jimcab asked 8 years ago
Hi,
My 8 year old daughter are arriving in April 2017 to SJO and plan to catch a flight to Tortuguero upon arrival. We have booked accommodations (one of your suggestions in Tortuguero) for 3 nights. I understand that there are no ATMs in Tortuguero…so we need to exchange at the airport between flights. What is the best place in the airport do do this?
Following our time in Tortugouero, we plan on heading down to the Puerto Viejo/ Punta Uva area for another 10 days or so. I understand we should take the boat to the Moin dock…how dow then get south? Are there taxis readily available when we get off the boat or do I have to arrange ahead of time?
Do you have accommodation suggestions. I was thinking of spending 3-4 days in the Puerto Viejo/Cocles area, then heading to Punta Uva area for the balance of our time.
Thank you,
Jim
Jenn and Matt Staff answered 8 years ago
Hi Jim,
We’ve always avoided changing money at the airport because we have heard that the fees are outrageous. There are money exchange companies there however, if you are desperate. You might want to check with your bank at home to see if they can get you some colones to get started with. If not, dollars are widely accepted in Costa Rica, especially if you bring smaller bills like 20s. Check out our Money Matters post for more on that.
To get to Puerto Viejo from Moin, you will probably be better off arranging transportation in advance since a taxi can easily take advantage of you if they are the only option around at the time. We work with a private shuttle operator and the price for that trip is $88 and the ride is about 1 hour. Let us know when the time gets closer if you are interested.
Puerto Viejo, Cocles, and Punta Uva are all really close together so you might want to look at hotels just south of town so that you can access them all. Happy planning!