Prices charged by most tourist oriented businesses are high enough that they are recouping their small cost in dealing in foreign currencies.

I don't think I was ever able to withdraw more than 100,000 colones at a time, even when I had a bank teller helping me at the ATM machine.

I never should have stepped into this thread. It's just been too long since I've been to Costa Rica.

However, I feel very strongly that people who travel to other countries should respect that country and use the local currency.

Hi Shillmac....

mlgb - you cannot withdraw more than 100,000 colones at an ATM no matter who is helping you. But you can withdraw more than 100,000 colones if you go inside the bank and do your transaction there, inside the bank and not with a teller helping you at the ATM.

"Prices charged by most tourist oriented businesses are high enough that they are recouping their small cost in dealing in foreign currencies." I don't think you have a clue as to what it takes to operate a business in Costa Rica so, please try to avoid making statements like this.

jeanh - I agree with you totally and have done this in every country I have visited.

Jeff - I will buy you a coffee at the restaurant of your choosing -- and pay in colones! Good work!

We regularly withdraw colones at our ATM in La Suiza. 3 weeks ago we withdrew 200,000 colones, about $400--single transaction. Jeff, we have an account with Banco Nacional--does that make a difference?

hsmithcr, we seem to have conflicting experiences on this post and another post--perhaps WE should meet for a cup of coffee!

shillmac -- I have an account at Banco Nacional but have never been able to withdraw more than 100,000 colones per transaction. I don't know if it is something special about your account or the ATM you are using. Perhaps if the ATM is in a highly touristed area, they increase the limit. I really don't know.

Yeah, shillmac, coffee sounds like a good idea.

Jeff and I obviously both live in Costa Rica so we have a different view, perhaps, of using colones.

Jean, it was a perfectly logical assumption that you can get colones ahead of time. It works well for many countries. Just not very well for Costa Rica. And I agree with you completely that the polite thing to do is to function in the local currency as best one can. You're absolutely right.

"Prices charged by most tourist oriented businesses are high enough that they are recouping their small cost in dealing in foreign currencies."

But I think the focus of this thread is paying with dollars at non-tourist businesses. The cost for any business here to deal in a foreign currency is high. Period. If you stop at a grocery store and want to pay in dollars, fine, but you can't expect your price to be caluclated at the official exchange rate. The business will lose money. You have to pay something for the convenience.

I'll be happy to meet up for coffee with any of the Costa Rica fans here. The deal is that we pay in colones.

It's interesting that for the most part that the people who feel strongly about using the local currency are people who actually live there or are building homes there, sort of out of the tourist realm.

Jean, I think you'd be surprised at how much CR has changed. A Burger King actually sprang up in the La Fortuna area. Kind of a shocker.

Volcanogirl, I think that your assumption of "the people who feel strongly about using the local currency are people who actually live there or are building homes there" is very generalized and most likely inaccurate. I am planning my first trip to Costa Rica next month (not going to look at real estate!) and was always planning on using mostly the local currency when there. I also strongly feel that when visiting a country, it's only part of the experience - not to mention more respectful - to use the local currency!!

Definitely using the local currency offers a more authentic experience. When we are in Costa Rica, I don't care much for doing things the U.S. way. You'd have to shoot me to get me to stay at Hampton Inn!

Actually, hsmithcr, the ATM we use most frequently is in La Suiza, a small town 30 min. out of Turrialba. Definitely not touristy. So that is puzzling to me, and I'd like to figure out why we are able to withdraw more than what you say is possible. I certainly don't think we have any special arrangement with the bank. lol

And certainly, you and Jeff have a different perspective than the typical tourist. As do I. But I think we've gotten a wee bit off track here.

Jeff, you have done a great job of explaining the high cost of maintaining a business (especially in the tourism sector) in Costa Rica. I think that was the missing piece of information. Exchanging is expensive for whomever is doing the exchanging. If you can find someone who gives you the going rate, they are doing you a big favor and taking a bit of a hit themselves. A few years ago, we were gassing up at a station between Cahuita and Puerto Viejo. I don't know what in the world my husband was doing with a $100 bill, but he handed one to the attendant as payment for the gas. At that time, we thought we should have gotten back the exact change we were due (the change was in colones), but it wasn't until later that we understood why he kept some of our change--to cover his cost in exchanging the money back into colones!

The "human condition" often prevents us from being able to walk in someone else's shoes and understand the viewpoint of another person. We're not very good at it!

shillmac - I don't know why the ATM you use is set up differently. I find very different service from the various branch banks of BN so maybe this was it - just set up that way by the branch manager.

In all my years in Costa Rica and traveling around, I have not run across an ATM that would dispense more than 100,000 colones at a time with a few rare exceptions.

I say again - if this is a concern, people can just go inside the bank and get whatever amount is needed in one transaction.

I completely agree with your assessment of businesses that accept dollars and what it means to them.

For me also, the issue is not living in Costa Rica. When I go to Mexico, a country where dollars are even more widely accepted, I use pesos.

My point was not to chastise anybody for spending dollars in Costa Rica. If I came across that way, I'm sorry. That wasn't my intent.

But ...

I see the advice given "Everybody takes dollars in Costa Rica" all the time on this forum. In the first place, that is not true. In the second place, following that advice comes at a cost to you. You most certainly are paying extra for paying with dollars. Don't let anybody tell you that you're not.

jenn, I was just referring to the people who posted on this specific thread who for the most part have homes in CR or Belize.

Kaneez, when you say whopping fee, how much is it?

hsmithcr, I don't think you have a clue about what I do or don't know, so please stop dictating what I should or shouldn't post.

My advice to use your hotel to withdraw $20 or so dollars of local currency still stands. I never said to use US dollars to buy a meal from a local soda.

Well, Kaneez, looks like you're already on your trip. Are you sorry you asked for advice?!

For anyone else who reads this thread, if you do use dollars, we took the advice of all the guidebooks not to use anything higher than twenty dollar bills.

As I read Kaneez'questions, It looks like Kaneez is only looking for ways to avoid paying too much due to currency exchange rates. The differences in amounts paid in currency exchange fees is a tiny fraction of the cost of a whole vacation! My thoughts on this are that no one bit of advice can fit all the situations. If you are billed in dollars, pay in dollars. If you are billed in colones, pay in colones. Insisting on paying in the local currency to be "polite" can be just as annoying to a proprietor as insisting on paying in dollars or a credit card when colones are required. (I did that once, and it caused problems.) It was fascinating to see the question move from "saving a trifling amount of cash on the exchange" to "politeness" and then to a pretty impolite exchange about the exchange.

We generally go equipped with dollars (lots), colones, credit card, debit card, and travelers checks (left over from other travel). Then when presented with a bill, we can, if we wish, ASK which form of payment is desired. If the answer is ANY, the form of payment is our choice, otherwise, we pay as requested. This is a cup of practicality with a teaspoon of politeness. (PS, we've cashed travelers checks at hotels, and paid parts of bills with them on the Osa Peninsula--with no problem or even raised eyebrows. But I would never buy them again.)

I have seen more than once that our hotel bill, though stated in dollars, was converted to colones on the statement, and then again back to dollars by the credit card company. Yikes! That can sometimes be remedied by paying in dollars in advance.

Last time we were in Mexico (October 2010), the price of the airport taxi was in dollars. I had very little US money on me, we'd exchanged to pesos at our local bank.

I asked the price in pesos and ended up saving 15-20% over the dollar price.

Another reason to pay in the local currency.

I don't understand why a vendor/seller/whatever would price in US dollars unless he/ she was trying the get some extra money out of the consumer.

Great practical advice, Kink.

We have saved some pennies by paying in colones as well. There are a few hotels that will give a discount (when asked) for cash in colones.

In this economy, many Costa Rican businesses are living pretty hand-to-mouth these days. That includes some of the longtime favorite hotels and restaurants that people here love and recommend. Dollars are nowhere near as desirable here as they once were. Since the U.S. market collapse in 2008, the dollar has lost about 15% of its value against the colon. A business's day-to-day expenses (payroll, food, supplies, maintenance) have to be paid in colones. Accepting dollars as payment contributes to a cash-flow problem for these people, especially if there's no bank nearby. And we all know how remote some parts of Costa Rica are. There's no bank down the street for many of these people. (There's no street.)

Jean, they're not accepting dollars to make extra money. If anything, it's costing the business extra to deal in dollars, but they do it as a favor to their customers. It's only fair that they charge us extra for accepting our dollars. They have to. They won't survive otherwise.

Jeff - your reply is so good, I will treat you to a dish of tres leches in addition to a cup of coffee! Excellent!