Exchanging dollars to colones...

Cragers wrote:

Hola amigos/amigas: am wondering if the local banks will exchange dollars at a fair rate... If I should just bring dollars and not worry about colones, or if I am fretting over nada... coming south (Cr) in a week and getting excited. Cragers

The majority of the banks are government owned and the exchange rate is set by the government.  You can track the exchange rate here:  https://coinmill.com/CRC_USD.html#CRC=60

It's always better to use colones rather than dollars.  Yes, you do get a set and fair exchange rate from the banks.  Businesses, that's another story.  Some business still will give you ¢500 colones to the dollar simply because it's "easier."  The exchange rate is about ¢565 to the dollar.  You will also find that many businesses do not take dollars.  This is especially true in the more remote communities.


- Expat Dave

You can withdraw either dollars or colones at ATMs with a debit card.

Just to clarify, the above post is not necessarily true.  We have three banks here in Puriscal and out of the eight ATM's total, only one in BCR allows for USD withdrawal.