Some people they just talking about some areas in Costa Rica that are really bad and there are always some bad areas that don’t matter where you go around this world.
There’s one thing I can tell you is that Costa Rica has more beautiful great places and great people. But it is not a hundred percent perfect place.
Currency Exchange
While I visited San Jose in Costa Rica, I fell prey to the old “money exchange scam”. A man noticed I was a tourist and he said he could give me a better rate of exchange than the banks.
Luckily I only changed $20 with him into the local currency because later when I wanted to use the money, only I found out one of the bills he gave me was fake. No one wants to accept it.
When we wet the bill it fell apart as cheap paper does. So if you want to exchange currency when you are in San Jose, don’t exchange with anyone approach you on the street. Always remember to exchange at your hotel or a bank. It is much safer that way.
Tire Puncture
As I know, this kind of scam been going on for over 10 years. I actually heard about it before I even visited Costa Rica for the first time. It’s in all the travel books and the internet. The information is out there where nobody’s trying to keep it as secret or keep you unaware.
Here is how the scam works. If you face such a situation, it mostly is an inside job instead of an accident. What happens is when you go to get pick up your car at the car rental agency, they may have punctured your tire before you leave. This causes a slow leak which ultimately gives you a flat tire.
Miraculously, some good Samaritans will show up to help you with your tire. Then, they will try to distract you and take your valuables. Sometimes they strong-arm on you take your stuff.
If you’re not sure what to do, I believe personally I’d be riding on the rims till I get to a gas station or a safer place before I get out and take a look at the tire condition.
The bottom line is you don’t want to pull your car over if you suspect something like it a kind of a coincidence that you just got a flat tire leaving just after you picked up the car.
Now, how do people not know that? Why do people visit a foreign country without doing a little homework or some research?
don’t even people get a little curious even if you’re not into the Internet? It’s in the books don’t people pick up a
Wo visit a country without doing any homework and research, it’s normally the people that get their backpacks stolen from their car or on the beach.
Most of the scams that happen to tourists doesn’t have to happen. It’s the unawareness making Costa Rica look bad because they had a bad experience and they want to tell everybody about it. But it is good if they do take some responsibility for themselves.
Therefore, it is advisable for you to do your research and homework before going to Costa Rica so that you can avoid all the scams. With this, you are going to have a very pleasant moment for your vacation.
Parking Scam
If you rent a car to drive, you need to beware of parking scams when you go to tourist attractions or restaurants.
You may be in these places and you see an empty parking lot, you start to do reverse parking on the parking lot. When you approach the parking area, there may suddenly come out a fake attendant saying that you can’t park your car there because the parking lot is actually reserved for someone else.
They will act like they are very helpful and want to help you to get a parking lot. They will then direct you to park to other places. Of course, you are going to pay for a high fee for that parking lot. So, it is better for you to check yourself to confirm if that parking lot is actually reserved. Or you may drive away and find some other places where you think the fee is reasonable.
Tico Culture
This is not a scam but rather it is a local culture that been long practiced by the Tico.
If you’re going to have a short living in Costa Rica, you need to know something about the Tico culture if you’re going to survive here what I’m about to tell you can save you big time on frustration and probably on the money.
I’m sure you have heard, read or experience that the people in Costa Rica are very nice and very polite if you ever visited the country. Well, that’s true as most of the people there are very nice and friendly. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that all of them are sincere and honest.
This is a cultural thing but this is a lot of cultures around the world even in your own country. For this, they may not care about you or not agree with you on something but you are usually welcome in their house as they are very hospitable.
So, everything you say in Costa Rica is pretty much a nod in agreement. They are going to be positive and you are not going to get a whole lot of guff from them about what you are saying. Which also means you are not going to get a whole lot of perspective from them either.
When you say you want to open an ice cream store that caters to Tico, they are probably going to say: “Yes, that’s a great idea! I love it!” They say in this way is because they don’t want to squash anybody’s dreams or bust their bubble.
Only if you are their closed friend, they maybe they will tell you the truth and give you some good feedback. However, even if you have good Tico friends here, they’re liable to kind of just agree with you on everything. One of the reasons for them to do in this way is that they see an opportunity from your suggestion.
When you say you want to open an ice cream store, they are thinking that their uncle is an architect, he might be able to design your store for you. Or his cousin is a contractor, he might be able to build it.
If you want to have a dumbass idea and you want to pay somebody to make that dumbass idea to become reality, that is no problem for people to take the opportunity on it. However, the bigger problem is the yes and no answers.
You need to know that for Tico people to say no is kind of rude and it is almost like a sin for them. They don’t want to displease you, they don’t want any problems and confrontations. They are pleasers and saying yes is a very pleasing answer. So even when they know it is a no, they are going to say yes or when they don’t know something, it’s a yes for the answer.
Till now you may not see any issue with the Tico people in Costa Rica. However, with such culture, some initial problems can actually snowball into much bigger problems.
For example, when you say you can build my house for under $200,000, they will say: “Yes, no problem.” Can you help me to get my permits? My paper is already within three weeks?” They will say: “Yes, no problem.”
That is where the whole Tico time and gringo pricing comes in. It could be a big-time problem and snowball into even bigger problems.
What can you do about it?
The first thing that you can do is try not to ask Tico for yes and no questions. You need to ask something like: “What is a better day to mow my lawn? Thursday or Friday?” or “What’s your best guess the renovation of my store can be completed? 6 months? 9 months? or a year?
What you are doing is you are trying to get arbitrary of “yes” that they’re used to say. You are trying to show some kind of respect for their knowledge and opinion and that they can take some personal ownership in the answer.