If you're heading to Costa Rica with dollars, you're getting less colón for your money than at almost any point in recent memory — though the dollar just clawed back a little ground.
On the country's wholesale currency market (Monex), the dollar closed Friday, Sept. 25 at ₡454.70, up about ₡7 from the previous week and its best finish since late June. That bounce came barely a week after the rate hit a record low of ₡446.80 on Sept. 17. The bigger picture, though, is a long slide that started in mid-2022 and has left the dollar sitting only around ₡8 above its all-time low.
Tourists mostly deal with retail bank rates, which are wider. In late September, banks were buying dollars at ₡436 or more, while the state banks — Banco de Costa Rica, Banco Nacional and Banco Popular — were selling around ₡462, with private operators between ₡460 and ₡463. In real terms: exchanging $1,000 as an arriving visitor costs roughly ₡462,000 at a state bank. The Central Bank's reference rate was ₡450.38 to buy and ₡455.60 to sell.
Will the recovery stick? Probably not, says Federico Quesada Chaves, an economist at UNED. From late October into November, the market typically floods with dollars as businesses pay aguinaldo (the mandatory year-end bonus), holiday shopping ramps up and companies close out the year. A possible government Eurobond issue could add further dollar supply, though nothing is confirmed. He framed the renewed pressure on the dollar as a plausible scenario, not a certainty.
The colón's strength has real consequences beyond exchange windows. The National Chamber of Tourism (Canatur) has flagged currency appreciation as a strain on small tourism operators, who earn in dollars but pay wages and rent in colones. Statistics institute (INEC) figures show tourism-related employment dropped by more than 20,000 jobs between mid-2024 and mid-2026.
For travellers, the practical takeaway: expect your dollars to stretch less than they did a couple of years ago, and don't assume the rate will improve dramatically. Many tour operators, hotels and activities quote prices in dollars anyway, so the exchange rate matters most for everyday spending — meals, taxis, groceries and small shops. If you're paid in colones and travelling abroad, the same logic applies in reverse. And if you carry debt, Quesada's advice to match the currency of your borrowing to the currency of your income applies to any future trip planning too.
The final quarter should reveal whether late September's bounce was a turning point or just a pause. Either way, Costa Rica remains as popular as ever — just budget with today's rate, not yesterday's.
