www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Hello Paco, the "Good God" comment was related to the poster telling how much he was bringing, not to the entirety of his post. Sorry for the confusion. Apologies to the poster if I offended. Bring money in whatever form you want and no need to explain if you don't have ATM or credit cards. I was just throwing that out there.

My first trip to CR was in 2007 in hopes of finding a population where I would be forced to speak Spanish. I was conversationally fluent 25 years ago, but I have lost it. To my surprise, nearly everyone spoke to me in English. If they can speak English and you're a gringo, that's what they lead with.

Back in 2007, I did go all over the country, but I found every hotel I went quoted me the price in dollars. Like the poster, I had a load of colones, so I asked how much it costs in colones. EVERY hotel clerk pulled out a calculator to figure it out. I couldn't see what they were entering for the exchange rate and since I didn't have a calculator with me, I am assuming they put in a rate favorable to them, not me. Oddly, in subsequent visits I paid with credit card and THEN they put the amount in colones on my credit card. I have never been screwed on exchange rate by the merchant or credit card company when they put the amount in colones. I only got screwed when I offered colones in cash for my room.

I don't want to buy anything in CR and bring back. But, I noticed that every souvenir shop had the price in dollars. Again, if you ask the price in colones, they whipped out a calculator and gave you a price, but without a calculator (or some pre-calculated amounts in your head) you were screwed. This is probably how they made up for the loss that they got when you negotiated the price down in dollars.

The only time I spent colones was when I went into a restaurant, bought gas, went to a grocery store and "yes" a taxi, but they take dollars too.

When I spoke with my first chica, she quoted me dollars and I offered her a round figure in colones. Without missing a beat, she said that would mean she gets $2 less. I said, "$2 isn't a big deal." She snapped, "$2 is a big deal to me, maybe not to you."

All this to say, that colones just didn't seem to do that much for me when I traveled to Arenal, Jaco, Montezuma, etc. i.e. all over the country.

I do stick to my original advice - Don't tell anybody how much money you have or are bringing! Use your head.

I read recently that Hotel little havana exchanges dollars for colones at bank rates, so there you go. Roll into town, grab an imperial at the bar and pay for it with a twenty. Tip Daisy of course....put the change (colones) in your pocket, and check out the talent. Order another imperial, and pay with it with another twenty. Repeat the steps mentioned above, grab a girl, and take her up to your room. Now you have enough colones for cab fare, snacks at sodas, etc, and a big smile on your face. Welcome to costa Rica.....pura vida.

_________________
Love, peace, sex, and dope. If you have lost all that, you lost all hope!

Hello!.....I for one, would be interested in hearing about your travels to South Korea, thanks.

_________________
"If you dont think women are explosive,....drop one."

Not much to tell...
Hours and hours on a plane, three days on the ground and more hours on the plane.
It was a "work" trip that stayed that way...nothing much to report. Sorry.

I do not bother with exchanging at banks, I look at my bills when I need to pay for something and do a quick calculation with my phone and then I know what is better cash or colones. If you pay cash you will usually get change in colones so you start building an bankroll of colones as you go. Make sure you have a few 1's and 5's for tips when you land though. couple of bucks at the airport a couple of bucks for the driver and a couple of bucks at the hotel. Then buy a drink or 2 with a 100 and you will be in business.