We leave for CR on Thursday and I'm trying to figure out how much money we should bring. Our hotels are paid for so we need money for meals and activities. We have Amex and Mastercard and we'll pay with plastic wherever we can. However, assuming a lot of places won't accept cards, we're thinking we should bring either Traveler's Checks or cash? I don't like carrying a lot of cash with us, but don't want to run into problems with cashing travelers cheques. We're going into Arenal, Montezuma, and MA. Thanks!

I've heard of banks that won't exchange travelers checks in Costa Rica. We only brought a travellers check to pay for Skytrek canopy as we knew they took them. We used our VISA a lot which was accepted at 75% of restaurents. I suggest starting out with 100$ each and you can get more money from the ATM as needed!!

Costa Rica is the only place I've been where there are numerous places that accept Visa but not Mastercard. It's been a couple years, so things may have changed. We usually use MC, didn't think to let the Visa folks know we were going. They shut down our account after two uses. And the 800 number on the back of the card didn't work. We found ourselves looking for places that accepted Mastercard.... Jean

Recently came back from a wonderful trip to CR. Did not take a lot of cash (use primarily plastic (CC & ATM) when I travel). Discovered that ATMs are very scarce on the West Coast (including the MA area). And some places will take only Visa (I had MC and AmEx). So if you have a VISA take that instead of MC.
I ended up going through the little cash I had very quickly. I did manage to get some cash from my hotel by having them charge my credit card but they charged me an additional 7% for the privilege (I had no other choice).

I did not take TC but friends did. Many places quoted prices in US$ and took the TC at face value as payment. However, if change was due (given in colones), the exchange rate they used was at a much lower rate than the "official" rate.
The Ticos are very nice and accomodating. Sometimes when we did not have cash, they would allow us to pay when we got back to the hotel or allow us to make a charge through the hotel to pay them.
Don't forget to bring small bills to give as tips.
CR is a fantastic place, deserving of all the praise here on this board. Can't wait to go back! Have fun and enjoy.

My family of 5 just returned from CR. My husband and I each took about $200 cash, we also took $300 in Travelers' Checks. We used VISA almost everywhere, and never had to use our ATM card. I returned with $50 cash. I took lots of $1 and $5 for tips. We also used some of the Travelers' checks to pay for a bill of items we had charged to our room in MA. No problem. We ended up charging the exit tax on VISA - they said they would charge it as a cash advance. I am not sure what that will mean. Hope this helps. Have a great time!

I just returned from CR yesterday. I always have a rule: always have some local currency just in case you run into a problem. There is an ATM in the airport where I immediately got the equivalent of USD $100 in Colones. I found the taxis that I used did not accept dollars neither did some small stores in the town of Heredia where I stayed. However, the big supermarket I went to accepted dollars but only after very careful examination by 2 people of my $10 bill. Visa is widely accepted. Just make sure there are no service charges. I went to a flower shop where they did not accept Dollars. Nor did the bus that I rode to San Jose. However at a small fruit stand high in the mountains they accepted dollars and gave change in Colones. End the end, I just prefer to have the peace of mind and have both currencies so I have no problems whatsoever and I have total freedom to do whatever I want without the extra worry.. I didn't go to a lot of resorts but I understand that TC or $ are no problem. Just my 2 Colones worth.

If Visa is commonly accepted but MC & Amex are not you could run into problems with your choice of 'plastic'. I have no experience in CR, but generally don't mind carrying a good amount of cash (I just keep it on my person), and especially if it's split between 2 or more people traveling together. That backed up with an ATM card to withdraw local currency at the airport (as mentioned by nonstop above).

Taking cash advances on a credit card is OK for an emergency I guess, but a very expensive way to get funds.

I returned from CR yesterday. Visa is still much more widely accepted. However, often they will charge 5% more if you pay by credit card instead of cash. ATMs frequently are out of order. In Quepos/MA the only one I found to work consistently was the one on the left going up to MA from Quepos past plaza Yari. It is in a 2 story building and you will see signs saying ATM 2km, ATM 1km. The ATMs in Quepos never worked for me.