an executive decree. Every second of it shows on the live clock at the top.

Updated 16 October 2026 · Time zone data 2026e · Sources

Time zone in Costa Rica

San José, Alajuela and Limón keep one shared time. The table below sets Costa Rica's time beside other cities around the world.

Time zone: Central Time
Standard time: CST, UTC-6
Daylight saving time: Not observed
Main cities: San José, Limón, San Francisco, Alajuela

How many hours ahead or behind San José

On 23 October 2026, Panama is 1 hour ahead of San José.

City	Difference from San José
Panama	1 hour ahead
Mexico City	Same time
Bogota	1 hour ahead
Chicago	1 hour ahead
New York	2 hours ahead
Los Angeles	1 hour behind
Madrid	8 hours ahead
London	7 hours ahead
Kolkata	11 hours 30 minutes ahead
Your time zone	Detected after this page loads

Convert a time between any two places Daylight saving dates around the world

How Costa Rica fixed its official time

Tied to Coordinated Universal Time: 45790-MEICthe decree that sets out Costa Rica's official time; The decree behind the official time is Decreto Ejecutivo 45790-MEIC. Its first article ties that time to Coordinated Universal Time, as realised within the national territory. That realisation is traceable to the international definition of UTC. The decree says it applies from its publication in La Gaceta, the official gazette.; Source Procuraduría General de la República, SINALEVI, Decreto Ejecutivo 45790-MEIC, Determinación de la hora oficial en Costa Rica
Who keeps the official time: ICE-LAMETROthe laboratory named to keep the official time; The decree names ICE-LAMETRO, the time and frequency laboratory of the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE). It is to determine and maintain the official time. The time signal is to be published for information, open to the public, on a website the ICE provides. The ICE may also spread it by other means it chooses. La Gaceta had earlier published the declaration of UTC(ICE) as the national measurement standard for time. That standard is kept and disseminated at the same laboratory.; Source Procuraduría General de la República, SINALEVI, Decreto Ejecutivo 45790-MEIC, Determinación de la hora oficial en Costa Rica
San José Mean Time: 24 minroughly how far San José Mean Time ran ahead of today's offset; The time zone database lists San José Mean Time in Costa Rica's history. Its entries run from local mean time to San José Mean Time, then to CST, UTC-6. That entry ends in mid-January, not long after the First World War. The file's notes give Milne's figure for it, to a tenth of a second. San José Mean Time ran about 24 minutes ahead of today's CST, UTC-6.; Source IANA tz database, file northamerica (Costa Rica section)
Daylight saving in two pairs of years: 1 hhow far the clocks went forward in those years; The time zone database's rules for Costa Rica list daylight saving in two pairs of years. In the earlier pair, clocks went forward from the last Sunday in February. In the later pair, they went forward from a Saturday in mid-January. In the earlier pair it ended in early June. In the later pair, it ended in July one year and mid-March the next.; Source IANA tz database, file northamerica (Costa Rica section)

Questions about time in Costa Rica

What time zone is Costa Rica in?

One time covers the whole of Costa Rica, CST, UTC-6. The decree on official time applies it across the national territory. The time zone database lists the zone as America/Costa_Rica. The letters CST on this page come from that database.

Does Costa Rica change its clocks?

No. The decree keeps the whole country on CST, UTC-6 all year round. So Costa Rica's clocks do not go forward in spring or back in autumn. Where summer time is kept, as in Madrid or New York, the difference with San José changes twice a year.

What is the time difference between Costa Rica and the US?

In winter, Chicago is on the same time as Costa Rica. New York is 1 hour ahead of San José in winter. Los Angeles is 2 hours behind Costa Rica in winter. From March to November their clocks gain an hour on San José. So Chicago moves ahead, and Los Angeles comes closer.

What is the time difference between Costa Rica and Panama?

Panama is 1 hour ahead of Costa Rica in every season. Neither country moves its clocks, so that difference stays fixed through the year. Managua and Guatemala City, by contrast, show the same time as San José.

What is the time difference between Costa Rica and India?

India is 11 hours 30 minutes ahead of Costa Rica, and that holds all year. Costa Rica and India both go without summer time. By a San José breakfast, it is already evening in Delhi and Mumbai.

Time zone names for developers

IANA zone	Standard time	Daylight saving time
America/Costa_Rica	CST, UTC-6	No

Sources

We checked each fact on this page against these sources on 16 October 2026. Times, offsets and clock changes come from the time zone database.