Unqui, Costa Rica

Unqui, Costa Rica: Submarine Cable Landing Point

Unqui is a submarine cable landing point located on the coast of Costa Rica, a Central American nation bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east. One submarine cable lands at Unqui, connecting Costa Rica to a broader network of nations along the Pacific corridor of the Americas. That cable, the Pan-American Crossing, links Unqui to Mexico, Panama, and the United States, establishing a north-south intercontinental route along the Pacific coast of the Western Hemisphere.

As a Pacific-facing landing point, Unqui positions Costa Rica within a chain of connectivity that runs from the United States in the north through Central America and into Panama, forming a key segment of a regional and intercontinental corridor. The Pan-American Crossing system, measuring 10,000 kilometres in total length, was among the early transoceanic cable deployments to serve this part of the Americas.

Cables Landing at Unqui, Costa Rica

Pan-American Crossing (PAC) is a submarine cable system spanning 10,000 kilometres, which reached ready-for-service (RFS) status in 2000. In addition to Unqui in Costa Rica, the cable lands in Mexico, Panama, and the United States. By connecting these four countries along the Pacific rim of the Americas, the Pan-American Crossing provides a continuous transmission path along the western coastline of Central and North America. The cable entered service at a time when demand for international bandwidth across the region was expanding rapidly.

Regional Context

Within Costa Rica, Unqui is one of at least two submarine cable landing points, the other being Puerto Limón, which hosts two submarine cables. While Puerto Limón supports a slightly larger number of cable landings, Unqui contributes a distinct Pacific-facing connection through the Pan-American Crossing. Together, these two landing points provide Costa Rica with cable access on more than one coastline.

Network Role

Unqui functions as a single-cable terminus, serving as the Costa Rican anchor for the Pan-American Crossing on the Pacific side of the country. Through this cable, Unqui enables direct submarine connectivity between Costa Rica and three other nations — Mexico, Panama, and the United States — along a north-south Pacific corridor stretching across 10,000 kilometres. The landing point does not currently serve as a multi-cable hub in the way that some larger regional nodes do, but its participation in the Pan-American Crossing places it within a well-defined intercontinental route.

In the regional submarine cable graph, Unqui represents Costa Rica's Pacific gateway, complementing the Caribbean-facing connectivity available at Puerto Limón and ensuring that the country maintains a presence on both major oceanic flanks of the Central American isthmus.