Are you planning a visit to Costa Rica? Do you have an Android phone? If so, here are some handy Android travel apps that can aid you in planning your trip to Costa Rica. While having an unlocked GSM phone is preferred, you should be able to use these apps with any Android phone that has Wi-Fi access and a GPS. Planning a vacation starts with travel guides, and there are three good-to-excellent Android travel planning apps.

The Costa Rica – Travel Guide from Mobile Reference comes in free and a paid version. This is a complete travel guide that includes sections on maps, attractions, transportation, and national parks and reserves. The maps include locations for restaurants, gas stations, banks, and points-of-interest. The free version has a limited amount of information, but it does give you a sense of what to expect with the paid version. This is a good overall vacation planning app.

Costa Rica Travel Guide from Triposo is a free app that draws its information from Wikipedia, Wikitravel, World66, Open Streetmaps, and DMOZ. It also draws from Chefmoz, but Chefmoz has zero entries for Costa Rica. You may want to install this app for the additional information, but not as your primary travel guide.

While a travel guide is important, they cannot match Costa Rica Trip Ideas ($1.99 USD) for the 155 sites to visit and 10 detailed trip ideas presented in this app. The guide is the work of Erin Van Rheenan (in cooperation with Sutro Media), who wrote “Living Abroad in Costa Rica.” She provides reviews of everything from popular tourist sites to the little-known sites. I am still working my way through the 1500 photographs. The app even includes GPS tracking, for finding nearby services. This app is worth every penny. Without question, this is my favorite app. I would even recommend this app to anyone living in Costa Rica. The app is a great way to explore this beautiful country, and plan an exciting vacation.

Currency exchange rates vary from day-to-day. The average rate is around $1 equals 500 colones (CRC). This rate also varies depending on where you convert your currency. In Costa Rica, banks usually give the best rate, while hotels often give the worst rate. I tested a number of currency converter apps, and I found that the OANDA Currency Converter is the most useful. The application is free and easy to use. The first field defines the currency you wish to convert (the default is the USD), and the second field defines the currency to which you wish to convert. You will need to change the second field to the CRC (Costa Rica Colon). The default conversion rate is the interbank rate. To find other rates click the Interbank rate field, and change it to the desired method of conversion, such as Typical ATM Rate, Typical Credit Card Rate, or Typical Kiosk Rate. Hotels usually use the Kiosk Rate. You can find an ATM at most banks, major super-markets (such as Mega-Super), and some Post Offices. Rarely, do you find an outside ATM. The bank ATM may be in the bank, or in a separate door next to the bank. To unlock the door, you just need to use your credit or debit card. Believe it or not, you get the ATM conversion rate at Wal-Mart.