Hey, folks! My husband and I are going to CR for 8 days in a few weeks, and are wondering how much money we should take...hotel/car expenses will be paid for before we go...also, should we exchange before we leave? We will be at Peace Lodge for a couple days, and Makanda the remainder. We have never been to CR, so are complete newbies at this, all of our traveling having been done in Ireland. Thanks for ANY help you can provide!

I spent 10 days in CR in May and brought about $500 in cash and used my credit cards for restaurants and some purchases. In fact, I came home with most of the cash. I was with three other people and none of us ever exchanged any money, American money is taken everywhere. If you're coming from someplace else however, you may want to exchange it. Things in CR are fairly inexpensive and there's not much to buy other than coffee so you probably won't need too much money.

laurieco's suggestion is a good one. Absolutely not necessary to exchange ahead of time. You can exchange at the bank if you want, but depending on which bank you use and when, the wait could be an hour or longer.

American money is accepted everywhere, and you will receive your change in colones. We like using colones because it frees us from having to think about the conversion, although it is pretty easy right now being so close to 500 colones to a dollar.

Don't keep all of your cash together in the same place--put it here and there. Enjoy!

The credit card problem is that they often charge a 3% surcharge for purchases in a country that does not use dollars.

There are lots of ATM machines to get cash.

I brought more cash since I expected to buy a bunch of crafts in Sarchi and Santa Cruz.

Most hotels have room safes to lock up valuables.

Have a fun trip.

Thanks so much for your replies and help. It almost sounds as easy as traveling in the States, except for the roads!

Be sure to take small bills ($20's and less). Just returned crom CR last week for a 2 week adventure, and we had used all of our $1's, $5's, and $10's. For example, I bought 2 beers (Imperial) and a pack of cigarettes in small bar. I think the total was about $3.00. Don't forget to save $26.00 per personfor your departure tax. You can charge it on Visa, but it's considered a cash advance and you will be charged interest.