CarolM

I agree with VG to bring some American dollars, nothing higher than $20s (if you don't spend all your paper money -- colones -- you can change it back, but you can't change coins).

Personally, I never bother with traveler's checks... I rely heavily on my credit cards. I think I pay for almost everything with my credit cards. But here's a good tip: call Visa, Mastercard (etc.) and let them know you'll be traveling to CR and what dates. I do this whenever I'm leaving the country, 'cause they post it on your account so they don't flag a charge you try to make as fraud! Also, it's best to bring more than one credit card with you in case one gets declined.

Here's a handy way to figure out what you're spending (IF you want to know!) I'm terrible with math, so I go to the following site and print out a little conversion chart (colones to dollars), which I keep in my wallet:

http://oanda.com/convert/classic

Scroll to Costa Rican Colones on the left column, and US Dollars on the right, and hit "convert." Then you get a bunch of useless information -- but look on the right side for a little suitcase icon that says "Traveler's Cheatsheet" -- and hit this, and you'll get the handy converter!

And since I'm going all out with my travel tips... ... another thing I do is I xerox my passport twice, and leave one copy at home, and pack one copy in my suitcase (the passport itself stays in my purse/backpack/etc. at all times). If anything happens, you have two backups!

volcanogirl

You might also want to check with your credit card company regarding extra charges they will apply to your account if you use it outside the country; some of them charge an extra percentage as a "conversion fee" - we didn't know about it the first time we went. Have fun!

chanad

Hi JennPBD,

I am going to CR in Dec with a very similar itinerary to yours, so I'd love to hear your trip report when you get back