What to Wear in the Amazon Rainforest: A Realistic Guide

Figuring out what to wear in the Amazon Rainforest can be quite confusing. Based on our own 6-Day Amazon tour, I’m giving you a realistic packing list to keep your luggage light.

Generally, both Wilhelm and I kind of ended up changing two times per day rotating the outfits, and showering after the morning activity before lunch.

I’ve added links to either things I own, updated versions, or comparable options based on what I’ve found online recently.

This post contains affiliate links.

Essential Clothing for the Amazon

We visited the Amazon in late August, the dry season. Though this packing advice is relevant year-round, even during the wet season!

Pants

2 quick dry pants. Pants are better than leggings because it’s so hot and sticky that leggings start to feel gross.

One of the hiking pants could be with short zippers. After hiking 5 hours, all you wanna do is take off all your clothes. But you still need pants to walk around the lodge and if you don’t want to dirty something else, then having a pant with zippers to become shorts is a good idea. I didn’t think of this before and I wish had zippers on my hiking pants. Instead, I was walking around with a towel lol.

If you bring leggings or shorts, just bring one pair of hiking pants. I ended up basically wearing hiking pants during the day and the leggings post-shower for dinner. And Wilhelm did the same for pants during the day and shorts in the evening.

In the wet season, you may want to add some waterproof pants.

I have the basic hiking pants from REI, but I think these with the zipper would have been more convenient.

For guys, I got my brother (not pictured here) these prana hiking pants, and he wears them all the time. They would have been good in the jungle, though Wilhelm is wearing an old Adidas active pant kinda like these.

Hiking pants, rainboots provided by the lodge, and SPF shirts

Shirts

Bring 3 long-sleeved shirts.  I suggest bringing: 1 button-up SPF shirt, 1 SPF shirt, 1 light merino shirt. However, you could also bring just two long-sleeve shirts and a third t-shirt (something quick-dry or light merino). I have a mixture of REI and Eddie Bauer sunshirts that I love. I really like the Ice Breaker merino line; I have this in green.

This is the guy’s sunshirt version, and Wilhelm likes the Patagonia capilene cool dry line.

You don’t want anything touching you in the Amazon Rainforest! There are literally plants that can cut you. One sliced the back of my hand and made me bleed! The same plant also grabbed onto my pants later on, but my pants didn’t rip.

Whatever you do, make sure they are quick-dry.

Swimming Wear

1 bikini or shorts. I got a long-sleeved swimsuit that I could also wear as a top. This is the swimsuit I have on below (size 6-8). Wilhelm wore his shorts rather than bring an extra pair of swim trunks.

You should definitely plan to jump into the river. Peep my teva-like sandals that I recommend bringing.

Socks/Undies

To be honest, I wore my socks 2 times each before discarding them to the dirty clothes pile. So, I needed just 3 pairs. However, I’d have liked to have a fresh pair each day but because we didn’t know the laundry situation when we left the Amazon (and we still had 4 days of our Peru trip left, I saved some fresh pairs for later).

It took undies about 2 full days to dry, so consider that.

I only needed 1 sports bra basically the whole trip but if you easily sweat you may want another to rotate.

Hiking pants and long-sleeved shirts again!

Protection and Footwear

• You’ll need a lot of mosquito spray, or mosquito repellent wipes (which are easy to travel with). You will reapply mosquito repellent every two hours while you’re out in the rainforest. These are the OFF wipes that I buy in serious bulk as we only had carry-ons, so the OFF spray bottles were too big.
• Bring 1 pair of teva/chacos-style sandals. For me, the versions that have a strap across the foot are super important, not just a strap around your toes and ankles. I got mine from Decathalon. These Chacos look good for women, and this option for men. If you want closed-toe shoes, then try Keen (women and men).
• We didn’t need our hiking boots at all because you aren’t allowed to wear your own shoes in the Amazon rainforest. The lodge provided rain boots. However, depending on your next destination, you may want to bring them like we did. You’ll likely only wear your own shoes in the lodge and when transferring between lodges and Iquitos.
• 1 rain jacket for wind and potential rain. I also wore it to keep the bugs out of my hair. I own this Colombia rain jacket (in small) and Wilhelm has this Marmot rain jacket (in medium).
• 1 hat. Better if it’s a wide-brimmed ,but we used baseball style. This is the hat that I have (that I use for all hikes and adventures).

Post-shower drinks at 6pm happy hour at the lodge with leggings

Other Essentials for What to Wear in the Amazon Rainforest

• Sunscreen.
• Granola bars for snacking on in between meals.
• Water bladder or bottle as you’ll need 1 to 1.5 liters per person while out (at least in the dry season like when we visited). This is the one I have, and it’s lasted over 5 years.
• Dry bag for putting your electronics into in boats (and when you transit to your lodge). I have this small dry bag for daily items, and I have Seasummit dry bags for clothes and my laptop. PLEASE put all your electronics into a drybag. If you read my transit story to the lodge, you’ll know that your things getting wet can be a real risk.
• Day pack for 5+ hours hiking to hold bug spray, sunblock, rain jacket, water, and hats. I LOVE this North Face Borealis Sling Bag. I bought this after the trip but I use it weekly for my tennis, yoga, and hiking. On our trip, we used a 25L daypack for two people. Mine is from REI from 10 years ago (this is the updated version) but this North Face is a good option.
• Headlamp for night hikes and night boat rides, like this. It’s better to get one per person on your trip.

Night walking and boat rides with my hood to keep the bugs off my head!

Enjoy your trip!