www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I am staying at SL and was wondering do they exchange money there to colonies ??? if not where should I go ????

Yes they do....


Cujo

_________________
"Pain is the fuel that fans the flames of my pyre. A battle plan is only as good as the general carrying it out on the field. This is my war son, and I have the biggest bombs and the smallest conscience"...

Best place to exchange $$ is at a bank - when you land at SJO, go through Immigration and Customs, walk across the street back into the airport where the ticket counters (departures) is located and at the end, near the Spirit counter you will see the bank - exchange there - never exchange at the "Currency" booths - only the bank.

When you are done, buy your Exit Stamp; its located right by the bank, and will save you time when you leave CR.

Yes, if you run out of money while in town, and you want to exchange $ rather than withdraw colones from an ATM, you can exchange at SL. They will pay about 5% less than the bank rate. If the bank pays 500, it should be about 475 at SL. Consider it a convenience charge. You will waste a half-hour (minimum) waiting in line at the bank downtown. And you'll have to pay for a taxi to get back to your hotel (you don't want to have some spotter mark you and have a guy follow you and rob you). The money you "lose" on the exchange is minial ($5 for every $100).

The airport bank (in the departures area-red squared booth) upstairs pays bank rates. Exchange there if you want true rates.

Thanks guys that info is very helpful ..... when I get back in the states on May 26th will post my trip with pics... thanks again ...

The casino cashier in the Hotel Del Rey always seem to offer a good rate

I went to the Bank of Costa Rica across from Papis on Avenida Central. I took a number, got called to the counter right away, no waiting. I got exchange rate of 495. Much better than exchanging at any hotel, the SL rate was 480 so I saved quite a bit of money considering I was exchanging a lot of money. So if you can make the walk, you can save about 3%, well worth the walk.

_________________
Man I'm living life like a great white shark swimming with minnows! It's all about panocha, great scotch, fine cigars, loud-ass rock music and speed, speed, speed - plus spending as much time as possible in paradise on earth, Costa Rica!

K-Pax,
If you're exchanging a couple thousand or more, you can justify talking the trip a the bank. You can save up to $100. But I wouldn't walk carrying that much on me, especially on the way back. There are spotters (i.e. tellers) at the banks that alert their partners when somebody has a lot of cash on them.

But most tourists exchange $100-200 at a time, so saving 25 colones per dollar ($5-10 total) isn't a big deal.

ATM's used be good or better...now you get bent over...

_________________
GG
"Last time I said no......I misunderstood the question!"