What to Pack

Gearing Up for the Osa Peninsula

4 min read

Story By:Ambassador David Mangum

Photos By:Nick Kelley

Location:Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

When David Mangum gets some time off from his work as a fishing guide, he likes to do a little traveling for himself. Here’s what he packed for his trip with his daughter on a recent trip to Costa Rica.

YETI Ambassador

David Mangum

Fishing

I spend the better part of my year putting clients on tarpon and redfish in the gulf off the Florida panhandle. So when I get to travel I love to go someplace new, someplace a little bit further from the crowds.

I came to the Osa Peninsula with my fifteen-year-old daughter, Marin. We love to surf and fish, so we found a place where we could do both, and more. On the Osa, it’s like you have three different worlds—the surfing world, the fishing world, and this amazing ecosystem of the rainforest. When packing, we aim to bring gear that’s versatile so we can travel light but still have what we need.

My Must-Haves for the Osa

1 A Do-it-all Duffel

I love the Crossroads® 40L Duffel because it’s easy to use and access. It stuffs into different places while traveling–trunks and overhead bins–and it holds up to bouncing around on dirt roads on the way to the beach. It also helps keep me organized, especially when packing for a trip where we’re doing a lot of different activities. Check it Out

2 A FULL FLY BOX

I brought a tacklebox of flies for offshore fishing on the Osa. Some Billfish flies, some tuna, and I brought some rooster fish flies–I had never fished for them before, but I had done some research. I ended up using most of them and they worked pretty well. We caught tuna on the fly but didn’t catch any rooster fish.

35 Carryall Tote Bag, Canopy Green, card

3 Heavy-Duty Reels

I brought my largest arbor reels with a lot of backing because we were fishing offshore, sometimes in a thousand feet of water. You need a lot of string since there’s no telling what you’re going to hook out there in the offshore fishing scene. It could be a large marlin or a giant tuna and you need some big hands for that.

4 Fishing and Birding Binocs

I grabbed the binoculars that I keep on my boat at home. They have great image stabilization, which is super important on the boat and in the rainforest where I was looking for wildlife and birds in the canopy.

5 A Catch-All Bag

One of my favorite pieces of gear is the Camino® Carryall. I have probably a dozen of them because it’s the perfect compliment for all the stuff I do: fishing, guiding, surfing, taking photos, or even a day just hanging at the beach - everything I am planning on doing on my trip to Costa Rica.

6 Surf Essentials

When I travel I always bring my own surf wax and drying towels, just in case these items aren’t readily available. I want to spend as much time as I can in the water rather than tracking down gear. This is especially true in remote areas like the Osa. I also added a rashguard to the bag in case I need another layer while in the water.

7 Stay Dry in the rainy tropics

When I travel to the tropics I need waterproof and versatile gear, because you know it’s going to rain there. We brought compact, packable rain jackets that came with us everywhere we went. I also used my Panga® Backpack. A waterproof backpack is great for all the worlds of the Osa: the jungle, the beach, and the fishing boat.

8 Light up the Night

I always bring a headlamp no matter where I go, but especially when I travel to places like the desert or the jungle. Cruising around and looking for stuff at night in the jungle is pretty awesome and we got to do that on this trip. I would have done it on my own if there wasn’t an opportunity to do it with a biologist.

9 Photo Gear

I love photography and the Osa is full of rare birds, so my camera is coming with me. Sony A1 is the camera body. My big lens is a 200-600 zoom lens for bird photography. I also brought a wide angle 16-35.

10 Small but important

A pocket knife is always a good thing to have on hand. If you’re checking luggage, throw it in there. I like something super small and compact because you never know when you’ll need it.