The Best Gifts for Costa Rica Travelers

Do you know someone who is going to Costa Rica and want to get them a little something for their trip this Christmas? This best gifts for Costa Rica travelers guide will help your shopping greatly!

Some of these ideas are for fun, some are practical but regardless, they’ll love it and it’ll come handy for their trip. Here are our favorites gifts for people traveling to Costa Rica.

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Sarong

For the ladies going to Costa Rica to have the ultimate beach vacay, they’re going to be busting out their summer wardrobe. There will be no need to bundle up at the beaches in Costa Rica, instead they’ll be jumping around in their bikinis, sundresses and sunglasses.

So if there’s any piece of clothing the female Costa Rica traveler has to bring, it is a sarong. They can use it as a skirt, cover up, dress, towel and even beach blanket. Multi purpose, cute, fashionable and easy to wash – what’s more to love? After I bought my first sarong, I can’t ever imagine going to the beach without it.

I personally recommend a longer sarong so she can dress it up to wear out at night or use it to cover her legs to protect herself from mosquitoes.

Action Camera

An action camera is one of the BEST gifts for Costa Rica travelers. There’s no doubt that everyone who visits does at least an adventure activity in Costa Rica, whether it’s ziplining, white water rafting or scuba diving and an action camera will be the only one that can fully capture all these awesome adventures!

GoPro is the most popular action cam and make sure you bring the appropriate accessories. If you plan to snorkel or scuba dive, you should buy the waterproof floating hand grip. If you want to use it while surfing, then you need to get a surfboard mount. For ziplining, canyoning and other non-water activities, you will need the helmet mount.

Another popular action cam lately is the Insta360. It’s a lot smaller and good for someone who wants to make vlogs.

Dry Bag

Dry bags are especially useful in rainy season but they are also handy in dry season to protect your phones and cameras from sand, humidity and water. If you plan to do more water activities, a waterproof dry bag is an absolute must.

Sea to Summit and Aqua Quest makes high quality dry bags and backpacks. We personally own 3 of their bags and they have not failed us once in the last five years.

Costa Rica Photo Book

Who doesn’t like looking at pretty pictures to get excited for their trip? We love the Costa Rica From Above photo book, full of stunning aerial pictures of the country. Check out all the places you’re visiting from above!

And if you want to give the ultimate gift for travel photography, spring for a drone. Costa Rica has so many beautiful places to capture from above! There are now small drones that are very lightweight and easy to pack, such as the DJI Mini.

Costa Rican Dictionary

A pocket Spanish dictionary is super useful for learning a bit of Spanish and in case of emergencies. Even though many Costa Ricans speak English, it is always good to know some Spanish and a pocket dictionary is easy to bring.

Costa Rica Wildlife Field Guide

Perfect for the avid birder, wildlife enthusiast, fisherman or animal lover. Costa Rica has an huge amount of wildlife and nature so if you are hoping to see some wildlife during their trip, a field guide is a nice gift so they can look up what animal they just spotted.

Bird lovers will want a bird specific field guide, Yeison bought this for me for Christmas and I love it! I’ve been slowly going through, checking off all the birds I’ve seen.

Binoculars

Furthermore, if your gift receiver is an avid birder or loves wildlife, a pair of binoculars is a fantastic gift idea.

Hammocks

The best gift I ever gave myself and Yeison was a double nest ENO Eagles Nest hammock and the ENO atlas straps for our beach days. The hammock is super compact (it folds into itself) and light, yet very durable and the straps make it so easy to set up.

It literally takes 1 minute to set up your hammock and enjoy a relaxing beach day. For anyone looking to explore and enjoy a relaxing beach vacation, this hammock is one of the best gifts for Costa Rica travelers.

A Good Pair of Hiking Sandals

We love our KEEN hiking sandals but whichever one you get, it’s important that your traveler has a high quality, sturdy and durable pair of hiking sandals with a closed toe bumper. I recommend sandals instead of shoes or boots because it’s really hot in Costa Rica during dry season and it gets incredibly stifling.

A good pair of closed toed hiking sandals is wonderful for light activities going from water to land such as moderate hiking, ziplining, white water rafting, canyoning, safari floats and waterfall tours.

Microfiber Towel

Your traveler will definitely thank you for a small microfiber towel. They can use this towel to wipe their sweat off if they plan to hike in the rainforest, cover their belongings or wipe off sand. So incredibly useful for tropical climates!

Rash Guard or Sun Shirt

If your future traveler is planning on snorkeling, surfing or spending a day out on the boat fishing, get them a rash guard or sun shirt to protect their skin. Do not forget Costa Rica is only 8-12 degrees from the equator and the sun is incredibly strong. A rash guard with SPF will be especially helpful for those who burn easily.

Most surfing places will let you borrow a rash guard when you rent a board but it’s better to bring your own, you don’t even want to think about how many people wore it before you.

Adopt a Sloth

For the animal lover, you can “adopt” a sloth from The Sloth Institute for them and get cute memorabilia in return, including an e-certificate with their name. You’ll be helping the sloths of Costa Rica and giving a nice gift at the same time!

Gifts to Bring Costa Rican Locals

If you are visiting Costa Rican on a home stay or plan to visit local communities, you can bring some small gifts for your hosts. Something from your hometown is a great idea, especially if your hometown is known for something special.

Clothes is also greatly appreciated as it is expensive in Costa Rica. So a good quality shirt or sweatshirt with your hometown logo or skyline on it is a wonderful idea. Pajamas for kids/babies, sun shirts with SPF, hat with a logo or cute jewelry for girls are good ideas.

Futbol (soccer) is the main sport in Costa Rica but a lot of kids love basketball and baseball so if your hometown has a good team, any merchandise would be a great gift too.

More Costa Rica Travel Tips

And if you are visiting Costa Rica and want to bring back gifts, here are our favorite authentic Costa Rican souvenirs. Do not forget to check out our Costa Rica packing list for tips on what to bring!