Contact Us

What to Expect

We understand that you are likely used to being in constant contact with your student and it may be harder than you expect to not be able to speak directly with him/her for several weeks. We like to say that Outward Bound can be just as much of a growth experience for loved ones at home as it is for the students here with us in Central America!

Please remember: No News is Good News! We will contact you in the event of an emergency, injury or problem on-course. Safety is our number one priority and our emergency protocols include keeping family informed.

Arrival in Costa Rica

Please note that it is Costa Rica Outward Bound policy to contact each student’s primary guardian to alert his/her of each student’s safe arrival in Costa Rica. It can take several hours from the time the plane lands before we are able to make the phone call due to customs and immigration, so please do not worry! We will call you!

Phone & Email Privileges

Please note that students who are on courses shorter than 30 days will not be allowed to use phones or email except in the event of an emergency. Other than a phone call alerting you to his/her safe arrival, you should not expect to hear directly from your student for the duration of his/her adventure.

Students on courses between 30-85 days will have at least one transition day while on-course. Transition days almost always include time to visit an internet cafe where students will likely have the opportunity to check their email, place international phone calls, and reconnect with friends and family back home.

Note: Costa Rica Outward Bound extends phone and email privileges to students who have academic or medical situations to manage. We ask that families try to give our office as much advance notice of pending deadlines as possible to ensure sufficient time for planning.

Course Updates

Visit our Facebook fan page! We provide weekly – if not more frequent – updates. Whenever possible, we include photos of the group along with brief anecdotes about their experience. We ask that you please understand most groups spend the vast majority of their experience away from our main rainforest base facility. Thus, we are not able to upload any photos of their experience until they return from their adventures.

Reaching Us in an Emergency

In the event of an emergency during which you must contact a staff member or student on course, please follow the below instructions:

• 1) Call our primary international or local number:
  Primary International Phone Number: 1-800-676-2018 (toll free)
  Primary Costa Rica Phone Number: +506-2-278-6062

  Note: Messages left after 5 p.m. on a weekday are checked the following weekday morning.

• 2) If it is urgent and during a weekend or between 5 p.m.-9 a.m. on a weekday, please call the following Costa Rican numbers:
  Communication Director Home: +506-2-278-6085
  Communication Director Mobile: +506-8-352-1329
  Program Director Home: +506-2-278-6102
  Program Director Mobile: +506-8-323-5037
  Executive Director Mobile: +506-8-883-9838

  From the U.S. or Canada, simply dial 011 before our local number. For example, dial 011-506-2-278-6062 to reach our Costa Rica office.

• 3) Send an email to enrollment@crrobs.org AND to commdirector@crrobs.org.
• 4) Send a fax to one of the following numbers:

  Primary International Fax Number: 1-866-374-2483
  Primary Costa Rica Fax Number: +506-2-278-6059

Note: Always leave return contact numbers and indicate the action you would like Costa Rica Outward Bound to take regarding the emergency.

Getting Messages to Students On-Course

We recommend email as the best delivery method. Send an email to: students@crrobs.org (please specify the student’s name and course in the subject line)

For courses of 15 or fewer days, please note that students will only be at our rainforest base facility (where emails are received) on the first and last day of their course. So they will not receive any messages you send until the day before they fly home.

Sending Items Via Snail Mail

To mail a letter or package to a student:

Letters

Because it can take up to 30 days for letters to reach our base from the U.S. or Canada, we do not recommend sending them to students on courses less than a month in duration. Please do not send any letters by courier or certified mail.

Best address for letters:
Attn: Name of student
Costa Rica Outward Bound
PO Box 025331
SJO-829
Miami FL 33102
USA

Packages

Please contact the Costa Rica Outward Bound Communications Office to coordinate the delivery of a package. In general, we discourage sending care packages or non-urgent items due to the inefficient and unreliable nature of the Costa Rican postal service.

Best address for packages:
Attn: Name of student
Costa Rica Outward Bound
PO Box 1817-2050
San Pedro, San Jose
Costa Rica 02050