Maps
The maps dished out by Costa Rican embassies and the ICT are basic and somewhat out of date, so arm yourself with some general maps before you go. The best road map, clearly showing all the major routes and national parks, is the annually updated Costa Rica Waterproof Travel Map (1:470,000; Toucan Maps), which also has a very useful, highly detailed section of the Valle Central and San José, plus area maps of Monteverde, Volcán Arenal, Tamarindo and Manuel Antonio. Other maps with clearly marked contour details, petrol stations, national parks and roads include the waterpoof, rip-proof Rough Guide Map Costa Rica and Panama (1:550,000; Rough Guides) and Costa Rica (1:650,000; Borch). Road and park markings are less distinct on Nelles Verlag’s large Central America Map (1:900,000; Nelles Verlag), but it’s handy if you are travelling throughout the isthmus.
In Costa Rica, it’s a good idea to go to one of San José’s two big downtown bookstores, Librería Lehmann or Librería Universal and look through their stock of maps, which are contoured and show major topographical features such as river crossings and high-tide marks; you can buy them in individual sections. You can also go to the government maps bureau, the Instituto Geográfico Nacional, which sells more lavishly detailed colour maps of specific areas of the country; whilst out of date, the smaller-scale series (available in 133 sheets) is useful for serious hiking trips.
Considering it’s such a popular hiking destination, there are surprisingly few good maps of Costa Rica’s national parks. Those given out at ranger stations are very general; your best bet is to get hold of the book National Parks of Costa Rica, published by SINAC and usually available in the major San José bookshops. Although rather cramped, not too detailed and of little practical use for walking the trails, these maps (of all the parks currently in existence) do at least show contours and give a general idea of the terrain, the animals you might see and the annual rainfall.
Money
The official currency of Costa Rica is the colón (plural colones); you’ll often hear them colloquially referred to as “pesos”. There are two types of coins in circulation: the old silver ones, which come in denominations of 5, 10 and 20, and newer gold coins, which come in denominations of 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 500. The silver and gold coins are completely interchangeable, with the exception of public payphones, which don’t accept gold coins. Notes are available in 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10,000 (sometimes called the “rojo”– red); 20,000 and 50,000. The colón floats freely against the US dollar, which in practice has meant that it devalues by some ten percent per year. Obtaining colones outside Costa Rica is virtually impossible: wait until you arrive and get some at the airport or border posts. While the US dollar has long been the second currency of Costa Rica and is accepted almost everywhere, the vast majority of Costa Ricans get paid in colones, and buy and sell in colones, so it’s still a good idea to get the hang of the currency.
Outside San José and Juan Santamaría International Airport, there are effectively no official bureaux de change. In general, legitimate money-changing entails going to a bank, a hotel (usually upper-range) or, in outlying areas of the country, to whoever will do it – a tour agency, the friend of the owner of your hotel who has a Chinese restaurant… That said, it’s unlikely that you’ll need to change US dollars into colones, but if you do, or if you are changing other currencies such as sterling or euros, you’ll find that the efficient and air-conditioned private banks (such as Banco Popular and the Banco de San José) are much faster but charge scandalous commissions; the state banks such as the Banco Nacional don’t charge such high commissions but are slow and bureaucratic.
When heading for the more remote areas, try to carry sufficient colones with you, especially in small denominations – you may have trouble changing a 5,000 note in the middle of the Nicoya Peninsula, for example. Going around with stacks of mouldy-smelling colones may not seem safe, but you should be all right if you keep them in a money belt, and it will save hours of time waiting in line. Some banks may not accept bent, smudged or torn dollars. It’s also worth noting that, due to an influx of counterfeit $100 notes a few years ago, some shops, and even banks, are unwilling to accept them; if you bring any into the country, make sure that they are in mint condition.
Opening hours
Banks are generally open Monday to Friday 8 or 9am to 3 or 4pm; post offices Monday to Friday 8am to 4.30 or 5.30pm (sometimes with an hour’s break between noon and 1pm), and Saturdays 8am to noon; government offices, Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm; and shops Monday to Friday 9am to 6 or 7pm, and often on Saturday mornings, as are a few banks. In rural areas, shops generally close for lunch. Practically the only places open on Sundays are supermarkets, which are generally open daily from 7 or 8am to 8pm, though sometimes they don’t close until 9 or 10pm.
Phones
The country code for all of Costa Rica is 506. There are no area codes, and all phone numbers have eight digits: in March 2008, a “2” was added to the beginning of landline numbers, and an “8” to mobile numbers, though not all signs, brochures and business cards have been updated. Calls within Costa Rica are inexpensive and calling long-distance can work out very reasonably if you ring directly through a public telephone network, and avoid calling from your hotel or other private business.
With the proliferation of free wi-fi, Skype is the best way to make international calls. Alternatively, purchase a phonecard (tarjeta telefónica), available from most grocery stores, street kiosks and pharmacies. You’ll need card number 199 (card number 197 is for domestic calls only), which comes in varying denominations. You can also call collect to virtually any foreign country from any phone or payphone in Costa Rica; simply dial 09 (or 116 to get an English-speaking operator, a more expensive option), then tell them the country code, area code and number; note that this method costs twice as much as dialling direct.
Another way of making calls is by purchasing a prepaid SIM card for your mobile phone at the ICE counter in the arrivals area at Juan Santamaría International Airport or from telecommunications offices around the country. Your phone will need to work on the 1800mhz range (any quad band and most tri-band phones; there’s an approved list on the ICE website and must be unlocked (check with your provider).