What to Pack for Costa Rica with Toddlers

Costa Rica is easily one of the favorite destinations. It has something for anyone, weather you like to spend your time on a beach or spotting wildlife in a cloud forest, this small country packs a big punch. With a baby and young toddler, navigating this country can be a little bit more tricky. But knowing what to pack for Costa Rica with a toddler and a baby (and knowing what to leave at home) can make your adventure be smooth and extremely fun!

Looking for more tips for Traveling to Costa Rica with a Baby and a Toddler? Check out this post with details, tips and ideas for your toddler-friendly Costa Rica itinerary, plus where to stay and what to do.

An in-country travel agent can also make the trip run as smooth as possible. We loved working with Rebecca at Namu Travel / Costa Rica Vacations, which made the whole planning process very smooth and gave us peace of mind with 24/7 in-country support, which was invaluable when traveling with a 11 month old and a 2 year old.

As a bonus, the price of booking with the travel agent was actually less than if we had booked it ourselves! And ff you book a trip with Namu/Costa Rica Vacations through this promotional link you’ll get $200 off your trip! Highly recommend! I will 1000% be using them again for our next Costa Rica adventure, and when we travel to the other Central American & Caribbean countries they support.

Where to Stay in Costa Rica with a Baby and a Toddler

We stayed at the Arenal Manoa Hot Springs near La Fortuna, and the Diria Resort in Tamarindo, Guanacaste with our kids — both locations were amazing with kids. The maze of private hot springs at the Arenal Manoa Resort were the highlight for my young toddlers, and the staff was SO wonderful with the kids! The food was also excellent and breakfast was included and delicious (and opened very early — essential for my early risers)!

The Arenal Manoa also have semi primate villas (they are like townhouse villas which share only one wall with one other unit). This was great when the babies were having meltdowns and were extremely loud, we knew we weren’t bothering everyone…. only the poor honeymooning couple next door…. Isn’t travel with kids is fun!

The Diria is right on the beach, with a gorgeous outdoor restaurant among the palm trees, facing the Pacific. The sunsets were magical. It also has an insane beach-entry pool (though it’s across the street from the brach side.), but beach entry was perfect for my little toddlers.

A Note about Travel Insurance: While Costa Rica is a very safe country, you don’t need any extra headaches when traveling with small children. We purchased World Nomads travel insurance for about $250 for all 4 of us, just for the peace of mind. It covers a most of the common travel issues: from missed flights, to sickness, injuries, and stolen items.

Toddler Packing List for Costa Rica

While my boys are 20 months apart, they have been wearing the same size clothes since the younger one was about 9 months old (he is HUGE, and his older brother is small). This makes packing for a baby and a toddler a little bit easier, as their clothes are interchangeable! However they each have unique needs like pulls ups and diapers, which need to be considered when packing.

When packing for traveling to Costa Rica with your toddler, plan for hot weather with occasional tropical rain showers. Just because you are on vacation doesn’t mean your children will be less messy! We planned for 2 outfits per day, per child, and made the decision to do laundry in the hotel room a few times. Below is what we packed for the 10-day trip for our 11 month old baby and 2.5 year old toddler.

Clothes for a Toddler and Baby in Costa Rica

• 10 Light Cotton T-shirts: Light cotton is breathable and cool in the humidity, and is comfortable for the kids to wear during excursions, naps, and time in the carseats or strollers.
• 2 Zip Sweatshirts: Mostly useful for the airplane, but sweatshirts were also helpful for the occasional brisk evening.
• 2 Packable Toddler Rain Jackets: Depending on the time of year you visit Costa Rica, the weather may be quite rainy during part of the day. The good news is that it’s usually a passing tropical shower in the afternoon, perfectly timed with nap time! And aside from a couple wet hours, the rest of the day is usually warm and sunny.
• 4 Pairs light cotton shorts: These are very comfortable for my kids, light weight and easy to pack.
• 2 Pairs Athletic shorts & 2 Pairs quick drying shorts: For slightly rainy days, or when we’d be hiking, I tried to avoid cotton shorts which hold moisture when they get wet.
• 2 Pairs of Light Athletic pants: Mostly useful for the airplane, but also for evenings when we would be outside and wanted to make sure mosquitos didn’t bite.
• 4 Pairs Swim trunks & 4 Long Sleeve Swim tops: Our children love the pools and the beaches, so we packed two bathing suits per child to make sure we could have a dry one on hand while a wet one was drying.
• Kids Sun Hat: It’s very sunny and good sun coverage is essential for everyone when you are this close to the equator.
• Closed Toes Sandals / Water Shoes: These were perfect for my two year old for walking during some excursions, and walking to the pool, as they have excellent grip, are breathable, and protect their tiny toes. I also bought a pair for my 11 month old who was learning to walk just as we left for Costa Rica!

Gear To Pack for Costa Rica with a Baby and a Toddler

• Quick Dry Towel / Blanket: The must-bring item for your Costa Rica packing list. A thin, quick dry towel is handy for all kinds of things while traveling, but it is especially useful with a a baby and a toddler. You can use it over a stroller to keep out bugs, or to keep the light dim during a stroller nap. It can also be used as a towel if you find yourself in a hot spring or a beach when you’re out for the day. It’s a shawl when it’s chilly, and a sarong for the pool so you don’t need to pack a coverup. It’s a blanket for the airplane, and a changing mat (because changing tables are hard to come by in Costa Rica!)

• Travel Changing Mat: In many countries, you can find baby changing stations in bathrooms all over the place. But changing tables are not commonplace in Costa Rica. If you don’t feel like using your towel on the floor as a changing mat, you can bring along a compact option that is dedicated to this task.

• Diapers or Pull Ups: Since Costa Rica was our first travel destination with our baby and toddler, we didn’t really know if we would be able to buy the diapers or pull ups that we needed in the country. Because of this, we packed all the diapers and pull ups we needed (which was an entire carry on suitcase full, for 10 days with two kids!). In retrospect, I should only brought what we needed for the first 48 hours. I could have asked our travel agent to make sure we could buy some when we arrived. It was incredibly easy to arrange stops at grocery stores to buy snacks and other essentials during our daily drives to/from excursions, and during the airport transfers. Diapers and pull ups are available at convenience stores and grocery stores, with the same name brands you may be familiar with in the USA, at about the same price as in the US.
• Kid-friendly Bug Wipes: I love using bug wines with the kids because the spray can end up in their eyes or mouth. As an added bonus, unlimited wipes are permitted in your carry on, but bug spray is a liquid. Bug repellent in Costa Rica is serious business, as the mosquitos in this area can carry diseases like Chikungunya and Dengue.

• Lightweight Water Bottles: Hydration is a MUST in Costa Rica as it can be in the 90s during the day, with high humidity. Opt for lightweight plastic bottles in place of insulated water bottles as you will be lugging many of these around everywhere in your daypack.

• Packable Waterproof Daypack: This will also be your travel-friendly diaper bag! A daypack like this one is perfect for holding all your water bottles, travel med kid, a change of clothes for the kids, diapers, raincoats, and snack for the day!
• Compact Stroller Fans: We did not bring these, but wish we did as there were a few extremely hot humid days, where my kids were uncomfortably hot in their black strollers.
• Carry On Travel Strollers: We love our Gb Pockit+ stroller and take it on all our travels, as well as use it as our daily stroller for city walks. We also took along a compact Zoe travel stroller, and both strollers performed well on the rough sidewalks, and jungle trails. I did not notice many parents using strollers in Costa Rica. A compact travel stroller is perfect for Costa Rica as it can fold up nicely when you are at a restaurant, and you can take it carry-on while flying.

I have also heard great things about the MAMAZING Travel Stroller, which comes with a front bar and a travel bag, two nice accessories that neither the GB nor the Zoe have. It also comes in a variety of colors – including lighter colors which would be more ideal for the hot sun of Central America. It weighs in at 11.6 pounds, about the SAME as the GB Pockit plus and the Zoe.

• Breathable Soft Baby Carriers: For more rugged hiking, a breathable soft carrier is a good option. however it can get hot and sticky if you are baby-wearing for long periods of time. We use the ErgoBaby 360 mesh carrier, and it was comfortable and cool to wear both children in different ways.

• Age-appropriate Floatation Devices: We opted for USCG approve water-wings, and this shaded baby float, which were perfect in the pool, and freed up our hands to hold onto our fancy coconut drinks. For a more space-saving options, you can opt for inflatable water wings for a toddler.

Travel First Aid Kit For Kids

I never travel without my travel first aid kit for toddlers! Toddlers can spike fevers with little notice, and especially when traveling they are encountering extra germs. They are also prone to extra bumps and bruises when in non-childproof hotel rooms. Here is a list of what to pack in a toddler first aid kit:

• Infant Ibuprofen fever reducer
• Children’s All Natural Motion Sickness & Anti-emetic chewable tablets
• Chewable Kids Tylenol
• Kids Chewable Pepto
• Gas Drops
• Children’s Antihistamine
• Welly Fabric BandAids & Antibiotic Cream
• Anti-Itch Cream
• Children’s Nasal Spray
• Ear Drying Drops for after swimming

Travel First Aid Kit for Adults

For the adults I also ALWAYS pack a first aid kit, in addition to the items on the kids travel first aid kit list above. While these items can be found readily in Costa Rica, I find packing them is much more convenient. If you don’t feel well, or get cut, you need to have these things on hand immediately without leaving your hotel room. Below are some essentials that I always pack in an Adult Travel First Aid Kit. You’ll notice that a lot of these are digestive medications, which is because GI issues are very common while traveling, and you will be much more comfortable if you’re prepared!

• Adult Ibuprofen
• Charcoal tablets
• Chewable Peptobismal
• Tums
• Pepcid AC
• Antihistamine
• Travelan (prevents Traveler’s Diarrhea)
• Decongestant pills
• Afrin
• Anti-emetic pills
• Anti-diarrhea pills
• Motion sickness medication
• Electrolyte Drink Mix Packets
• Vitamin C Drink Mix Packets

Space Saving Tip: Pack your most common medications in a compact travel pill container, and label with a sharpie. This small travel first aid kits stays in our daypack along with bandaids. Using a pill case drastically cuts down on space, as you don’t need to take full size bottles of medication. You can take pictures of the dosages on the bottles, so you aren’t missing any information about the medication.

What to Wear in Costa Rica

As I was writing this post, I realized there were a lot of considerations when assembling a travel wardrobe for Costa Rica. So much so, that I included a full adult packing list for Costa Rica, as well as advice on what to wear, in a separate post. Go check out What to Wear in Costa Rica for all the details and a capsule packing list so you know exactly what to wear – and what to leave home – for your Costa Rica vacation!

Happy Travels!

Cheers,
Kristen

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This post was updated Jan 2026.