Costa Rica Family Trip | Packing & Planning For Your Trip

Costa Rica was not on the top of my list when I started planning a family vacation for a group of 8, but it ended up being a fabulous early January destination which I would highly recommend for a family vacation. I was initially looking for a guaranteed warm-weather beach location which unfortunately excluded most of the continental U.S. in January. I’m not really sure how I ended up stumbling upon Costa Rica (I have to admit my go-to is Cayman!), but it ended up being one of our favorite family vacations. There are definitely some things I’d do differently if I planned again, so I’m hoping my notes below will help you with any future planning.

When to visit

When initially looking in to destinations for our January trip, I discovered that this was during the Costa Rican “dry season.” I’m sure opinions are mixed on the best time of year to visit, but we all decided that would would NOT want to be there during rainy season as our Airbnb host told us that many days, it pours down rain every single day. In general, Costa Rica is damp and we all felt like some of our activities would have been miserable had it been raining. That being said, the January weather was perfect and we loved visiting during that time of year! I’d highly recommend it!

Getting there

There are two major airports that serve Costa Rica, Liberia and San Jose. Depending on where you are visiting in the country, be sure to select the airport that is closest to your destination. Because I had a group of 8 people, I was interested in keeping my airfare expenses to a minimum so we could spend more $$ on lodging, meals and activities. After a drastic schedule change by United, we ended up rescheduling on Southwest Airlines and flew in to Liberia in the northwest part of the country, and flew out of San Jose in the central part of the country. Again, I would select the airport that is closest to your destination because while it appears on the map that locations are not very far away, it takes forever to get anywhere in CR! We arrived in Liberia early afternoon and it took us about 2.5 hours to get through customs which made it pretty late afternoon when we left the airport. I was awfully glad to have a driver waiting for us when we exited the airport which leads me to my first recommendation!

Hire a driver! Really!

Don’t be fooled by maps and distances in Costa Rica, I can tell you that it takes forever to get places and CR drivers are CRAZY! I initially thought about renting a van for the week, but I am SO glad that I instead decided to use a private driver. This was one of the best decisions of the trip and actually not that much more money than renting a car. The roads in Costa Rica are largely in bad shape and they are primarily 2-lane, windy and curve-y and nearly all bridges were just one lane…on major highways! At one point we were on a road so rough I thought we were driving through a field! After we got through customs in Liberia, it was late afternoon and it does get dark in Costa Rica fairly early year-round, so I was so happy that we had a knowledgeable driver to navigate the treacherous roads for us. Our first leg of the trip was from Liberia to La Fortuna which is only 83 miles, but it took us nearly 3 hours to get there and it was pitch black when we arrived. I’m pretty sure we would have been lost multiple times enroute had I been driving! That being said, I know many do rent cars in CR, but my personal recommendation would be that if you do so, make sure you are not driving at night! If you hire a driver for the entire week, you have much more negotiating power, but depending on the size of car/van and mileage, you can likely find someone for $150-$200 per day + tips.

Costa Rica packing suggestions

We visited in January during dry season, so our packing may differ a bit depending on the time of the year you are visiting, but there are some things that I’d definitely recommend! We found the dress to be very casual nearly everywhere we went and given the high temperatures and high humidity, lighter clothing was the best! After doing lots of reading about Costa Rica, there are a few things that we purchased for our trip that I would highly recommend!

These DRY PACKS were a lifesaver and we took them nearly every day as we did lots of hiking and many times we were in areas with waterfalls or where it was just damp and/or dirty. These packs were a great way to carry all our belongings and keep everything dry! We purchased the 20L size and I don’t think I’d recommend going any smaller than that.

Be sure to pack a pair of WATER SHOES! Much of Costa Rica is either a beach or rain forest, so water shoes are perfect for both. The hiking in the rain forest can be very muddy, so many days, I wore these comfortable shoes all day long – they were really comfortable. Just make sure you have something that has some good traction because many hiking areas can be slippery. It was really nice to have shoes that you didn’t always have to take on/off!

You can expect to be spending lots of time in or near water, so I highly recommend these WATERPROOF PHONE CASE POUCHES to save your phones from water, sand or even theft! We heard that there are lots of people watching the beaches for easy opportunities to take belongings, so this made it easy to have our phones (and cameras) with us at all times. And just a word of warning, if it’s not the humans, there are places where you have to watch the sneaky monkeys! We actually witnessed them taking bags in Manuel Antonio Park at the beach. They’re quick to get them up the trees and determine if there is any yummy food! Just another reason these phone cases are wonderful to keep your phone with you when you go into the water!

Costa Rica is damp, so clothing that dries out quickly is a plus. That also goes for beach too! Everyone in our family had one of these incredible QUICK DRY BEACH TOWELS and they came in very handy to stick in our dry packs. We used them at the beach (sand shakes right off!) and many times when we hiked because the waterfalls were just too tempting! These also make a great gift item for your beach/pool lovers!

I would highly recommend packing your own sunscreen as you will go through a ton of it. I love this SPF50 FACE & BODY SUNSCREEN as it’s non-greasy and doesn’t make you feel like you have sunscreen on. I would liken it more to a body lotion type of feel. You can pretty much leave the make-up at home, but be sure to pack this! It’s a bonus that you can use it on both your face AND body!

Along those same lines, I would recommend also packing some good BUG SPRAY. You will be in rainforest areas, so just be prepared that you will incur mosquitos. We successfully used this BUG BANDS and also packed this BUG SPRAY.

Other than several good swimsuits (check out my favorite brand HERE!), this EXERCISE DRESS was probably my favorite thing packed for the trip. In fact, my girls and I all had this dress and it’s one of our favorites, not only for this vacation, but for a quick summer outfit. It takes hardly any room in the suitcase, is great for layering and it’s quick-drying. I cannot recommend it highly enough!

I hope these suggestions help you with your initial planning and packing. Be sure to read my next post for information on the first part of our trip to La Fortuna and Arenal Volcano area of Costa Rica! Read that post HERE.