What to Pack for a Caribbean Vacation

The moment has arrived…we are on our way to Turks and Caicos! I plan on taking a break from the computer this week but I still have a few posts that will be coming your way! So while I’m away, everyone behave. 🙂

As much as I love traveling, I always have the hardest time packing. I don’t want to over pack but I don’t want to under pack. The whole process turns into a bit of a fiasco and I wind up packing things I don’t need. You know what they say though, practice makes perfect. I guess we’ll just have to keep traveling in order for me to figure it out! 😉

Once again I did my best and packed what I thought was “necessary”, and I’ll find out very soon if I did a good job.

Lucky for us, the weather in Turks is 80’s during the day and mid to high 60’s in the evening, so we don’t have to pack warm clothes by any means. This means I can pack more light clothes! Kidding, I truly did try to be realistic packer.

Here is a list of items I put together that one should remember to pack when traveling to the Caribbean or any other tropical destination…

What to Pack for a Caribbean Vacation

1. Apparel

  • Swimsuits
  • Swimsuit cover-ups
  • Shorts
  • T-shirts
  • Tank tops
  • Workout type clothes
  • A few “nicer” outfits in case you go out to eat
  • One long-sleeve cardigan or shirt
  • Flip flops
  • Tennis shoes

2. Sun protection and LOTS of it

  • Sunscreen
  • Lip balm with sunblock
  • Sunglasses
  • A pair of contact lenses (see website where I bought them from)
  • Hats

3. Hygiene items

  • Safety kit (Neosporin, alcohol wipes, ibuprofen, tweezer, etc.)
  • Body wash
  • Deodorant
  • Shampoo and conditioner
  • Razors
  • Face wash
  • Body lotion
  • Bug spray (the bugs really like me unfortunately—I learned this from our trip to the Dominican)
  • Hairspray if needed
  • Hair dryer

3. Games and Entertainment

  • Card games
  • Books
  • Magazines
  • Snorkel gear
  • Hand paddle ball
  • Nerf footballs
  • Music

4. Miscellaneous

  • Camera
  • Camera charger
  • Underwater camera
  • Tri-pod or camera gorilla
  • Backpack for day trips
  • Garbage bags to keep inside of backpack dry on day trips that involve water
  • Beach bag
  • Zip-loc bags to bring snacks on day trips
  • Water bottles
  • Amenity kit for airplane–eye mask, toothbrush, toothpaste, lip balm, lotion, antibacterial, ear plugs
  • Beach towels if not provided

I hope this helps at least one person out there who’s frantically trying to pack for a Caribbean getaway!

This is definitely just what I needed to do to make sure I had everything packed that I would need for this trip. We also packed food, and a lot of it. Watch for that post coming your way soon!

Check in with you later!

This Post Has 13 Comments

  1. Meg

    Thanks!! I’m packing for turks right now and this helped a lot 🙂

    1. Melanie

      Have SOOO much fun! I’m jealous!

  2. bonnie bramwell

    since im ten I might pack some sunscreen and I always leave my toiletries in my bathroom this will help a lot

    #schoolsout

  3. Kathy

    Thank you for this awesome help! The pictures really help. Thanks again.

  4. Shirley Blendinger

    This is great- we’re planning a trip for 12 students right now and this is the perfect list for them to take home to parents. Thanks!

    1. Melanie

      Oh wow how fun! I’m glad I could help!!

  5. Dawn

    How did you fit it all in your suitcase? I’m planning a trip to Jamaica and wondering how to pack so it all fits!

    1. Melanie

      Haha, well I laid everything out that I thought I needed and then took out at least 1/4 of that! Less is more in the caribbean! 😉 I tend to want to over-pack. We used one large suitcase, a large duffel bag of snorkel gear (which we added other things to), and a backpack. They had beach towels at the villa so we didn’t have to worry about that taking up space.

  6. Becky

    Are you allowed to take full size toiletries, sunscreen, and bug spray?

    1. Melanie

      Yes, if you check your bag. No, if you are carrying on.

  7. Melissa

    Did you use all of that sunscreen? I’m going for a week and feel under-prepared compared to you!

  8. Cheri Carney

    That’s what I was curious about, because I rather use full size bottles instead of the travel sizes. Thanks for your advice.

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