On another travel site, I read a great deal about keeping valuables with you at all times. I'm not talking about jewelry (I won't be taking any). I am speaking of passports, ID's,travelers checks, credit and debit cards, cash, and cameras. They warned not to leave any of those in the hotel rooms or our rental car. We can take a waist pack but then what to do when we go swimming. They so much as warned not to leave a towel on the beach when we go swimming. The logistics of this are kind of mind boggling. How do you take a camera and a towel to the beach and then go swimming. We are not used to being so paranoid about these things so any advice would be appreciated. While we are on the practicality issues, it seems that American Express Travelers Checks are the safest and least expensive way to go. True? Sorry to be picking at "little" stuff but I hate to ruin a good time by being naive. Thanks for the help.

I really don't think you have to exercise any more caution than if you were at a beach in, say, California. I wouldn't go in the water there and leave my camera lying in the sand! As for the valuables you mention, many of the hotels provide safety deposit boxes. We use them and have never had a problem. You do have to plan accordingly. . .you can't very well pack up your vehicle and then stop and park somewhere out in the open while you go exploring. Your things need always to be in a hotel and you go out from there. It really isn't as bad as it sounds. I have talked to many people who have "lost" things of importance and the majority of the stories have to do with bus travel. . .you simply must have things such as passports secured (and hidden) on your person and keep your hands on your backpack or bag at all times. As for traveler's cheques, they do come in handy. But not everywhere. We have found a combination to work best for us. We calculate ahead our hotel expense and take traveler's cheques solely to give to hotels. They don't mind taking them. We use our credit card for convenience and to avoid having so much cash on us or tucked away somewhere while we wonder "is it safe there"? We stop by an ATM every 3 days or so and pick up enough cash to use for the NEXT 3 days--$100-200 at a time depending. We feel less vulnerable this way. You just need a little bit of practice. . .schedule multiple trips!

We haven't had any problem leaving cameras in our rooms although I have heard that a few people have -I suspect they weren't in very nice places. As far as passports and money... if the rooms don't have safes we usually leave a little packet of stuff with the hotel in their secure area and just take what we absolutely need for the day. We usually make a copy of the picture page of our passport and carry that around. We have never had to show our passport except at the airport but there have been some round ups in places like Tamarindo lately of people who did not have proof of their passports with them. They are mostly looking for illegals. There was an immigration raid in Monteverde a few years ago also and quite a few people that I had met just before had been deported back to the states. I have seen sandals stolen from the beach (the more expensive tevas are very popular with the petty thieves). As far as what to do while swimming: Whether with my husband or friends, we just take turns watching the stuff or we don't bring anything at all and just go swimming and then back to the hotel. I also bring a pair of cheap flip flops for times like that.
Costa Rica is not a bad or dangerous place but it does have a lot of petty theft problems as do many places in other countries including the U.S.A.
Dublin, Ireland has signs everywhere to watch out for pickpockets. Those guys are really slick.

As usual, great advice from Suzie2 and Shillmac. We always use the safety deposit boxes provided by the hotels and put everything into those (passports, wallets and cameras, if not in use). We use waist packs to store same when actually travelling and moving from place to place. We keep copies of our passports in another location in case we loose them. We are also careful about not leaving things in the car. We have never lost anything in CR.

As to money, we use credit cards for hotels and use ATMs for spending money(but you do have to plan ahead and take out money for the next couple of days). Travelers checks are safe but I would not rely on them for spending money because they are a pain to change in banks (at least an hour - CR loves red tape!). Hotels accept them with no problem.

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. Your advice has been very helpful. Never would have thought of making a copy of our passports. Looking forward to having a great time.

I divide up what's important, both money & ID wise... put some in the hotel safe, carry some with, leave copies & a little extra cash and spare charge card in my locked suitcase in my hotel room.

For the beach I take a basket with the minimum. i use disposable cameras, pack water, a towel, paperback book, coin purse w/ peso for the day, room key, etc.

I've never had trouble with anything left in my room. Rental cars could different, no personal experience there.

I learned another neat trick that I used for my last trip. I scanned copies of my important documents (passport, airline tickets, etc), then e-mailed them my Yahoo mail account. That way, if I lost my originals and my copies (not likely, but you never know), I could print them from anywhere I had access to a computer and the internet. I also e-mailed to myself a document that contained all information related to my traveler's checks and credit cards.

I'd be careful e-mailing your credit card info, even to yourself! E-mail is not real secure. You don't want someone stealing your info!

We met folks who stayed at Makanda by the Sea in Manuel Antonio, a very nice place with security, who had their screen cut and their cameras stolen while they were out for dinner. Another couple had two bags taken when switching from one rental car to another at Thrifty in San Jose. It pays to be very careful.