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My first trip to CR Nov 11 - 20th.. My question is about money.. should you carry Colon or USD?? If Colon what denominations???
I'll be at the Presidente, then heading to Jaco, then back to SL.. I hope to meet some of you and pick up a wingman........ Got my 24 pack, my camera, and my vitamins... anything else??? Thank you.

I tend to pay for most things (eg bars, resturants, MPs, stores, etc) in colones. I've seen guys get screwed over paying those places in dollars. Most non-mp working girls (eg del ray, key largo, etc) I have met always negotiate with me in dollars, even though I usually pay in colones. I'm checking out some tico bars, so I will just use colones there.

You must have colones . On one of my first trips I went to 4 or 5 stores in San Jose trying to buy a bottle of water with a us 10 dollar bill. They all looked at me like I was trying to hand them Monopoly money. Most resturants will accept US dollars but it complicates the payment process. All the locals use colones. Another reason not to use dollars is that it shows you are fresh off the boat (ok, Plane) and makes you a target for overcharging , etc. The exchange rate is about 517 to a dollar right now so one hundred dollars is 51,793 colones. I get my colons from an atm machine in front of a bank. That way if the machine keeps my card , I can go inside the bank and ask for it back. Many machines only let you get 100,000 colones at at time. I like the BCR "Bank of Costa Rica" machines because they let you get out 300,000 (approx 600 dollars) colones at at time. Since there are atm fees with each transaction, I try to limit the number of transactions by using an machine that gives me the most cash per transaction.
It is very important to use the machines in the early part of the day. Using outside machines in the evening is dangerous just as it would be in some areas of big cities in the USA. I used to exchange a lot of money at the casino cashier at the Del Rey. You give them a hundred dollar bill and they give you about 51,000 colones or a little less depending on what exchange rate they are deciding to use that day. So for a hundred dollar bill , you will get 5 10,000 colone bills and some change . Each 10,000 colone bill is like 20 dollars. Whenever I go to a new country, I keep a little cheat sheet in my wallet . One dollar equals a 500 colone coin. A 1000 colones note is about 2 dollars. A 5000 colone note is 10 dollars. etc. If your ever in doubt , most places accept visa and even amex I have found. I have used my amex many , many times in two years without any problem. Although I think amex has a percent they charge for each transaction.

Listen to the Counte. Once, near the end of my trip, I paid for services at a local MP in USD. I was screwed on the exchange rate. Moreover, I got change in--take a guess--colones.

Use colones. Now, if you bargain with a girl in USD, then you have nothing to lose if you have the EXACT amount. Even here, I tip in colones.

RR,
Read this thread. It covers this topic and many others.

https://costaricaticas.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16357

Whenever I travel anywhere, I've lately just brought a day's worth of US dollars and when I get off the plane I'll get cash at the airport and conduct all of my business in the local currency. There are ATMs in the baggage claim area at SJO. So far, I've been lucky and the ATM networks have been working so I've never had to spend the USD I had in reserve. This works when I fly into large cities. I think I'd bring more if flying into smaller towns like Liberia. I'm a little more confident now than I was before, but if you don't travel abroad a lot or have a smaller bank where you've found you can't sometimes get money at home, by all means bring more cash.

Whatever you do, don't use the Currency Exchanges at the airport in the US. Most probably won't have Colones, but if they do, the rate will be terrible. At least with euro, it was almost 10% worse than the hotel I was staying at in Frankfurt (and hotels are the second worst place to exchange $)

The ATMs at HDR may not have a surcharge, but your bank at home will probably charge you fees. Also, when I was there one of them was out of dollars. One of my banks charges me $5 for using an ATM in any other country. I have another bank that has deals agreements with banks in other countries to waive fees. The exchange rate is as good as you can get, but the fee adds that up so in country, I try to limit the visits to the ATM. Another gotcha with the ATMs is might have a daily limit on your account and if you need more money you have to wait until the next day. I remember remember having to wait until 2am [midnight where my bank was] to get more money so I could get a girl.

Credit cards are similar, even though your rate at HDR is in US dollars, and your bill is presented in dollars, most credit card companies charge a 1-3% foreign transaction fee [your bank and HDR's bank settle the account in Colones so your bank will charge you the foreign transaction fee]. Credit cards don't go far in Costa Rica except. Even some places that take them will offer you a lower cost if you pay in cash. Some banks will have that embedded in the line item for the charge, others will list it separately. Either way, MC/Visa gets great exchange rates, but they don't pass that along to you. And whatever you do, unless it is a dire emergency don't get a cash advance on your credit card from a bank or ATM in another country. The fees are incredible.

Check with your bank before you leave to see what fees they charge for the accessing your own money while outside the country. Also, with some banks you need to let them know that you're traveling internationally or they'll put a fraud alert on your card and freeze it until you call them. If you only have one credit card no other source of money if a card gets locked out, before you leave write down the non-800# for your bank because 800#s do not work. Some have toll free numbers you call in each country that you can use to finally connect to your home bank and sort it out. I could think of no worse torture than being at the Blue Marlin, out of cash, and your ATM card not working due to a fraud lockout.

Hey thanks for the advise... I hope to meet some of you next week. Nov 12 - 20th...

One *slight* correction.

Drop off 3 zeros and times the number by 2.

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