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What to pack when moving to Costa Rica? I bet you don’t know! Bringing the right things (and leaving the wrong ones behind) will save you money, stress, and storage headaches. There is stuff you love, and there is stuff you think is important. When you’re wondering what to pack for the move, you should probably make a list. Remember, you’ll have to live quite a while without something you forgot to bring or can’t find in Costa Rica. Inevitably, there will be a few items you thought were not necessary.
Let’s go through the steps:
- The house is sold,
- Also, the cars are sold,
- You’ve done the garage sales,
- You must decide what to pack for your flight (read on)
- What’s left, you are going to ship to Costa Rica (too much, too little?). It’s all packed and in the safe care of your mover-broker,
- Utilities have been terminated,
- Address-change notifications sent
- You have bought a new home with the assistance of GoDutch Realty (of course)
- The forwarding address of your new home in Costa Rica is set up.
- You’ve said your goodbyes to friends and neighbors.
Limited space
So, now you’re trying to decide what to pack for your flight. You would like to pack what you can’t live without for the next six to twelve months. Except you’ve got very limited space, unless you send yourself by container boat. So you have to reduce, but you can’t decide what to keep and what to leave behind.
I can’t determine your priority items for your flight to Costa Rica. But I can help by telling you what we found to be
- Important,
- Very expensive
- Hard-to-impossible to find in Costa Rica, and you cannot live without it.
Your space with carry-on bags and check-in luggage will be very limited, unless you want to pay through the nose. Airlines have cut back on the number of free bags you can carry, so check with the airline first. Be prepared to find out what to bring. You won’t have enough room in those bags for everything.
If you don’t have extra air miles, pay for the extra bag(s). It’s worth it. Just don’t go over 50 lbs.; overweight baggage fees are not worth it.
Airline miles
Some frequent flyers and million-mile award members get an extra baggage allowance. One comfortable, but expensive, way to get more bags with your airline ticket is to travel in business or first class. We used airline miles. So, the cost wasn’t an issue.
Fortunately, the airline’s PetSafe crew had time to take our dog out of cargo and walk him. We paid an additional fee—set up and paid in advance.
Return ticket
Make sure to book a return ticket; they won’t allow you to board or enter the country without one. The customs official will stamp you for 30 days, 180 days, or anywhere in between. Then you can pick up or buy the things you forgot.
All imported
Very few packaged products are manufactured in Costa Rica. So, it becomes more expensive primarily because of the shipping cost to get it here. Also, probably because there’s less of it around and it’s in higher demand.
My list
Here’s my list of considerations for what to pack:
- A ton of documents, see below,
- Vitamins,
- Non-prescription drugs,
- Makeup,
- Toiletries are expensive and hard to find in volume packaging. Aspirin and ibuprofen typically come in packages of 10 or 12.
- An assortment of band-aids; you can buy them here by the piece. Less-expensive generics are not common.
- Hydrocortisone and triple-biotic creams. If you have prescriptions, try to bring them with you. It will be difficult and probably expensive to get more prescriptions here. It will take a year or more to be part of the national CAJA medical program, and they might not even cover it.
Documents to pack (originals + digital copies)
- Passport (valid for at least 6–12 months)
- Birth certificate (apostilled if planning residency)
- Marriage/divorce certificates (apostilled if relevant)
- Police background check (apostilled, for residency)
- Driver’s license (plus international driving permit)
- Academic degrees & professional licenses
- Medical records, prescriptions, vaccination history
- Digital backups (cloud + USB)
Tip: Apostille documents before arriving—this is difficult once in Costa Rica.
Medications & Health Items
- Prescription meds (3–6 months supply + prescription copies)
- Specialty medications (availability can be limited)
- High-quality supplements (more expensive locally)
- Contact lenses, glasses, spare frames
Tip: Many common meds are available OTC, but brand names and formulations vary.
Clothing
In most places in Costa Rica, it never gets cold and seldom gets cool, even at night. An exception may be at the higher elevations. The cooler months are December, January, and February because there is much more wind. If you plan to live in the Central Valley, it will never get colder than 14º F. Pack a couple of sweaters and sweatshirts. Pack your lightest-weight clothes. Don’t forget your flip flops!
Bring wash-and-wear and no-iron garments: they are very expensive here.
If you are used to wearing shorts, wear them around the house, pool, and at the beach. But they are generally a social “no-no” here in public, unless you live at the beach. Quality underwear and lingerie are quite expensive, too.
Electronics
If you are planning to use electronic gear, it’s even more expensive here. So, bring in your carry-on anything you need. And bring a surge protector (or buy them here) for everything, as there’s plenty of lightning in the rainy season that can fry your gear if it’s unprotected.
Setting up Vonage internet accounts before you come is also strongly recommended to keep in touch with family and friends, or recommend that everyone download WhatsApp.
- Laptop(s), and tablet(s),
- External hard drives/backups, if you’re old school,
- A new unlocked phone – or bring your old phone and buy an e-sim online for Costa Rica,
- Quality surge protector (power fluctuations happen), or buy it here,
- Work-specific equipment (hard to source locally).
Tip: Costa Rica uses 110V US-style plugs, so no converters are needed for North Americans.
Sunblock
Sunscreen is plentiful and necessary. If you have a special need, bring plenty of your brand.
Quality, non-prescription sunglasses are very expensive here. Cheap non-polarized versions are plentiful and even sold by street vendors.
Food
If you or your wife are planning to do a lot of cooking and baking, bring an in-oven thermometer. Virtually every oven here has a temperature meter that can’t be trusted. In-oven thermometers are difficult to find. If you or your spouse has favorite cooking utensils, bring them if you can find room, or at least pack them in the container. Some of the more exotic spices and all aged cheeses are very expensive. Unsweetened cereal is hard to find and incredibly expensive. A 17 oz. box of Grape-Nuts is over $5.00 (2026 prices). So, bring a box and plan to nurse it along.
Banking
Money laundering laws will make it very difficult for you to open a bank account. Talk to your real estate agent or lawyer; there are still ways around the system, but they don’t come cheap. Be sure to bring all of your account numbers and account info, plus a few checks from active bank accounts. You can legally take up to $10,000 in cash per person. Take precautions, but take as much cash as is comfortable. Also, don’t forget to bring your passport, Costa Rican binder, and your contact lists.
Your Container
First, decide what to bring and make an itemized list. Depending on how much you want to bring, you have various options. Talk to your mover; we recommend Charles Zeller of 506. He will show you the difference between a D-container, a 20-foot container, a 40-foot container, and a consolidated container.
What not to bring?
Unless you do your homework yourself, you won’t find out what not to bring. What’s important to some is unimportant to others. So this is my short list of what not to bring that I can come up with:
- More than $9,900 in cash per person
- Winter clothing
- Ski’s
- Snow shovel
- Ice scraper
- Beanies
- Winter boots
- Marijuana
- Wood furniture (local termites love soft wood)
- Guns
- A bad attitude
I hope this article on what to bring when relocating to Costa Rica offers some helpful guidance. Have a great trip and see you soon in Costa Rica.
