Money

The colón, named for Christopher Columbus, is Costa Rica’s official currency. One of the most stable currencies in Latin America, the colón has recently been somewhat shaky because of devaluations. Fortunately, the devaluations are relatively small when compared to the mega-devaluations and run away inflation rampant in other Latin American countries. Since your main source of income will probably be in dollars, you should not worry too much about devaluations unless you have large amounts of money in colones which is not advisable for long-term investments. Devaluations can be good because they increase your purchasing power until prices catch up.

Coins come in denominations of 1 colón, 2, 5, 10, 20, 25, and 100, bills in 50 colones, 100 (called tejas in Slang), 500, 1000 (called rojos in slang) and 5000 (called tucanes in slang). At the end of 1998 2,000 and 10,000 bills were introduced .The rate of exchange, which is set by the Central Bank, was around 355 colones per dollar as of June 2002. New ¢5, ¢10, ¢25, ¢50, ¢100 and ¢500 colón coins, have been issued to replace Costa Rica’s lowest denomination bills.

You can exchange money at most banks between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. When you exchange money at a bank, do so early in the morning because lines can be long later in the day and you can wait for what seems to be an eternity. You should always carry your passport or pensionado or resident I.D. when exchanging money or for other banking transactions.

Money can also be changed on the street where you get the same rate of exchange than in the banks. Street money changers operate along Avenida Central between Calles 2 and 4, in the vicinity of the Post Office. You don’t have to look for these money changers since they usually approach you. Many people prefer to change their money this way because all transactions are quick and there are no lines as in the banks. Once you have been in Costa Rica for a while some of these money changers will get to know you and may do the majority of your transactions. Most hotels can change traveller’s checks or dollars when banks are closed.

Be careful of slick change artists who may be distributing counterfeit bills or attempt to shortchange you. Some money changers work discretely from their own offices in the same area of town. We highly recommend the Ofinter Money Exchange, which has a large clientele of retirees and other foreigners. In addition to changing money, they cash personal and social security checks and provide many other money related services. Their downtown office is located 75 meters south of the main Post Office next to Taco Bell, on the second floor of the Schyfter Building. Tel: (506) 233-3127 or 233-0090; Fax: (506) 255-1527. They also have an office on the second floor of the San Pedro Mall directly below the movie theater, Tel: (506) 224-2707, 283-4527; Fax: (506) 283-4528. You can write them at P.O. Box 144-2300, San José, Costa Rica. They have a small branch office at Plaza Real Cariari behind the carrousel Tel: (506) 293-8065, Fax: (506) 293-8064, in the Mall Internacional Alajuela Tel: (506) 440-7416, Fax: (506) 440-7416 and their newest office at Centro Comercial Plaza Colonial in Escazú Tel: (506) 289-9169.