Okay here is the deal, I just booked a flight to Costa Rica, Im going for 1 month roughly. I have not ever traveled out of the country so bare with me if these questions are just...retarded! First off, im going to bring/budget about $2000/$3000 AMERICAN DOLLARS. Me and my friends are dipshits and we arent making any plans which means no hotel reservations, no agenda, nothing. We are just going and see where we fall throughout the trip. How do i spend money? im a faithful BanK of America customer so do i just carry my card with some cash...or just my card...or just cash? We will just be buming around the whole time with some hotel stays here and there, so what would be best/easiest. Any input on traveling to costa rica or abroad will be greatly appreciated. Sorry in advance to TopSpeed because this money would have been going to them. hnoes:
You should be fine with just the card - a couple of friends and myself went down to costa rica for spring break a 2 years ago... didn't have any problem with the cards - be prepared to look like a millionaire though when you check your bank balance there You should check out tamarindo on the west coast - cool town.
Carry very little cash, dress down nothing flashy, make sure at least one person is sitting in the taxi before you let the driver throw your bags in the trunk. Buddy was left standing with only what he had in his front pockets. Haggle the price of everything, and you will be amazed of how far a dollar will go.
When I went to Costa Rica I did the exact same thing. 0 plans, a surfboard and sun screen. I think I went with about 250 in cash and used the credit card for everything else. We visited both the Carribean coast and the West Coast and I can tell you the Carribean cost is cheaper and sketchier. You'll need cash in hand if you go there. We ended up in Cahuita for a couple of days and ventured down to Puerto Vallejo because we heard of a good restaurant right on the boarder with Panama. The place was awesome. We ordered lobster and the man running the restaurant sent his son out in a boat to catch a couple. It took a while to get our food but it was only a 25 cents for an Imperial so we enjoyed quite a few. On the way back we were stopped on a jungle road by two guys with very large guns. A little scary at first but they turned out to be Costa Rican border patrol. When we told them we were coming from Puerto Vallejo they let us through. Had we said we were coming from Panama they probably would have searched us which would have been a bad thing since everything is so much cheaper there . Our hotel in Cahuita cost us about $20 which we split 3 ways. If you go to the Carribean coast be sure to avoid Limon. The place was scary as hell. Thank god we were just passing through. The West Coast is the place to go. Everything was more civilized and built up . We stayed in Manuel Antonio and several of the bars and restaurants were owned by American xpats. We did a jungle tour there which was great and planned to do a white water trip but were too sun burnt from surfing. If you are flying in to San Jose be sure to spend at least one night there and check out the Blue Marlin. My trip was 10 years ago so things certainly have changed but I would imagine the West Coast has gotten nicer and the Carribean coast has gotten sketchier. When I go again I will only spend time on the West coast. Even though the country is only 75 miles across it can take all day to make it across. Our plan was to surf a sunrise on the Carribean coast and sunset on the West coast but the drive wore us out. The roads suck so bad and the people there take traffic laws as a suggestion not a requirement. I watched someone pass a truck on a mountain road around a blind turn with about a 1000 foot drop off and no gaurd rail. It took them an eternity to get by the truck in their pos of a car.
Most of my family is there now for my cousin's wedding(west coast around Manuel Antonio). They get back late next week so I can pass along questions about that area.
awesome guys thanks for the input on the areas as well as the little things. i didnt even think about that cab thing. Liquid you wanna come and be our guide?
I lived in Costa Rica for two months in a host family's home while I went to school to study spanish. You will immediately recieve attention from the females for being gringo. I would get travelers checks b/c of their safety and change out for cash as needed. 2 to 3k is more than enough for a month. I took that much for 2 months and had plenty of cash. You can take a bus anywhere in the country. If you fly into San Jose check out Playa Jaco- its bout an hour and half away and a great surfing spot. Tamarindo is cool. I agree w/ Liquid Force that the Caribean side is a little sketch but I still found it to be cool. I spent a week in Puerta Viejo and had a blast; also from their you can cross into panama and then into Columbia if you so desire. I have a buddy that owns a lodge in Manuel Antonio and have heard that the town is cool as well. I wasn't able to get there while I was in Costa Rica but everybody I talked to said it was sweet. If you go to the clubs watch out for chicks faking interest in you to steal your money. Know of several people who got got in that manner. Like Liquid Force said 'things' are way cheaper so enjoy yourself but be careful. If you are feeling stressed get a massage...wink, wink. Have fun...I did.
Bring multiple copies of your passport that way if yoouru lose it you'll still have the info necessary to get back in. Also call your bank and let them know you'll be down there, identity theft is huge and banks will turn off your cards. Keep a credit card just in case and if possible, a PIN so you can get cash advance if necessary. Dont keep all that cash on you, you're just asking to get wiped out by a thief. As said before, nice shoes/sunglasses/clothes will give away your status and make you a target, be street smart, know who and what is around you at all times. Hopefully you speak a little bit of spanish because not too many people will speak english if you stray from the touristy areas. on this note, touristy areas are overrated and expensive, go on an adventure, hitchhike, stay in hostels, meet locals and go to local bars, you'll have a lot more fun. If you have access to a cheap hostel and want another fun experience, lock your bags in the room and go grab a hammock on the beach for a $1-2US. There are some really good books for travelling on the cheap, I like the "Let's Go" series as they have a lot of hostels and cheap transportation options that arent listed on many internet sites. Haggle prices on cabs and dont be afraid to use public transportation, if Costa Rica is anything like Mexico the bus service will be very prompt and dirt cheap. And when ordering drinks and food, watch and observe the locals and see how much they pay, I've had many men in mexico try to rip me off for an extra 10pesos, and if you can haggle in spanish you'll get a lot better deal. American dollars talk just as well as local currency in south america but dont depend on them if you're dealing with legitimate or govt-run businesses. I've never been farther south than the extreme southern tip of Mexico but these are good guidelines for travelling anywhere in the world. You sound like you'll have enough money to ball hard out there but that will attract a lot of attention. And not to lecture but you might enjoy doing some cultural tours or checking out some of the ancient ruins down there, not just getting tanked on the beach or doing anything else you could do here in America. You might want a basic semblance of a guideline but if you are this free you'll not waste too much time. And you can sleep very well on overnight buses if you want to drop into neighboring countries, just remember your immigration cards so you wont have trouble getting back into Costa Rica.
Thanks for all the input guys, i getting really pumped for this trip and with your advice more confident about traveling abroad. Im going to take a lot of pictures so expect a massive write up on costa rica travel. Again thanks guys!
June 30th, its gonna kick ass! hey i saw you called me like 2 weeks ago. im assuming you still got the wagon!
yeah still have it just sitting in the garage... yeah i called to see what was up and see if you wanted to do some shooting...how you been man
My mom and I went to Costa Rica about 9 years ago during my senior year of HS. Everything was fairly cheap; we ended up staying at a really nice Hilton in San Jose because it was so cheap. We primarily spend most of the week on the west coast; I would agree that the roads blow, we took a few buses but booked a flight on a small local air carrier to get to the west coast. For two women traveling in a foreign country together, I felt pretty safe the entire time and the only issues we had was with my mom's horrible spanish.
I'd support the hell out of that section. Please post up a good review when you get back, my little sister is heading down there with a friend for 2 weeks at the end of August and I'm kinda nervous for her (2 22yrold girls roaming around central america).
Costa Rica is very stable, thanks to them deciding to get rid of their Army in the 50s. Infact we were there during their national election, and they even have a law preventing the sale of alcohol the night before an election. As I previously wrote my mom and I (48 and 17) did not feel uncomfortable at all traveling around the country by ourselves. From wikipedia: