← Part of the Costa Rica money guide
Costa Ricachecked Jul 2026Do I need cash in Costa Rica, or can I use cards?
Short answer: cards work almost everywhere, dollars are accepted, but you get better value paying in colones, and you will want a little cash for sodas, buses and small vendors. Here is how to handle it.
At a glance
Currency
Colon (CRC), dollars accepted
Cards
Widely accepted, contactless growing
Cash for
Sodas, markets, buses, remote areas
On a card
Choose colones, not dollars
Cards, mostly, with a little cash. Costa Rica is card-friendly: cards work at hotels, restaurants, tour operators and supermarkets, and contactless is growing. It is a dual-currency economy: the colon is official, but US dollars are widely accepted, especially in tourist areas. The catch is that paying in dollars often gets you change in colones at a poor rate, so pay in colones for local prices. Keep some colones for sodas (local eateries), markets, buses and remote areas. Choose colones, not dollars, on any card or ATM.
Card-friendly, colones and dollars
Costa Rica is card-friendly: cards work at hotels, restaurants, tour operators, supermarkets and shops, and contactless is growing. It runs on two currencies: the colon is official, but US dollars are widely accepted, especially in tourist areas.
Keep some colones for sodas (small local eateries), markets, buses and remote areas, where cards are less certain and small dollar bills are awkward.
Pay in colones, not dollars
Two things about currency. On a card, if asked to charge in dollars or colones, choose colones, since dollars trigger dynamic currency conversion at a rate about 3 to 8% worse than your bank's. In cash, paying in US dollars is accepted but you often get change in colones at the shop's rate, which is usually poor.
So pay in colones for local prices and better value. For cash, use a bank ATM, which can dispense both colones and dollars, and use a debit card to avoid cash-advance fees.
Cash for sodas and buses
A card covers most spending, but keep some colones for the sodas, markets, public buses and remote or rural areas. Small vendors and bus fares are much easier in colones than with dollar bills.
For tipping norms, see tipping in Costa Rica, and for the wider picture, the Costa Rica money guide.
Common questions
Quick answers.
Do I need cash in Costa Rica?
A little. Costa Rica is card-friendly and both colones and US dollars are accepted, so a card covers most spending. Keep some colones for sodas, markets, buses and remote areas.
Should I pay in colones or dollars in Costa Rica?
Colones, for the best value. On a card, choose colones, not dollars, to avoid the 3 to 8% conversion. In cash, paying in dollars is accepted but you often get change in colones at a poor rate, so colones are better.
Are US dollars accepted in Costa Rica?
Yes, widely, especially in tourist areas. But you often get change in colones at the shop's rate, which is usually poor, so paying in colones gives better value for local prices.
Can I use cards everywhere in Costa Rica?
In most places: hotels, restaurants, tour operators and supermarkets take cards, with contactless growing. Sodas, markets, buses and remote areas lean on cash, so carry some colones.
More on Costa Rica
The little money things nobody warns you about.
- What does renting a car in Costa Rica really cost?Costa Rica is one of the great drives and also one of the places where the rate you booked is least likely to be the price you pay. A single mandatory insurance explains most of the gap.
- Taxis in Costa Rica, and the apps to useCosta Rican taxis are cheap and metered, and ride apps make it easier still. The one habit to keep is insisting on the meter, called la maria. Here is how it works.
- Staying connected in Costa RicaThe catch in Costa Rica is that the coverage gaps sit exactly where you came to go: the parks, the cloud forests and the wild coasts. Which network your eSIM uses is what decides whether you have signal in Corcovado or Monteverde, so it is worth getting right before you fly.
- Tipping in Costa RicaThe short version: most restaurant bills already include a 10% service charge, so the tipping is largely done for you. The people worth tipping extra are your guides and drivers, and the one trap to watch for is a blank tip line on a bill that has already charged you.
- Do US citizens need a visa for Costa Rica?Short answer: no visa, and no online form. US citizens are stamped in on arrival, now for up to 180 days. The one thing that trips people up is the onward-ticket rule. Here is what actually matters at the border.
- Common money scams in Costa Rica, and what they cost youCosta Rica is safe for the great majority of visitors and almost none of this is dramatic. The single biggest money surprise here is not a con at all, it is a rental car quote that leaves out a charge the law requires. The rest are ordinary traps: a currency gap at the till, an unofficial taxi, a stranger who is unusually keen to help. A few habits defuse nearly all of them. Here is each one, what it costs, and how to sidestep it.
- What does getting sick in Costa Rica cost a visitor?Costa Rica's medical story is a geography story. In San Jose the care is excellent and priced for Costa Rica. On the beaches and in the rainforest, where your trip actually is, the answer to anything serious is a ride back toward the capital.
Sources, and how this was checked
Last checkedJul 2026
- Banco Central de Costa Ricaofficial exchange rate information
- US State DepartmentCosta Rica country information
Our own readCosta Rica is card-friendly and dual-currency, but paying in colones beats paying in dollars, where change comes at a poor rate. The colon rate moves, and the firm rule is to decline dollar conversion. Checked July 2026.
How we checkHow every guide is researched, checked and dated