Visiting Costa Rica from North America is so easy!

ID/Travel Documentation. A U.S. or Canadian citizen with a valid passport will receive a free visa good for 90 days. (If you need to get a passport, start the process at least 6-8 weeks before your trip unless you want to pay an expediting fee of around $100 in addition to the standard passport fee.) Without a passport, you can still purchase a tourist card with proof of identity (such as original birth certificate) along with a photograph. Tourist cards can be obtained from any Costa Rican embassy or consulate or from the airline on your day of departure. However, you must have a valid US Passport in order to regain entry to the US upon return.

It’s a good idea to photocopy your passport data page and Costa Rican visa, and carry that with you while in Costa Rica, leaving your original passport in a safe place at your lodgings. Costa Rican law requires that visitors have their passport information on their persons at all times. If you plan an extended stay, copying the required information on a laminated card about the size of a driver’s license is a good investment. The copy service in Jacó will make one for about $3.00.

Driving. Your American driver’s license is good in Costa Rica for 90 days, and we can give you a referral for a car rental in Jacó. The rental company will provide airport transportation, and if anything goes wrong, the local office is better suited to resolve any concerns. We always take the insurance offered by the rental company, although some American insurance companies will cover your driving a rental car in a foreign country. (There will be a deductible, however. Check with your auto insurance company and/or your credit card provider for details.) Costa Rica has a high rate of car accidents, so we’d rather not take chances.

Be prepared for some adventures if you drive on your own. Drive on the right side of the road. Speed limits are rigorously enforced in some areas, but locals drive pretty aggressively, and speeding is common. Natural beauty and interesting culture is everywhere, so plan to get lost and enjoy each new and unexpected adventure!

Electricity is not a problem for Americans in Costa Rica. 110/220 volts AC, 60 Hz is standard, so you can plug in electronic appliances and items with two flat parallel pins and sometimes three rectangular pins.

Money. The Costa Rican monetary unit is the Colòn. Roughly 525-580 Colònes are equivalent to $1 US when you go to change money. There are coins in 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, and 500 colònes and notes of 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10000 colònes. Money can be changed at banks, and hotel cash desks, or at the airport upon arrival. Government banks tend not to charge commissions, but the lines will be long; hotels will be faster, but charge hefty fees. To avoid the hassles, you can pay in many stores with dollars and receive change in colònes, but the exchange rate will be 500 . colònes to the dollar. Many souvenir shops list their prices in dollars; if you pay in colònes, you will not come out ahead on the exchange rate. A good rule of thumb is to carry some of each currency and pay in the currency requested on the price tag.

Alternatively, ATMs (cajeros automáticos) are plentiful and dispense local currency; you need a card with a CIRRUS or PLUS logo; and you will most likely incur your bank’s usual out-of-network charge, but generally not a fee expressly for exchanging money. Generally, it’s a good idea to take out as much cash as you think you’ll need all at once (during the day in a safe public spot), in order to avoid multiple fees for multiple usages of the ATM.

Banks will usually cash traveler’s checks, though they may accept only certain brands and frequently only if the checks are in US dollars; other currencies may not be accepted. Some small towns may not have banks, so visitors are advised to change money before traveling to these areas and to carry small bills.

(If you want to zip down to Panama from the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, the money situation is even easier for Americans, since the US dollar is essentially used there; the Panamanian balboa comes in the same denominations as dollars, and many Panamanians use the terms dólar and balboa interchangeably.)

Big surprise, you’re going to lose money again if you change your leftover colònes back into dollars at the end of your trip (and you may have trouble buying back more than $50), so try to plan the amount of cash you’re going to need, and you may want to wait to buy a few souvenirs at the end of the trip to ‘use up’ your remaining colònes, or use the extra to pay the airport tax (see below) when leaving Costa Rica.

Relatedly, PLEASE do not take your entire wallet on vacation (no matter where you go)! Only bring what you really need: passport or other tourist card, driver’s license if you plan on driving, an ATM/credit card, and your emergency numbers (including the number to your bank and credit card company’s fraud line, just in case). When traveling for a longer time period, I like to have the number to make a credit card payment by phone, to make sure I have enough credit available and I’m not incurring fees while away. Leave the other stuff, stuff you won’t use and will just be annoying to replace, at home.

A sidenote of money is tipping. Tipping is a recognition of good service. For bellhops and housekeepers, $.50 - $1 per day or per service is customary. A higher-end restaurant may add a 10-18% service charge to the bill; if not or in more casual eateries, a small gratuity is appreciated. Tour guides usually receive $1-5 per day, and the tour drivers receive about half that. Taxi drivers are not normally tipped unless they provide a special service.

Another monetary sidenote, taxes. There is no additional sales tax added to the price you see on the tag in a store. Everybody must pay a US$26 airport tax upon leaving the country. It is payable in US dollars or in colònes and credit cards are accepted.

Telephones and internet. Our condos and beach house have telephones and wireless internet connections. Other places don’t necessarily, and many hotels have wi-fi access only in certain areas. Cell phones work well, but check with your carrier before departure to ensure that international calling is included in your plan (you can add it on a temporary country-by-country basis so you don’t pay for service you don’t need); otherwise the calls can be very expensive.

The country code for Costa Rica is 011, then dial 506, then the number.

Emergency services, such as police, fire department or Red Cross, may be contacted by dialing 119.