All-Inclusive Beach Vacation Family Packing List

Making up our All-Inclusive Beach Vacation Family Packing List is probably one of the easiest family packing lists I’ve had to make. When we made the plans for our all-inclusive Mexico family vacation, it was our first international trip since pre-pandemic times. We were really looking forward to just spending the week at the pool and beach, without any plans to do excursions.

If you’ve spent any time following our travels, you’ll notice that this isn’t really the type of trip we take. We typically fill our family holidays with active adventures like hiking and biking. This time, we all felt like we just needed to relax and enjoy everything the all inclusive family resorts in Mexico have to offer – mainly food and the beach!

So while we don’t often do all-inclusives, we have been several times pre-kids, once with our daughter as a toddler and then this time (almost 7 years later!). We had a pretty good idea of what we’d need to bring for all inclusive family vacations to Mexico.

And while this packing list for Mexico with kids looked a little different than when we went for a month in Playa del Carmen with kids where we visited Mayan Ruins, swam in Cenotes, visited parks like Xcaret with kids, a lot of the same stuff came with us.

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Kids Packing List for the Flight

One thing we always need to consider is what type of weather we’ll be returning to. Coming from Canada and in the middle of February, we can expect it be very cold. Coming back to winter weather in the evening while waiting for a shuttle to take us to the parking lot is a bit of a shock to the system!

We always wear packable down jackets that get put in our suitcase as soon as we get the airport and come back out as soon as we get our luggage when we come back! We’ll also pack hoodies or a sweater for the flight. We also pack a pair of socks and just wear them in our sandals – it may not look great, but it does the job!

Speaking of the flight, it was only 4 hours from Calgary so we didn’t need to think too much about it. The times worked well too, during the day. Our flight home wasn’t as late as some of the returning flights can be. If it had been much later I probably would have packed a couple of these Travel Nest cushions (use discount code BABYCANTRAVEL) to help the kids sleep on the flight.

For this flight a couple of iPads and the kids headphones were all we needed.

Here’s everything else we included on our family packing list for Mexico:

All-Inclusive Beach Vacation – Packing List

Here are the generic items we pack for travel. These are pretty standard for most trips. While we use our iPhones for most of our pictures, we also bring our Sony A6000 to capture a few great shots. We didn’t take it out much on our trip, but I did bring it occasionally on our beach walks.

For the plane, we’ve been using this kids 2-pack headphones for a couple of years and the kids love them. Since the kids are well occupied on flights, we get to watch our own movies so our Apple Airpods Pro get packed! They work great for evenings too when the kids are sleeping.

We pack everything in our packing cubes. We’ve been using the same ones for over 10 years, but I just love keeping everyone’s items organized. Everyone gets their own color, so they know exactly where to go to get their own clothes in the morning and I don’t have to worry about a suitcase becoming a giant pile of clothes. All inclusive family beach vacations are about keeping things easy and relaxed for everyone!

• Iphones & chargers
• Passport, drivers license, credit cards, etc
• Cash for tipping
• Travel documents
• Travel insurance
• Camera, batteries & charger
• Reusable water bottle
• Masks (washable & reusable)
• Kids headphones + Apple Airpods
• Ipads
• Packing cubes

1. Beach Items to Include on Family Vacation Packing List

This is a list of beach items we would typically bring. We didn’t plan on any excursions on this trip, but a dry bag, insect repellant, action camera and small backpack are worth the space if we had any planned.

As someone who’s lost a phone into a waterfall at the beginning of a trip, I can attest to the fact that a waterproof pouch for your phone is a cheap but worthwhile investment! Even in your beach bag, it will help protect from sand or spilled drinks!

Reef-safe sunscreen is also key for any water activities, plus a beach blanket for chilling on the beach. We didn’t pack any sand toys (though they are amazing for keeping kids occupied for hours) but we did have a couple of beach balls. Though we later saw our pool had a rule against them… oops!

We brought along a beach bag on this trip and it’s worth packing when traveling with kids! You’ll always be carrying more than two hands can handle!

• Beach bag
• Dry bag (for excursions)
• Beach blanket
• Waterproof pouch for phone
• Reef-safe sunscreen
• Small backpack
• Insect Repellant
• Action Camera
• Beach Ball/Float
• Sand Toys

2. Women’s Clothing & Toiletries for Family Packing List

The wonderful thing about an all-inclusive vacation is that you can really pack light! Different than most our trips, I didn’t need to worry about packing for a mix of hiking, biking, water activities plus changes in weather. We spent most of our days in swimsuits.

I’ll start by saying that I’m a big fan of CupShe for resort attire. Their swimsuits are great quality at a fraction of the price you’ll pay at the mall. They also have cute sundresses and cover-ups.

I brought a cover-up for walking around the resort and lunches by the pool. There are so many fun options, I was also considering this option or this one.

I packed three swimsuits, not because I needed them but I had some extra space, so why not! The other thing I love about the CupShe swimsuits, besides the amazing selection and styles, is that they come at a price that I don’t mind buying a new one (or two) for a trip like this! They have so many different styles that they can work for ALL body types! I purchased this floral print bikini plus this one with a yellow top.

I also bought a jumpsuit that I wore for dinners. I packed a couple of sundresses along too, which I wore for dinners. I’ve had mine for some time, but here’s a cute maxi dress or this shorter one!

I packed a couple of pairs of shorts and tanks tops. These were handy for the one day we walked into town to get the kids souvenirs or for the regular buffet dinners we did. I would have also used them on excursions.

For shoes, I wore my Keen sandals because I wanted them in case we did any excursions. I lived in my flip flops and even wore them most nights instead of the dressy sandals I brought…

I did pack some workout wear, but it never left the suitcase. My pre-trip brain was overly optimistic on keeping up that exercise!

Other must-haves are a short sleeve rashguard, a sun hat and sunglasses. I brought a rashguard and wore it one day when I was feeling like I had a little too much sun the day before. For a sun hat, I used an old ball cap, but this one and this one are excellent packable options depending on the style you like.

For sunglasses, these Goodr sunglasses are my favourite! They aren’t expensive but they don’t slip and are comfortable for all-day wearing!

• Swimsuits
• Rashguard
• Keen Sandals
• Flip flops
• Dress sandals
• Trainers (for working out)
• Hat (either beach or ball cap)
• Sunglasses
• Sundress x 3
• Cover up
• Shorts x 2
• Tank top x 3
• Pajamas
• Underwear for each day
• Bras x 2
• Workout clothes
• Light jacket
• Hair elastics
• Shampoo/Conditioner
• Chapstick
• Body wash
• Facewash
• Moisturizer
• Toothbrush, toothpaste & floss
• Contacts and Contact Solution
• Makeup
• Aftersun

3. Men’s Clothing & Toiletries for Family Vacation Packing List

Dan is about as minimal as they get when it comes to packing! He packed two pairs of zip off pants which he wore as pants for travel and in the cool mornings. He wore shorts for most dinners. He has a couple of pairs that are slimmer and don’t look like your typical baggy zip-off pants.

T-shirts served him well for most days, plus a couple of collared shirts for dinners like this one and this one.

He also wore Keen sandals to and from Mexico, but lived in his flip flops.

• Swimsuit
• Rashguard
• Sandals
• Flip flops
• Trainers (for working out)
• Hat
• Sunglasses
• Shorts x 3
• T-Shirt x 3
• Collared Shirt x 2
• Pajamas
• Underwear for each day
• Workout clothes
• Shampoo/Conditioner
• Body wash
• Razor & shave gel
• Toothbrush, toothpaste & floss
• Contacts and Contact Solution
• Aftersun

4. Kids Packing List for Beach Vacation

Coming from winter in Canada with two pale skinned kids meant we needed to keep them mostly covered up and protected from the sun. For our daughter, we got this adorable long sleeve swimsuit plus a rash guard she would wear with her other swimsuits. We did swimming trunks and a rash guard for our son.

Both kids wore Keen sandals but also lived in flip flops, just like us. Our favorite kid sun hats are these by Sunday Afternoons. They’ve been wearing versions of this hat since they were toddlers. We get no complaints from them about the hats. They stay on, dry quick and protect their face and neck!

We also brought sunglasses for them (like these and these) but they didn’t wear them all that often… Probably thanks to the sun protection from their hats.

We brought their goggles and a swim vest for our son. If you have a kid that is just getting comfortable in the water and swimming, a swim vest is easy to pack. Our son is just on the verge of swimming, but he’s not all that confident (especially after two years of no pool time thanks to the pandemic). We packed his swim vest and he was swimming on his own the whole time.

Our clothes packing list for kids was pretty simple with a few pairs of shorts and t-shirts. Our daughter also had a sundress and jumpsuit for evenings. Our son had a couple of collared shirts like this one and this one.

We didn’t bring the kids much for entertainment since we spent our days on the beach, at the pool and the kids pool. By the evenings they were exhausted and asleep within minutes.

The mornings were quite cool in Cabo San Lucas, so the kids wore their hoodies every morning. I had a jean jacket that did the trick. We’re glad we had them on our packing lists for kids!

Here’s a quick list for what we included on our kids packing list for a one week beach vacation:

• Keen Sandals
• Swimsuit
• Rashguard
• Summer Clothing
  • Kid 1 – Shorts x 5 + T-shirts x 3 + Collared Shirts x 3
  • Kid 2 – Shorts x 3 + T-shirts x 3 + Sundress/Jumpsuit x 2
• Sun hat
• Sunglasses
• Flip flops
• Goggles
• Swim vest
• Books / Stuffy
• Underwear x 6
• Pajamas
• Toothbrush, toothpaste & floss

One last consideration for all-inclusive family beach resorts is your sleeping solution. Staying at an all-inclusive family resort in Cabo San Lucas meant we were sharing a hotel room (and beds) with the kids. Our all inclusive Cabo family resort had to two beds pushed together making a giant family bed. This worked well for us since we have one kid who moves around a lot and with a hard tile floor we didn’t want to risk him falling out of bed. He got to sleep right in the middle.

Inflatable bed rails are a good option if you have this issue and won’t have something to keep your kid in the bed on both sides.

Another option, is to pack a small inflatable air mattress – especially if your kids are night kickers! It would be worth the packing space for everyone to get better sleeps on an all inclusive family beach vacation.

Getting Kids to do Their Packing

I love when I can get the kids to participate in the packing. It means less work for me and it’s fun for them. I usually have an area in the house where are putting everything that’s getting packed.

I make a list for each kid (using pictures when they couldn’t read) and have them grab their own stuff (with some general suggestions from me). This way they can choose their own “appropriate” clothes (I do monitor to make sure it suits the trip style).

I highly suggest making this part of your trip preparation for your all inclusive Mexican family vacations!

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