Costa Rica is 3 hours behind Brasília right now. When it is 12:00 in Brasília, it is 09:00 in Costa Rica. And it stays the same all year.
How many hours apart today
To find the time in Costa Rica, subtract 3 hours from the time in Brasília. Costa Rica follows America/Costa_Rica (UTC-6), while Brasília is on UTC-3, so it is earlier there: when it is 12:00 in Brasília, it is 09:00 in Costa Rica.
Until 03:00 in Brasília it is still the previous calendar day in Costa Rica.
Daylight saving time: does the gap change?
No. Under current rules neither Costa Rica nor Brazil changes its clocks, so the difference of 3 hours holds all year round: a meeting fixed at the same Brasília time lands at the same local time in every season, with no need to recheck in March or October. Brazil abolished daylight saving time in 2019, and it only matters for the gap when the other country changes its clocks. See the daylight saving time guide for the countries that do.
Conversion table: Brasília → Costa Rica
| In Brasília | Costa Rica |
|---|---|
| 00:00 | 21:00 (previous day) |
| 02:00 | 23:00 (previous day) |
| 04:00 | 01:00 |
| 06:00 | 03:00 |
| 08:00 | 05:00 |
| 10:00 | 07:00 |
| 12:00 | 09:00 |
| 14:00 | 11:00 |
| 16:00 | 13:00 |
| 18:00 | 15:00 |
| 20:00 | 17:00 |
| 22:00 | 19:00 |
Calculated with today's difference (3 hours behind).
For other dates and times, use the time zone converter.
Best times to call or hold a meeting
Assuming 9:00-18:00 office hours on both sides, the shared window runs from 12:00 to 18:00 Brasília time (09:00 to 15:00 in Costa Rica), about 6 hours of overlap.
From Brazil, when it is 09:00 in Brasília, it is 06:00 in Costa Rica (night or very early, best avoided); at 12:00 it is 09:00 (within office hours); and at 18:00 it is 15:00 (within office hours).
In the other direction, a call made in Costa Rica at 9:00 reaches Brasília at 12:00 (within office hours); at 12:00 it is 15:00 there (within office hours); and at 18:00, 21:00 (late in the day, still reasonable).
The same arithmetic helps with flights, whose departure and arrival times on tickets are always in the local time of each airport, and with live broadcasts announced in another time zone. Always convert the announced time before you plan. The meeting planner compares both clocks hour by hour.