If you ever plan to visit this part of the world, you probably have some questions about Costa Rica currency. What does it look like? How much is it worth? Will you need local currency before you arrive? Are things cheap in Costa Rica?

The good news is that the whole money thing isn’t too complicated. The bad news is that things still cost as much (or more) than they do in the US. To save you from sticker shock, I’ll tell you the truth in this post.

Keep reading for cool facts about Costa Rican currency and how (and when) to use it.

Beautiful Bills

Costa Rica currency is called the colón (or colones for the plural) after Christopher Columbus. You may be wondering how that works, but ole Chris’s name in Spanish is Crístobal Colón.

The first thing to note about Costa Rican currency is just how beautiful it is. These bills are fairly new, they finished rolling them out in 2014 and they are gorgeous.

As you can see each denomination is a different, bright color and has beautiful scenery and an animal featured on it. Check them out. You’ll see sloths, butterflies, monkeys, hummingbirds, deer and even sharks!

You may also notice that the numbers are rather high. Paper money starts at 1,000 colones and goes up to 50,000. Coins range from 5 colones to 500. It sounds like a lot but really isn’t once you check out the exchange rate.

The Exchange Rate

When I first came to Costa Rica, I assumed that things would be cheap. At least, that’s what I always seemed to hear about Latin America in general.

At first glance, it seems like US dollars stretch quite a ways. The exchange rate, after all, hovers around 550 colones to the dollar. At the time of this writing its up a little as 567 colones will buy you a dollar. But it fluctuates daily.

So, wow! With just $1 you can get 567 colones? Your money is going to go so far!

That’s what you think until you see that you’ll pay 3,000 colones for a sandwich. At the current rate, that’s just over $5–not expensive, but not any cheaper than what you’d pay in the US.

The colorful bills of Costa Rica Currency

The Cost of Living

What about the cost of living in general? Is it cheaper to live in Costa Rica?

Overall, yes. Things like rent and houses are a lot cheaper. But food is expensive, especially if you want to keep eating like you do in the States. Rice and beans are super cheap (maybe that’s why Costa Ricans eat them with everything). But expect to pay about the same (or more) for pretty much everything else.

Specialty items like gluten-free or vegan alternatives to milk and other products are very expensive–if you can find them. Keep in mind that I live in Quepos, which is a very touristy area. The price of food outside the tourist areas (including San Jose) is somewhat less.

Big ticket items like electronics are quite expensive. Everything has to be shipped into the country. You not only pay shipping costs, but also the Costa Rican government slaps a huge tax on most imports.

For that reason, I tend to wait for visits to the States to buy new camera equipment, computer stuff, etc. But, that also makes it difficult to take advantage of when things are on sale.

When to Use Costa Rica Currency

If you come with US dollars in hand you won’t need much Costa Rica currency. In fact, it’s not worth the bank fees to order any before you come. You also don’t need to worry about exchanging money at the airport and paying their exorbitant fees as well.

Many places, especially in tourist areas, accept dollars. Tours, hotels, and even some restaurants display their prices in dollars. And even if the price list is in colones, chances are good that they accept dollars.

You’ll probably get your change in colones, which is typically the best way to get Costa Rica currency. Depending on your bank, pulling it straight out of the ATM in colones will also give you a favorable exchange.

But if you can pay in dollars, why would you need colones? Well, depending on where you are you won’t always get the best exchange rate if you pay in dollars. At a supermarket (that has an electronic cash register) you will be charged the current exchange rate.

But anyplace that is not digitized will often give you a straight exchange rate of 500 colones to the dollar. That’s because it’s easier to calculate but it works decidedly not in your favor.

For example, at 500 colones to the dollar, you simply multiply by 2 and move the decimal 3 places to the left. Therefore 1000 colones = $2, 10,000 = $20, 20,000 = $40 and so on.

But the real value at 567 currently is actually 1000 colones = $1.76, 10,000 = $17.63, and 20,000 = $35.27. As you can see, the bigger the amount, the more money you’ll lose at the 500 exchange rate. It’s a handy calculation to do quick conversions in your head, but you don’t want to actually pay that rate.

Wrapping Up

So there you have it! It’s a little weird getting used to all those zeros. The first few times I pulled money out of an ATM I was terrified of making a mistake and pulling out $50,000! Obviously, I didn’t have anything to worry about. Neither my bank nor the ATM would let me make such an egregious error, but it still got my heart racing.

Carrying around Costa Rican coins is kind of a pain. They’re pretty large and heavy and add up quickly. My husband started throwing them in a piggy bank every time he entered the house instead of keeping them in his pocket. Within a few months, we took it to the bank and found that we had 135,000 colones in there!

You won’t run up that kind of coinage on a short visit, but do make sure you try to use whatever you have before you leave. Because of the weight, the bank fees won’t be worth exchanging it once you get back home. Plus, your bank may not even accept it.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me or leave a comment below. I’ll do my best to answer!

Until next time…

Cara