Costa Rica Anyone been ? Quick question
- Thread starter Bargnani_
- Start date
Or better still your bank card. I used ATMs with my bank card at a couple different banks.
If you bring US cash, make sure it's new bills. For some reason, the exchange places are really picky about older rough bills :frusty:
the caribbean coast facing the N.E trade winds are wetter and have the same climate as the amazon Basin. the pacific side has summer wet season and winter dry season
Ya sure! the Caribbean coast is a sweat shop! the most humid place besides the interior of the amazon.
Climate of Puerto Limon, Costa Rica on the caribbean coast
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limón#Climate
Last edited:
I always on my trips...first overpay your credit card before leaving, this way cash advances all atm's, no fee's, I take some travelers checks which I cash at the resort for emergency money at night [like for the casino at 3 in the morning:frusty:] and usually a grand or so of American...
I did this exact thing a couple of years ago in Costa Rica,,,,They gave 80's style exchange on Canadian even though when I was there the Canadian buck was worth par, so no Candian, American anywhere, Exchange some for their bucks and watch whatever rate a place gives you..
I did this exact thing a couple of years ago in Costa Rica,,,,They gave 80's style exchange on Canadian even though when I was there the Canadian buck was worth par, so no Candian, American anywhere, Exchange some for their bucks and watch whatever rate a place gives you..
This is not only in Costa Rica. Many places/people overseas will only take notes with no tears and markings. Worse comes worse, I pawn it off as tips for hotel staff and/or ask my hotel to break a US$ note into something smaller. That only works with the better hotels, though.
I was in Costa Rica 2 weeks ago. I had no trouble using USD anywhere. Restaurants, bars, supermarket... They might give you colones as change or they might give USD. The exchange rate for cash transactions is 500 to 1 USD. I brought a few hundred US with me, but that's only because I had that sitting around.
Why not just use the atm there and take out some Colones?
Why not just use the atm there and take out some Colones?
Why not? I've never had any issues (not just CR, in many countries) None of the guys I talked to down there had issues. I wasn't using some corner store, I went to proper banks. One of them was Scotia Bank.
Same here. The only issue I ever had was sometimes the machines seemed very slow to spit out the cash...and that can be stressful.
Best exchange, if you are Canadian, is to only do it once. Exchanging from Can $ to US $ and then to Colones will cost a lot. Better just withdraw from bank ATM's...the two national banks don't even charge extra, it's only your good old home bank that screws you with a $5 foreign ATM charge. But on a 200,000 Colone withdrawal (around $400 Can) that is the best rate and cost you can get.
Agreed. I have found this to be the case in other countries too.
My favourite part about the machines in CR is that they gave me my bank balance on the slip - in colones. Fuck did I feel rich
You should be careful using atm's....I had one eat my credit card once on a Sunday so I couldn't even get it back. Luckily, it was only a pre-paid card with about $30 on it, so it was easy to deal with.
If you're using your card at the Del Rey atm, it's one of the ones that you insert, then pull out so no fear of losing it.
If you're using your card at the Del Rey atm, it's one of the ones that you insert, then pull out so no fear of losing it.
So perhaps you shouldn't use your card here right? Better safe than sorry!
Life is full of risk, but what you're describing is unfortunate, but rare if you're using a proper bank machine.
The first bank I went to in San Jose had a security guard at the door. He wouldn't let me in until I removed my baseball cap. I don't think there was much danger of me being ripped off.
If you check out the cost rica chicas forum, using your ATM is actually the recommended method and I don't recall anyone complaining of issues. That's probably out of thousands or users. I've used my card in many countries without issue. Could I have an issue? Sure I could, just like I can HERE (and recently did). Then I make a phone call and take it from there. A bitch if it happens, but it would be almost as inconvenient if something happened here.
I could be frightened of what might happen with every action in life but I weight the odds and use a little common sense then 99.9% of the time you're going to be OK.
BTW: it's unfortunate, but if you had you PIN video taped then you have to take some of the blame. I ALWAYS cover the pin pad with one hand making it impossible to see what I'm doing with the other hand. To not do is is far more foolish and risky than using your card in a foreign bank.
