Costa Rica is not a "cheap" country by any means. Even in a "soda", which is about as cheap as you can get, a meal will be on the order of $7 per person. What t

Costa Rica is not a "cheap" country by any means. Even in a "soda", which is about as cheap as you can get, a meal will be on the order of $7 per person. What the OP is probably saying is that he tried to pay with a $20 bill and would have got change, but the person wouldn't take it, not that the meal was $20. When I go I hardly ever exchange money, I just use USD and credit cards with no foreign transaction fees (AMEX mostly). I get change in colones and will use that as I can (entrance to beach, small transactions, etc.), but in general everybody takes USD. You just need to be aware of the fact that you'll probably get a bit screwed over in the exchange rate at smaller shops/individuals. It's helpful to know what the rate is and negotiate a bit. Most true restaurants/shops will use whatever the bank rate is that day because it'll be in a POS system, but the farther out you go from the big cities the more likely you'll hit mom and pop stores that randomly choose some rate. If paying by credit card, always make sure they do it in local currency. Source: Me, I have a house there and spend a lot of time there every year.