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.

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.

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).

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.

Swimming Wear

1 bikini or shorts. I got a long-sleeved swimsuit that I could also wear as a top. Wilhelm wore his shorts rather than bring an extra pair of swim shorts.

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.
• Bring 1 pair of teva-style sandals.  
• 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.
• 1 hat. Better if it’s wide brim but we used baseball style.

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

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).
• Dry bag for putting your electronics into in boats (and when you transit to your lodge).
• Day pack for 5+ hours hiking to hold bug spray, sunblock, rain jacket, water, and hats.
• Headlamp for night hikes and night boat rides.

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

Enjoy your trip!