Maren

Hi!
I have a couple last minute questions about Costa Rica I'm hoping you can help me with!
We are leaving on Monday for 9 days and will be going to Tabacon and the Tamarindo area.

$$$- any suggestions on how much to bring with us? Will areas take credit cards or have ATMs? Should we take traveler's checks- or will they be hard to cash?

Any other hints about what to do while we are there?

Thank you!

JeanH

We were in the Tabacon/Arenal area a couple of years ago. Make sure and take a Visa credit card. Much more widely accepted than MasterCard. Since our usual card is MC, the Visa card stopped letting us use it since we use it so infrequently and we were outside the country. Gave us a few anxious moments. I know we've used ATM's in Costa Rica, but not in La Fortuna.

More recently we managed to run our of cash while on Ambergris Caye in Belize. We ended up having to get a cash advance on our credit card from the bank. Certainly wasn't free, but it was nice to not have to worry about cash.

Jean

Tess_Durberville

When I went to CR last year, I brought a couple credit cards and cash. Don't bother with traveler's checks; not worth the hassle. I rarely use traveler's checks anymore, except to bring along maybe $60 or $80 worth as "just in case". You can pay for your hotel and services @ Tabacon using a credit card. You'll find that you can use American dollars in many places, although I do prefer to change money and have some colones. If you do this, most hotels provide decent rate of exchange for USD to Costa Rican Colon.

I'm SO envious that you're off to Arenal; the volcano is alive and active (see www.arenal.net). When at Tabacon last September, I went on a guided hike --- just the two of us along with the guide (advantage of visiting during slow time in Sept). We saw birds, monkeys, coatis. They did close the park briefly after the Sept-5th eruption, but I think all is open again.

CarolM

I found it helpful to have taken lots of U.S. dollar bills... they were great for tips. Don't rely on ATMs. I took a few hundred dollars cash and used the hotel safe when we weren't in the room. Used my credit card to pay for most food and day trips.

My suggestion in Arenal is that you hike the old lava flows in the late afternoon. (The trail is "Los Tucanes" in the national park.) It's really cool walking over all this huge field of volcanic rocks. If you go in the late afternoon, you can see the sun set over Lake Arenal (gorgeous!) and if you're lucky, see glowing lava rocks tumbling out of the volcano as it gets dark. (Many tour companies can take you on this tour.)

We also enjoyed the Safari Float ride on the Penas Blancas river... saw lots of howler monkeys in the trees overhead.

Remembering being there is making me jealous! You're gonna have a wonderful time!

Iza

Maren, you got some good advice here.

In addition to Visa being more widely accepted than MC, I would also point out that some banks have ATMs that are limited to Visa based ATM cards only (there is only one ATM in Tamarindo and it is that way). Travelers checks are a hassle to exchange so don't bother with them. Take some US$, but do not take bills over $20 and check your bills so that they are not torn, scribbled on etc.

Also, call your credit card company before you leave and let them know you are travelling so that they don't block your account. That happened to me when we were in Costa Rica. I had to call from there and have the account opened.

jdla

We used Visa credit card most of the time....had some colones for fun....and had American dollars. We could get cash from ATMs (Visa based) easily....except once when the system was down. We had to go into the bank with passport to get some cash. Took 20 minutes.

I always take an significant amount of travelers checks for emergencies....credit card systems could be down....your wallet could be stolen. I take them, keep them separate from my wallet, and usually don't use them.

Jim