![\"\"](\"http:\/\/cdncache-a.akamaihd.net\/items\/it\/img\/arrow-10x10.png\"){kind=icon}
<\/a> in Costa Rica (from 7$ per night). If you book them through pages like booking.com, look for their daily specials.<\/p>\nApart from this, why not use private offers from locals? On pages like HomeAway, VRBO and Airbnb, locals offer a stay for little money. And on Couchsurfing, you even find a free stay and get in touch with some ticos!<\/p>\n
Activities<\/h4>\n
Always compare tour prices. The same tour could be more expensive in the tourist information center than on the front desk of your hostel Eat like a local! This is where you might save the most and usually one of the main “expensive” claims. Choose the sodas<\/em> which offer affordable local food (3-6$) instead of expensive restaurants (about 10-20$). Bakeries or street vendors are also good. Look for the places that you see packed of ticos at lunch and not the tour buses.<\/p>\n Furthermore, many hostels have a little kitchen area that you can use. By sometimes cooking your own food, you can save a lot of money. Another money-saving idea is the water. Apart from the port cities of\u00a0Lim\u00f3n\u00a0and\u00a0Puntarenas and a couple of other places, water just off the tap is potable. However, remember that you may need some time to adjust to the type of water. At school, you can fill your bottles with the filtering water machine, so bring your reusable bottle and use it often!<\/p>\n Pack a good sandwich when traveling or when going on a tour and bring a snack. This will save on lunch money in touristic places that might be expensive.<\/p>\n Economically, it’s best to pay in cash in colones. However, in most places and situations, US dollars are accepted, too. The change will be in colones. Usually, Costa Ricans are honest people, but there are always exceptions. So keep the currency in mind to be able to check the accuracy of the change to avoid getting ripped off.<\/p>\n Although we love the convenience of credit cards, you can get discounts in many places when paying cash (always ask!), specially when unfolding considerable amounts.<\/p>\n Getting around in Costa Rica might be more convenient and faster in a private bus. But it will cost you many times more! You can travel around (virtually everywhere) by taking the convenient and punctual public buses for little money (a private bus can cost 45$ whereas the same route only costs 6$ in a public one). Ask at the school desk for bus information, although many routes now have their own websites with updated info.<\/p>\n When taking a taxi, negotiate the price in advance or be sure the taximeter is on. If not, you can just ask the driver to please \u201cponga la Mar\u00eda<\/em>\u201d. Before starting the drive, check the taximeter: it should either say \u201cd\u00eda<\/em>\u201d, \u201csedan<\/em>\u201d or \u201cNr. 1<\/em>\u201d. If another number or \u201cnoche<\/em>\u201d appear, you’ll pay a multiple of the regular price!<\/p>\n Some apps may help you with your calculations too: Taxiando<\/a>, SayTaxi<\/a>, but always use some common sense for traveling by taxi, specially if you already know the routes. And remember, rush hour in Costa Rica is the same as everywhere else!<\/p>\n Buy the cosmetics before getting to Costa Rica! Especially cosmetics like after-sun lotion, sunscreen and insect repellent are quite expensive here.<\/p>\n Costa Rica offers many gorgeous places, which could easily tempt you to want to see as many as possible. But why not restrict to a few different, beautiful places and do them intensively? Thereby you can get in touch with locals better and experience their culture. Furthermore, it’s less stressful and you can invest the saved additional transport costs (and time!) for another activity.<\/p>\n If you have the choice, travel in the so called “rainy” or “green season” (May to November). Many tourists are scared off by the rain. But there are so many advantages this season offers:<\/p>\n Many accommodations drop their prices significantly, parks are not overcrowded, the forest comes alive, and you will be able to experience a tropical rain in a rainforest! Rainy season means it rains more, not necessarily all the time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you have one: bring it! Always ask if there are any student discounts, many parks and other activities (canopy, museums, theatres, cinemas\u2026) offer significant discounts for students. The school will also provide a card stating you’re an Academia Tica student.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00bfCu\u00e1ntas veces vas a estar en Costa Rica? \u00bfDe verdad vas a omitir un tour de rafting porque cuesta $70 y as\u00ed renunciar a una experiencia \u00fanica? \u00a1Ten en cuenta que ahorrar dinero a veces significa acortar la diversi\u00f3n! Aqu\u00ed hay unos consejos de c\u00f3mo ahorrar dinero mientras viajas por Costa Rica durante tu estad\u00eda de estudio.<\/p>\n \u00a1Pasa las noches en hostales! Puedes encontrar un mont\u00f3n de hostales bonitos y baratos en Costa Rica (desde 7$ por noche). Si los reservas \u00a1Siempre compara los precios de las excursiones! El mismo tour<\/em> podr\u00eda ser ofrecido por el centro de informaci\u00f3n tur\u00edstico m\u00e1s caro que en la recepci\u00f3n en tu hostal. Si quieres hacer una caminata por alg\u00fan bosque, piensa si de verdad necesitas un gu\u00eda. Observar animales es m\u00e1s f\u00e1cil con ellos y te van a explicar mucho sobre la naturaleza. Pero despu\u00e9s de unas caminatas, podr\u00edas hacerlas sin gu\u00eda y ahorrar estos costos para otras aventuras.<\/p>\n Come como los locales. Con este punto podr\u00edas ahorrar mucho y es generalmente una de las quejas por las que se dice que Costa Rica “es caro”. Escoje las sodas<\/em> que ofrecen comida t\u00edpica y econ\u00f3mica (3-6$) en lugar de los restaurantes caros (10-20$). Las panader\u00edas y los vendedores en las calles tambi\u00e9n son buenos. Busca lugares que ves llenos de ticos<\/em> durante el almuerzo y no donde est\u00e1n los buses de turismo.<\/p>\n Adem\u00e1s, en muchos hostales hay cocinas que puedes usar. \u00a0Una posibilidad adicional para ahorrar dinero es el agua. Aparte de las ciudades portuarias y otro par de lugares, el agua del tubo (grifo) es potable en Costa Rica. Recuerda que puede llevar un tiempo ajustarte al tipo de agua. En la escuela puedes usar las m\u00e1quinas de agua filtrada, as\u00ed que trae tu botella reusable y util\u00edzala frecuentemente.<\/p>\n Ll\u00e9vate un buen sandwich<\/em> (emparedado) a las excursiones o cuando viajas y tambi\u00e9n una merienda. As\u00ed podr\u00e1s ahorrar en almuerzos que pueden ser bastante caros en los lugares tur\u00edsticos.<\/p>\n Econ\u00f3micamente, lo mejor es pagar en efectivo en colones. No obstante, en la mayor\u00eda de los lugares y situaciones puedes tambi\u00e9n pagar con d\u00f3lares estadounidenses (USD). El cambio ser\u00e1 en colones. Por eso, ten presente el tipo de cambio para evitar ser estafado.<\/p>\n Aunque nos encante la conveniencia de las tarjetas de cr\u00e9dito, muchas veces puedes obtener descuentos si pagas en efectivo (pregunta siempre), especialmente si vas a desembolsar un monto considerable.<\/p>\n Viajar en Costa Rica podr\u00eda ser m\u00e1s conveniente y r\u00e1pido en los buses privados. Pero estos tambi\u00e9n costar\u00e1n m\u00faltiples veces m\u00e1s. Puedes viajar tomando los buses p\u00fablicos, que tambi\u00e9n son puntuales y convenientes y m\u00e1s baratos (un viaje que cuesta 45$ en un bus privado puede costar solo 6$ en un bus p\u00fablico).<\/p>\n Cuando tomas un taxi, deber\u00edas negociar el precio por adelantado o aseg\u00fararte que el tax\u00edmetro est\u00e1 funcionando. Si no, p\u00eddele al taxista que “ponga la Mar\u00eda<\/em>“. Antes de iniciar el viaje, observa el tax\u00edmetro: deber\u00eda decir “d\u00eda<\/em>“, “sed\u00e1n<\/em>” o “Nr. 1<\/em>“. \u00a0Si aparece otro numero o dice “noche<\/em>“, pagar\u00e1s m\u00e1s del precio real.<\/p>\n Algunas aplicaciones para tu celular te pueden ayudar con los c\u00e1lculos: Taxiando<\/a>, SayTaxi<\/a>, pero siempre usa un poco de sentido com\u00fan al viajar con taxis, especialmente si ya conoces las rutas. Y recuerda, la hora pico en Costa Rica es igual a la hora pico en cualquier otro lugar.<\/p>\n \u00a1Compra las cosm\u00e9ticos antes de llegar a Costa Rica! Sobre todo cosm\u00e9ticos como productos hidratantes para despu\u00e9s de tomar sol, crema de protecci\u00f3n contra el sol (bloqueador) y repelentes de insectos son bastante caros aqu\u00ed.<\/p>\n Costa Rica ofrece un mont\u00f3n de lugares maravillosos que podr\u00edan hacerte querer ver lo m\u00e1s posible. \u00bfPero por qu\u00e9 no limitarte a algunos lugares bonitos y diferentes y hacerlo intensivamente? As\u00ed es m\u00e1s f\u00e1cil conocer a gente local y experimentar su cultura. Adem\u00e1s es menos estresante y puedes invertir los costos de los transportes (\u00a1y tiempo!) para actividades adicionales.<\/p>\n Si puedes elegir, viaja en la \u00e9poca de las lluvias\/verde (de mayo a noviembre). Muchos turistas se intimidan por la lluvia. Pero hay tantas ventajas que esta \u00e9poca ofrece: muchos hospedajes bajan el precio significativamente, los parques no est\u00e1n llenos, el bosque se pone vivo y \u00a1podr\u00e1s experimentar la lluvia tropical en un bosque lluvioso! La temporada lluviosa significa que llueve m\u00e1s, no que llueve todo el tiempo.<\/p>\n Si la tienes: \u00a1tr\u00e1ela! Siempre pregunta si hay alg\u00fan descuento para estudiantes, muchos parques y otras actividades (canopy, museos, teatros, cines\u2026) ofrecen descuentos significativos para estudiantes. Adem\u00e1s, Academia Tica proveer\u00e1 un carnet que te identifica como su estudiante.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Save money while traveling Costa Rica, some tips from our intern (and former student), Karen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":901,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[32,146,125,145],"tags":[4,149,147,148],"class_list":["post-897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cool-places-to-go","category-costa-rica","category-discounts-2","category-travelling","tag-costarica","tag-saving-money-during-travel","tag-travel","tag-travelling-cheap"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.academiatica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Paisajes.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/ppNc8-et","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.academiatica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.academiatica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.academiatica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.academiatica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.academiatica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=897"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.academiatica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":996,"href":"https:\/\/www.academiatica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897\/revisions\/996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.academiatica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.academiatica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.academiatica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.academiatica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>. If you want to go hiking in a forest, think about the need of a guide. Observing animals is easier with them and they will explain a lot of interesting things about the nature. But after a few trips, you could also do it on your own and save the guide fee for another tour.<\/p>\n![\"IMG-20150921-WA0000\"](\"http:\/\/www.academiatica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/IMG-20150921-WA0000.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nEating<\/h4>\n
Know the currency<\/h4>\n
Take the public bus<\/h4>\n
Take taxis smartly<\/h4>\n
Cosmetics<\/h4>\n
Traveling intensively vs. traveling much<\/h4>\n
Travel in the \u201cgreen season\u201d<\/h4>\n
![\"20150905_123806_Richtone(HDR)\"](\"http:\/\/www.academiatica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/20150905_123806_RichtoneHDR.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nBring your student card<\/h4>\n
Read it in Spanish!<\/h2>\n
Hospedaje<\/strong><\/h4>\n
<\/a> usando p\u00e1ginas como booking.com, busca las ofertas especiales del d\u00eda. Adem\u00e1s, \u00bfpor qu\u00e9 no aprovechar las ofertas de personas privadas? En p\u00e1ginas como HomeAway, VRBO y Airbnb los locales ofrecen hospedajes por poco dinero. \u00a1Y en Couchsurfing, vas a encontrar incluso hospedajes gratis y puedes conocer a ticos!<\/p>\nActividades <\/strong><\/h4>\n
Alimentaci\u00f3n<\/h4>\n
Conoce el tipo de cambio<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Toma el bus p\u00fablico<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Usa los taxis inteligentemente
\n<\/b><\/h4>\nCosm\u00e9ticos<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Viaja intens<\/strong>amente vs. viaja mucho<\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\nViaja en la \u201ctemporada verde\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Lleva tu tarjeta estudiantil<\/strong><\/h4>\n