Best things we packed!
Now that we were back, some of the items we packed turned out to be super handy! I figured I'd post in case anyone is planning a similar trip.
There were 4 things we purchased for the trip that were very, very helpful and we definitely got our money's worth!
1. Waterproof Phone Case
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0BXWDS53C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=
We used these pretty much every day. We used them snorkeling. They let me go right in the ocean with my phone to take pictures of surfing. I used it for the La Leona Waterfall hike where we had to swim in parts. And I even used it to be able to keep my phone with me while ziplining since it basically tethered the phone to me. They work great!
2. Water shoes
Seriously, these water shoes are amazing! I would never buy a different type of water shoes again. I did a fair bit of research on water shoes before I got these ones. For the La Leona Waterfall hike specifically, we needed a pair of shoes that we could hike in with proper soles, but then could transition to totally swimming in and then right back to hiking. These shoes were amazingly comfortable. Four of us had these exact shoes (Anna had a different pair which were also pretty good but not as good as these). We all found them very comfortable for hiking. Absolutely no blisters. They drain the water out the bottom while still having proper soles. The are fine enough mesh to not let sand or gravel in (anna's were a wider mesh and she kept getting sand in her shoes). The upper part is soooo soft! And they just look like water shoes when you are wearing them. Seriously. Excellent!
3. Waterproof pouch
This was really important to have in a country with a lot of theft and a lot of water ;) When we would go down to the beach we couldn't leave our stuff on the beach or it would get stolen. I'd toss money, bank cards, the AirBNB key and a phone in here and just bring it into the water! It is very waterproof. Seals with three robust ziplocks and then you fold it over 3 times and secure with velcro. I ended up using one almost just as my wallet for most of my trip. I'd just put it on as a cross body bag if we were going into a grocery store or something. When we went ziplining, we obviously couldn't bring backpacks, etc but we also couldn't leave anything of value in the vehicle. All of the valuables went in here and I wore it as a cross body bag across my back with the rain jacket on top. It was perfect! One suggestion I have is to get the opaque black one. Since you mostly have valuables in here, it's better if the items aren't visible when you are wearing it.
4. Long Sleeved Rash Guards
None of us had these but when I booked surfing it suggested a long sleeved rash guard and the tubing we did said the same. So I reluctantly bought us all a long sleeved rash guard. I wondered whether they'd be worth it. They were all from different places. Joel and Trev being tall, long armed, skinny people made this a difficult task. I need to get XL for the arms to fit and then they are ridiculously too big and baggy! But I found tall sizes at Lands End! We ended up using these a lot! The La Leona hike where it's half hike and half swim, these were perfect! In such a hot country, where the sun is so intense, they are almost required! The only sunburns we got were related to water where sunscreen washed off. We had many silly face, neck and wrist burns where the rash guard saved us from something really bad. We wore them on the boat when we went fishing. Down at the beach! Very practical!
While those were the top 4 things we used a ton and definitely got our money's worth out of, there were also a few other things I'm glad we got.
Cooling Towels
We only ended up using these once on our really hot hike, but I think we will use them again in the future. I can see they'd be great for a day at Canada's Wonderland or a day at the Northern Lights Festival. They made an amazing difference. You just wet them and they feel very cool. When they start to feel a bit warmer, you whip them and they cool off again. The kids thought that was fun! Haha!
Waterproof Bags
On this trip, very often we wore several bathing suits per day. We would do a hike where we would get wet in the morning, and then head to the hot springs in late afternoon. We had these in our bags and when we had wet bathing suits we'd just throw them in here and they'd keep the rest of our stuff dry. I think we will use these again for sure.
Cables and Locks
In a country where theft is something you have to watch out for, having these cables and locks gave me piece of mind. When we swam at Posos Los Coyotes, we were the only ones there. We didn't leave valuables in our bags on the shore, but we did leave our bags there. I just ran a cable and lock through all 5 of them. Now that they were attached together, it makes them super difficult to grab and run. Someone definitely could have still stopped and rooted through and grabbed items from the bags but a simple step like this makes it much more difficult to grab and run. We also used these with the same technique when we had to leave bags in our car (very infreqently). For example at ziplining, we took our wallets, money with us, but left our day bags/water bottles in the vehicle. We just looped them together with a lock and again, just makes it inconvenient and more likely for a thief to move along and target something easier. There was only one time that we had to leave all of our luggage in the vehicle. We backed into a small open air market and left our vehicle there when we went tubing. The market belonged to a family member of the person leading the tour and he personally guaranteed that our vehicle would be watched the whole time. And because we backed in it was 100% visible from anywhere in the store. But I definitely felt better just locking all our bags together (and we took money, wallets, passports, phones with us).
On the Costa Rica Forum I was in, on the day we went home, a lady posted and said that she had landed in Liberia at the same airport we had landed with her, her husband, and her 3 kids (ages 2, 5 and 7). They drove a couple of hours and then stopped for dinner. While they were in the restaurant, someone stole every piece of luggage from their locked vehicle (they have readers that they use to read your code when you use the key fob to lock your car). They had been to Costa Rica for 2 hours and they now had not a single belonging. Thankfully they had their wallets, phones and passports with them. So it definitely happens!
Coffee Maker
Laundry Bag
This laundry bag was just from the dollar store. It was super handy. As things got dirty, we put them in here and not back in our bags. Kept the clothes in our bags clean. And it was nice and big and sturdy. When we've leave the Airbnb, we'd just grab our luggage plus this laundry bag. We finally threw our dirty laundry back in our bags right before our flight home. Wouldn't work as well on a trip where you were taking public transportation, but was perfect with a rental car.
Collapsible Tote
I borrowed this from my parents too because ours was too big to collapse and fit into our carry-on bag. This tote was awesome. We used it to carry a picnic to the beach. We used it to carry groceries between airbnbs. We used it to store the food on the counter in the kitchens. It took up no room in our bag and was very handy to have!
Great idea to include these useful items in your blog! Dad will defininely buy the water shoes and we both need to get the Rash Guards !
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