Hi, we are heading out to CR in July (2 adults and 8 year old son) and am wondering about what to take. We will spend 5 days in the Osa at La Paloma and will have a strick 25 lbs per person weight limit for the internal flight down. I've seen so many recommendations about what to take that it seems hard to achieve all that and meet the weight requirements. Whats a must and what is optional? Hiking boots? Water shoes? Snorkeling gear? Long pants & shirts? Flashlights?
Is there a safe place to leave some gear in the airports?
Thanks!

DEFINITELY take only what will fit in a loosely-packed carry-on each, which should put you well under 20 pounds. My packing list is #15 on the FAQ thread here:

http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/ca...mp;STARTPAGE=1

Also, try searching for "neoprene socks" and you'll get 2 recent threads with very similar questions.

Have a great trip!

If you are spending a night in Alajuela/San Jose before flying off to the Osa the hotel will most likely have a secure room for extra items you may need/want later.
I've read the airport does not have storage but there is a storage facility in Alajuela. Don't know where.
We stayed a night at Orquideas Inn and left extras with them.
The light weight Zipoff pants are a good choice if you think you need pants for the Osa.
I'd wear your light weight hikers and then carry on tevas/sandals or you could wear amphibian shoes and forgo sandals.
We did not have our day packs weighed when we took Sansa to the Osa.

You might want to check out a previous post of mine called " Here's my CR packing list, other suggestions"... I spent three weeks on the Osa penn...

We just returned from a trip to CR including 4days in the Osa region, ie: Drake Bay. We flew down from SJ on NatureAir and other folks staying at the same lodge flew SansaAir, all of us flew into the Palmar Sur airstrip and we all saw the bagage limitations of 25lb per person. My g/f and I tried our best to keep to that limit, but I can tell you the others we met didn't even come close to trying more like 40lbs per person. NatureAir even weighed us and our carry ons after weighing our luggage which seemed a bit of overkill considering we were two of three on the flight. The folks flying Sansa that were over were not even charged overweight charges even though the flight was full. So I would say take what you need and if your a little bit over they will charge you $0.55 per pound over the 25lb weght limit..maybe You can find all this out on the NatureAir website if that happens to be the airline your flying.
We each had one 26in suitcase and a backpack carry on and had no problems.

Hi we stayed at La Paloma a few years ago and loved it. They have snorkling gear so don't take your own. Do take flashlights as it is pitch dark in the jungle when the generator is off. I wouldn't bother with hiking boots, just a pair of running shoes and some sturdy sandles like Teva that you can hike in. Your going in the green season so you can expect rain and humidity. It is alot easier to hike if you can just walk through the streams without having to take your shoes on and off all the time. Have a great time

Light nylon clothing is the best for that type of place. As was mentioned, zip offs are great.

A pair of zip offs and two or three pairs of shorts/capris should be enough for pants. Capris are nice for horseback riding. Long enough to protect your legs while riding but cooler than long pants. When we stayed at La Paloma some of the women did wear sun dresses for dinner. Not mandatory and not all did. Some even just wrapped a sarong around them for a skirt. Sarongs make a nice lightweight beach blanket and you can use them to dry off with. Not as good as a towel but it takes a lot less room and weighs a lot less. La Paloma had some for sale when we were there a few years ago. There are lots of different wick off shirts these days. Everyone seems to have their favorite. My hubby likes capilene, I like cool max. They compress, are light weight and are comfortable for hot humid areas.

That is a very damp area and I (being the cheap person I am) save those little silica packets from shoes etc and throw those in with my camera to help absorb some of the humidity. You can pick some up at a camera store as well. More is better than less down there.

Things won't dry so plenty of socks if you are planning on a lot of hiking. Hiking boots are okay. My husband has arthritis so needs shoes with a lot of support and does wear hiking boots, I have some Solomon Tech Amphibians that I use for everything. (Solomon has just come out with a great new hiking boot that my hubby has just ordered from Zappos.) I wear a thin sock liner in my techs. I even hiked up in the Sierras in Calif with them. They do need time to break in. A lot of people are using keens as well. I prefer something a little closed in when hiking because of the bugs, sticks, whatever that are on the forest floors. There are plenty of all terrain running shoes that allow air to flow through that would be okay as well. I used new balance all terrain for years.

If you can leave a bag in San Jose, plan on leaving hair care items like hair driers, curling irons behind. Most places on the Osa do not have enough electricity to use them. A frameless backpack is much lighter than a suitcase on wheels and you can pack a lot more clothes in. There is/was a place by the Hampton Inn which is about 5 minutes from the airport where you can store stuff if you won't be spending the night in a hotel before flying to the Osa. Can't remember the name. I go to CR for 3-4 weeks at a time and my backpack +carry on weighs about 25-30 lbs. With just clothes it is about 15 lbs. The extras are what adds the weight. Bring small bottles of shampoo, large bottles of sunscreen. Bring books that you can all read rather than a lot of individual ones. Some places like La Paloma have librarys where you can trade books as well. I would bring a good guide book that has info on the different areas of the country as well as hotel listings. I have no trouble flying with my stuff. I have seen people with a lot more. I, before learning how to pack light and had 35 lbs or even a little more, did have to leave some stuff behind at the airports on two trips. It was delivered to me on a later flight. Sansa pretty much just has you pay the extra-if they feel like it. Most people say they don't even end up paying at all.

Flashlights are a must. A bathing suit. Hats-that sun is strong. La Paloma is a great place and they have good equipment for snorkeling and diving so you do not need that. A lightweight rain jacket or poncho. A very important item is a small journal so you can come back and give all of us a trip report!

Reviving this topic to ask a question - we leave for CR tomorrow night at midnight, and I just checked the weather forecast and it says rain and thunderstorms for the next 5 days. I knew we were going during rainy season, but planning to pack light, I was just going to bring for my 7 year old and myself just our sneakers and our Keens. Now I'm wondering if I shouldn't be packing his rain boots? I'm just thinking that sneakers will get wet and maybe muddy and not dry out, and Keens are pretty much sandals. Or are sneakers and Keens enough? And I'm guessing it's a warm rain and people just go about their activities?

I pack a pair of light neoprene socks to wear with my Keens that keep my feet completely dry for really wet and/or high altitude hiking (never been to CR, though). Have a wonderful trip!

It is true that no matter what you wear it can get wet and muddy. I just put the wet ones on the next day ( they are just going to get wet anyway) and keep the sandals for the hotel/lodge. If his boots aren't heavy, you could think about it. They would need to have good traction. It is hilly where La Paloma is so traction is very important. You will have a good climb just from the boat up to the lodge. Up by the lodge it is flatter but it will be up and down to get anywhere else. Great place with very good food.

Don't get too bummed out about the weather report. Most people just get out and do most of what they would have anyway. Even though the reports say rain etc. it doesn't necessarily mean that it will rain all day. It will be a warm rain.

The weight limits are so confusing. So much depends on the type of plane. Some are smaller than others and often they transport supplies for places down there if there is room. It is a safety thing. One of the times I had to leave stuff I actually flew down with the weight being okay. When they weighed my stuff for the flight home it had gotten heavier because I had so much wet stuff! This was from Carate and it was only a 6 person plane and it had 6 people so they had to be careful about the weight.

Have a great trip!

Hopefulist....I will have to try those socks. I have seen them advertised but didn't know anyone who had used them.

Wet tennis shoes feel horrible. Have him wear the Keens when it's wet -- at least they have good soles.

I bought a pair of neoprene socks like hopefulist suggests, but hers must be more lightweight than mine. I took them back because they were hot as heck, and there's no way I could be comfortable wearing them in the rainforest! I found them where they have kayaking gear, wetsuits, etc.

Sandy

My neoprene socks are really thin ones, but I still only wear them when I think my feet will be cold without them, mainly high altitude. I don't mind getting wet and muddy if it's warm, so I don't wear them most of the time.

I wondered about them being hot. Guess that explains why I haven't heard much about them.

I just wear thin sock liners to keep my feet from rubbing when wearing wet shoes. They help me. I don't mind putting on the wet shoes (if I know they will get wet again anyway). I like to keep one pair of shoes dry for the hotel and traveling and for times when it is dry. I wouldn't want both my shoes getting wet and muddy. Whether you wear the Keens for muddy hiking or your other shoes/sandals, I would keep one pair of shoes at the hotel as dry as you can.

Are the Keens enclosed? Many of them have strips with open spaces that mud and bugs can get into. Those ants can bite! I seem to recall seeing that they have some new ones that are enclosed. That could make a difference in which you choose to hike in as well as the traction. Maybe Sandy or hopefulist can tell you if that is a problem at all. I don't wear sandal type shoes in the woods.

My Keens are the original Newport H2Os (nylon water sandal with rubber toe) - I've had them for 2 or 3 years. When I'm hiking, every once in awhile a stick or small rock will get in and bug me enough for me to slip the shoe off to get it out; never had a problem with bugs or anything else. Happy trails...

Thanks everyone for your responses. I actually wasn't the one who started the topic, I just hijacked it. But we are going to Drake Bay for part of our trip so all of the tips here have been helpful. Actually, the woman who runs the lodge we're staying in, in Drake Bay, yesterday suggested we fly out of Palmar Sur instead of Drake Bay in case the plane can't get out of the Drake Bay airstrip because of heavy rains. That also made me wonder if we were going to be prepared enough.

Our Keens aren't enclosed, sounds like we have the same kind as hopefulist, and I don't find it too annoying when the occasional pebble or stick gets in. I guess I'll stick with the original plan of sneakers and Keens (and flip flops.) Thanks for suggesting that we designate one pair to be the dry pair. My son's rain boots don't have any traction - they're just your average kid's rain boot, nothing fancy at all, so I think I'll leave them.

Ok, all bills have been set up for automatic payment, newspaper's been put on hold, vacation message on my email, the cat sitter has been briefed, the ex-husband is sufficiently jealous of our itinerary, bags are almost done being packed - we are ready to go! We've got one more day at home, and then I'll report back with our trip report in about a month, since we'll be gone for 3 weeks. We'll be in Arenal, Monteverde, Mal Pais, Drake Bay, and end with 2 nights at the Peace Lodge.

Happy trails!