Useful Information

Información importante

Before you go:
Antes de viajar:

- Airlines flying to Costa Rica
- Aerolineas que vuelan a Costa Rica

- Airport > Juan Santamaria International (SJO)
- Aeropuerto > Internacional Juan Sanatamaría (SJO)

- Entry Requirements
- Requisitos de entrada al pais

- Visas by Nationality
- Países que requieren visa

- Yellow Fever Vaccination
- Vacunas contra la fiebre amarilla

Arriving in Costa Rica:

Airport transfers

Currency
Costa Rica's currency is the colon (CRC), named after Christopher Columbus. The colon comes in both paper and coin form. The paper money goes from bills 1,000-50,000 and coins from 5-500.

The US dollar is widely accepted - USD1=CRC565 (at December 2017). The exchange rate fluctuates, therefore for current exchange rate, please visit www.xe.com

Here are the most common bills and their estimated USD equivalent:

CRC1,000 is about USD2.00
CRC2,000 is about USD4.00
CRC5,000 is about USD10.00
CRC10,000 is about USD20.00
CRC20,000 is about USD40.00

Mobile devices

Will my phone work in Costa Rica?

Getting around

Car Rental

To rent a vehicle in Costa Rica, you must:

• Have a valid license from your home country or an international driver's license
• Be 21 or older
• Have a major credit card with enough credit to cover the total cost of the rental

Bus

To get to any area in or around Heredia, you have the option of using public buses or taxis. The buses run daily and nightly, and go between Heredia and San Jose. Costa Rica's bus system is government-subsidized, so national travel is very inexpensive. Some of the local buses do not have bells to signal the driver to stop. Do as the Costa Ricans do -: let out a whistle or call out "parada," which means stop.

Taxis

Taxis in Costa Rica are an inexpensive and convenient way to travel. Taxis can be divided into three groups: Cooperativas (semi-independent companies), private taxis, and pirate taxis. It is highly recommend that you take only official taxis, identified by their red color and yellow triangle on the door, because only these taxis are regulated by law. Official taxis are required to use the meter at all times. Pirate taxis, which come in all colors and models, do not have a meter, and will charge you per kilometer.

Urban Train

The newest addition to Costa Rica's public transportation offerings is San José's urban train, also known as the commuter rail. The schedule is designed to service commuters, and trains only run Monday through Friday between morning and evening rush hours (5:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.). There are three basic routes ? Heredia-San Pedro (via downtown San Jose), San Pedro-Pavas (Rohrmoser), and San José-Belen de Heredia that run whole or partial trips.

(Adapted from https://www.costarica.com/travel/getting-around/)

Eating out

Restaurants in Heredia (Trip Advisor)
Restaurants in Limón (Trip Advisor)

Shopping

Shopping in Heredia
Shopping in Limón