beetle1111

a friend and i will be traveling to costa rica for the first time on oct 17th and we will be there for 27 days. we have the first eight days booked in puerto viejo but after that we felt having reservations anywhere might lock us down too much. it is our hope to relocate there in the future so we wanted to have all our options open as to where we investigate and when...from puero viejo we thought of moving toward arenal and then to the nicoya peninsula--is it niave of us to just hope we will find places to stay as we go?? i've also heard so many stories about getting your stuff jacked--leaving stuff in your room is it not safe?? i suppose that's a relative thing...also was wondering how well traveler checks work and what is a good amount of money to carry on your person? any insight into these things or other ideas about cr would be greatly appreciated.
thanks--b.

sean420

Since you are going at the height of the rainy season you wont have any problem finding a room wherever you go and it's best to be flexible depending on the weather.

Don;t leave anything on value unsecured in your room. Use the room safe or ask the front desk to lock up anything of value while you are not in your room.

I'd skip on using Traveler's Checks as the majority of places in CR will not accept them. The only place to have them cashed is in a bank which can take a long time. Better to use a mixture of cash and credit cards. Most hotels will give you a 10-15% discount if you pay in cash. For our 18 day trip last month we brought $1000 cash and used that mostly to pay for our rooms and put the rental car and some other things on my credit card. Be aware that many credit cards will charge up to 5% for overseas transactions (Capitol One only charges 1%). You can always get cash from an ATM (there isn't one in Puerto Viejo)0

Don't carry a whole lot of money on your person. I just carry enough to cover whatever purchases I might need to make as well as a credit card. The rest of my cash and credit cards stay in the room safe.

I was just in CR last month and did a similar iterinary (Puerto Viejo, Arenal, and then Nicoya Peninsula). If you are interested, my travel report is here --> http://www.katclare.com/costa_rica/2006

And here is my report from the year before --> http://www.katclare.com/costa_rica/

beetle1111

thanks--those looked like some awesome adventures...is it as easy to get bottled water as it is beer?? we aren't really big beer drinkers...also what did you do with your backpacks/luggage while you explored? one more question--rental car versus public transport??? we still haven't decided. thanks again for all the great info!
b.

emmajm

sean420 or other: I've never used a hotel room safe. How does it work? Do you bring a lock of your own?

airwayvz

Usually there is a key in the lock of the safe when you arrive...and they're usually only big enough for small items, keys, wallet, passports, camera, etc.

shillmac

Plenty of bottled water everywhere.

Regarding the cash, we always start out with $300 or so, then replenish as needed. That is USUALLY all we have on us. ATM's are common enough that getting cash with our bank card isn't a problem. Be aware that the ATM machines favor VISA Plus cards.

We prefer renting a vehicle and being about to have the freedom to travel according to our schedule and not the bus company's. That said, we've enjoyed a week or so of bussing around before and it's kind of fun and interesting. Not wise to do it unless you're backpacking and can keep everything in your lap or in front of your eyes. Lots of tourism in CR, and those who "prey" know all the tricks and when (and where) travelers are most vulnerable. For example, don't plan on sight seeing while you are moving from locale to locale. Drive where you are going, get your stuff into the hotel room, then sight see in an empty vehicle!

We keep our credit cards and money either in the safe deposit box or split up between both our bodies in various places. . . my backpack, husband's pant pocket, etc. If some of it goes, at least not all of it will!

Sounds like a fun trip. You'll find the people to be warm and friendly. It's just a few who make all the precautions necessary, but that's a few here and a few there. . .and they have all the places pretty well covered!

Enjoy!

www.tricolorcarrental.com

They have given us the best prices and the best service consistently for years.

sean420

All the room safes that I have encountered have a programmable combination that you punch in after resetting the previous users combination. They are usually rather small and only have enough room for passports, cash, a camera and small electronic devices. I don't think a laptop would fit.

Bottled water is available in any store but be aware that tap water in Costa Rica is perfectly safe to drink and by purchasing plastic bottles you are contributing to the countries trash problem as they are not able to recycle plastic bottles there

guanacaste

in october you'll have no problem getting a room in la fortuna/arenal and every hotel i've ever stayed in costa rica _almost 100- have taken travellers checks, worse case scenario you change them at the bank, but if you're not carrying a credit card travellers cheques are a safe bet. generally it's only the expensive hotels that have in room safes.
my advice is to stay in la fortuna at Hotel Las Colinas, it's just off the main road near the central park, so it's quiet but you're in the centre of every thing.it's a tica and her italian husband and they're very helpful and can give you some good tips!
it's about USD10p.p per night, but USD15 gets you the 3rd floor room looking right out to the volcano!
no point spending a lot of money on hotels spend it on tours.
my recommendation is the day trip to Cano Negra, you should also visit the waterfall and the hot springs.
i lived there for 3 months this year, here's my travelblog with my recommendations:

http://costa.rica.typepad.com/la_for...dex.html"