Costa Rica Currency: Colones, U.S. Dollars, Tipping and Paying at Markets

At a roadside soda outside Monteverde, the plate of casado arrives, the bill follows, and the same small question comes up for nearly every visitor: pay with a green bill or with colorful colones? The short answer is that the money of Costa Rica is the colon, that dollars are happily taken in tourist areas, and that a tip is already partly built into the bill.

What currency does Costa Rica use?

Costa Rica uses the colon (plural colones), and it is the money you will handle in everyday life, even though dollars circulate widely in the places visitors go. The bills are large and brightly colored, and they carry images of the country’s wildlife and landscapes, which makes them easy to tell apart once you have held a few. Coins cover the small amounts, and you will collect them quickly from change at bakeries and bus fares.

Think of the colon as the local currency for anything local: a bus ride, a coffee at a corner stand, fruit by the bag, a plate at a lunch counter. In those places prices are written in colones, and paying in them is the natural thing to do. In tourist-oriented businesses, some prices are in colones and some in dollars, so it pays to ask before you order.

Where colones are the better choice

Markets and small neighborhood places are where colones feel most natural. The Central Market in San Jose is a covered maze of food stalls, coffee sellers, souvenir shops and small lunch counters, and it is the classic stop for a first taste of casados (the plate of rice, beans, a protein and salad that is the national lunch) and fresh fruit. Vendors there think in colones, so having some in your pocket makes every small purchase simpler.

The same goes for local buses, bakeries, produce stands in a town square and the little sodas, as the family-run restaurants are called. A mix of small bills and coins is more useful here than a large note, since a vendor selling a single mango will not enjoy breaking something big. Keep a small stash separate from your main wallet so you are not unfolding everything at the counter.

Getting colones and handling them

A modest amount of colones is useful for markets, buses and small stops. Because dollars are accepted in many places, you do not need to plan your money around the colon alone.

Spanish is the official language, and a few words go a long way when you pay. English is widely spoken in hotels, tour companies and the main tourist towns, but at a market stall a smile and a little Spanish help.

You will also hear pura vida, the all-purpose local phrase used as a greeting, a thank-you and an answer to how are you. Handing over money with a cheerful pura vida is entirely at home.

Can you use U.S. dollars in Costa Rica?

Yes, U.S. dollars are widely accepted in tourist areas, and many hotels, tours and restaurants quote their prices in dollars. For an American visitor this is a comfort: the bills in your wallet will work in a lot of the places you are likely to spend the most, from a lodge near a volcano to a boat excursion.

The habit to know about is the change. When you pay in dollars, the change is often handed back in colones. So you might hand over a twenty for a lunch and receive colones in return, which is a quiet way the local currency finds its way into your pocket even if you never planned to carry it. It is worth glancing at the change you receive so you know what you are holding.

Where dollars work well

Hotels, tour companies and restaurants in the main tourist towns are the easiest places to pay in dollars, because their prices are often listed that way to begin with. When a tour is quoted in dollars, you simply pay it in dollars and there is nothing to convert in your head. In these places English is also widely spoken, so the whole exchange tends to be easy.

That way you are not stopping to work out rates at every counter, and you are not stuck with a pile of leftover coins at the end.

Where to lean on colones instead

Step away from the tourist circuit and dollars become less convenient. At a market, a bus stop or a village bakery, a vendor may not have the colones to break your bill, and the exchange is simply easier with local money. This is not a rule so much as a habit: the farther you are from the places built for visitors, the more useful colones become.

If you are heading to a mountain town or a quiet stretch of coast for a few days, it makes sense to arrive with some colones already in hand. A morning at a farmers’ stand or a stop at a roadside fruit seller will go much more smoothly, and you will feel less like you are asking for a favor each time you pay.

How much should you tip in Costa Rica?

A further tip in a restaurant is a matter of choice rather than an obligation, because restaurant bills usually add 13 percent sales tax and a 10 percent service charge. That charge already stands in for a tip, which is a different arrangement from what most Americans are used to at home, where the tip is added by you at the end.

So when the bill arrives, read it before you reach for your wallet. If the service charge is there, you have already contributed. Many visitors still leave a little extra when someone has been especially attentive, and that is perfectly welcome, but nobody expects the full American percentage on top of what is already printed on the check.

Restaurants and sodas

At a sit-down restaurant, the service charge is usually already on the bill, so a second tip is up to you. If the meal was a pleasure and the server went out of the way, a small extra left on the table is a kind gesture. If the charge is not shown, you can decide how much to add, and the same sense of choice applies.

At a casual soda or a market counter, where you order at a window and carry your own plate, tipping is not part of the routine in the same way. A few coins left in a jar or on the counter after a good meal are a friendly touch rather than something anyone is waiting for. Keep your small coins handy for exactly this reason.

Guides, drivers and hotel staff

Outside the restaurant, tipping is a personal decision, and travelers handle it in different ways. After a guided walk where someone spent hours pointing out birds and explaining the forest, many people like to show thanks with a tip in cash. The same impulse applies to a driver who helped with luggage or a hotel worker who made your stay easier.

Carry them in a separate pocket so you are not pulling out your whole wallet in front of the group. A sincere thank-you, ideally with a cheerful pura vida, goes along with it and is always appreciated.

Good to know before you go

The U.S. State Department rates Costa Rica Level 2, ‘Exercise increased caution,’ due to crime; it says petty crime is common throughout Costa Rica and that violent crime also affects tourists, including armed robbery, homicide and sexual assault.

Carry a mix of small bills: colones for markets and buses, and dollars for hotels and tours. Petty theft is part of the reality of travel here, so a modest amount in your pocket and the rest tucked away is a good habit. Read each restaurant bill for the service charge before you decide on a tip, and expect your change in colones when you pay with dollars.