We used mostly credit cards at our hotels, but outside of the hotels many places preferred cash (some little restaurants off the beaten path didn't take traveler's checks or credit cards, and some places would take credit cards but would charge an additional fee for using them). I brought around $500 in traveler's checks for two weeks in CR, and only used about half -- but it is always better to bring more than you need, because you can always cash the traveler's checks back in when you return to the U.S., so it never hurts to bring traveler's checks. We also brought some cash in U.S. dollars (lots of $1 bills, which come in handy for tips) and a little bit of cash in colones just in case.

My daughter and a friend have been there for a month and will be there a couple more. She's been using her debit card to get cash once a week. No problems.

Hi Trea,

Most hotels accept credit cards VISA AMEX or MASTER.Arenal and Quepos area only accept VISA.The problem is that most banks only work with VISA and they charge (only!?) 6 % comission.Nearer to San Jose you may pay with the other cards as well since that is with Credomatic.Unfortunaly they charge 7 % comission.For this reason some little hotels prefer cash instead of credit cards.For the traveller checks there is an other interesting fact in Costa Rica.You do not have problems in cashing them yourself at a bank,but paying with them in a hotel can be difficult.The reason for this is that when the hotels want to cash them afterwards the bank is asking to deposit them to an account and then freezing the checks for 45 working days.

hope this helps - saludos Connie
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