We're doing an 11-day tour to Costa Rica with Wingbuddies. We've traveled a lot in Europe, and even though Rick says otherwise, we prefer to bring Euros with us (usually ~$400). The currency in Costa Rica is the Colon, and right now $200 is 96,000 Colon. Have you had experience paying cash in Costa Rica? Is $200 sufficient for an 11-day trip? have you used ATMs there? Thanks for your replies.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16689 posts
US Dollars are widely accepted, actually many locals prefer it, including for tips. I didn't exchange colones.
Obviously it is possible that if an item is quoted in Colones at a shop, they might shave off a few cents in the conversion, but the difference will be minimal, and they'll be happy to take US dollars.
In any case I don't know where you are going, but credit cards are accepted everywhere.
Posted by
ID
349 posts
No, credit cards are not accepted everywhere. We were at a beach restaurant in 2024 and they wanted colones. Between the five of us we had almost enough. They accepted USD for the remaining small amount. It was in a rural area with no other businesses near by.
Posted by
Atlanta, GA area (USA)
293 posts
We were in Costa Rica last year and I took 150k Colones with me. We used them for small purchases, grocery stores, street vendors, then spent the last of them on the overpriced lunch at the airport before we left. Good luck!