danlotec

i am leaving for costa rica next week and since i am in the service industry i have a lot of cash i would like to use. am i crazy to go down there with 1000 in cash. should i talke small bills like 20s? any advice

sandyc

I always bring cash and haven't lost any yet. Keep the bills small -- 20s and under and just be smart with it. Bring a credit card for back up.

Sandy

NamlohG

Why not put this in a bank account and use your ATM card when you need cash? Most machines dispense US dollars and colones.

sandyc

Half the time the ATMs don't work down there, and if you're out in a rural place, they're not easy to find. I wouldn't rely soley on that.

Sandy

Earthtraveler

We travel with that much and also traveler's checks for those lodges that will take them. I haven't tried the ATMs but wouldn't want to take the time to search them out and have heard of problems with them being out of funds or not accepting the card. One thing with cash is the bills should not be torn or written on. I've heard that can be an issue sometimes. $20s are good but some lodges who won't take credit cards or have high credit surcharges will take the larger bills.

shillmac

It goes without saying, but don't keep it all in the same place! We prefer to carry just a start up amount of cash. We have always been able to find an ATM that works (and they are within easy driving distance of almost anywhere now) or else we'll stop by a bank (with passport) when an ATM isn't available.

We have traveled with $1000 plus dollars before, but try to keep it on us in various places. I especially like to use the leg pockets on the zip off pants. You really can't tell there is anything in there, and it's not something anyone can grab and run with (at least I hope they don't)!

travellamb

We had serious problems with ATMs. We did not come across a single ATM that accepted cirrus cards (as opposed to plus). I think there was one in manuel antonio but by then we were at the end of our trip. We were very happy we had brought $500 in cash (dollars were easy to use; small bills are definitely the way to go) and used the credit card whenever we could. But note, that we were down to our last $40 when we were leaving and had to pay $52 in departure taxes and to top it off, the departure tax people only take Visa and not mastercard (this correlates with the ATM issue). This is how we discovered there are ATMs upstairs in the departure level of the San Jose airport (rather than at the arrivals) and those are more flexible in terms of what cards they will take.

NamlohG

I carry two debit cards, one from a large Canadian bank and one issued by a large local credit union. I'm covered with Plus,Accel,Interac,Acculink. If one card doesn't work in the ATM, the other one will. And of course, a Visa will give you cash advances also.
I never carry over $100 in cash where I live, why would I want to carry so much travelling?
ATM's work fine down there.

dariow

Most of these hotels have lock safes in the room. Leave most of your cash there.