An overnight bus also runs from the Albrook Bus Terminal in Panama City. This option is cheaper ($40) but lasts much longer than the flight (11 hours). The bus drops you at the port of Almirante where you have to take a boat to the center of Bocas (price included in the price of the bus - about 30 minutes) and then a taxi to the house.

SOME INFORMATION
FOR A PLEASANT JOURNEY ON BOARD THE NIGHT BUS:

- It is freezing on the bus. And the journey is long! Ensure you have socks, blankets, and a hat to not leave any part of the body uncovered. Prevention is better than freezing to death!

- Be vigilant with your personal and valuable effects (identity and travel documents, wallet, telephone). Keep them close to you throughout the journey rather than storing them above the seats.

- The bus stops three times along the way. Make the most of those little breaks by eating and using the restrooms! Except in an emergency case, access to the toilets will be denied on board the bus.

- Fasten your seat belt, or more precisely, hang on! If a good part of the journey is on the highway, the last segment is winding, and the driving is sometimes folkloric!
Here is a website providing your local bus schedules for internal travel in Panama
Panama City Bus Terminal

Here is a website providing your local bus schedules for internal travel in Panama

The Caribe Shuttle company organizes transportation from
San José (Costa Rica) to Bocas del Toro ($78 ).

The shuttle picks you up at your hotel or at Denny's (near the airport) and takes you to Puerto Viejo, where lunch awaits you at the Banana Azul restaurant. Then the shuttle takes the road to Bocas del Toro. A guide will help you cross the border post from Costa Rica to Panama. Once in Panama, the shuttle will drop you off at Almirante, where you will board a boat to Bocas. Your arrival point will be the Caribe Shuttle dock, next to the Bocas Town hotel.

It is also possible to make this journey on
your own via the Costa Rican bus company

www.mepecr.com

The journey takes about six hours (to calculate broadly) for around $15.

The border is to be crossed on foot. Once you have obtained your exit stamp from Costa Rica and the entry one into Panama, you can board a Panamanian shuttle ($10) in the direction of Almirante.

www.mepecr.com

Schedule: 6:00 am - 6:30 pm, open daily.
Departures are every 30 minutes.
The last taxi boat is at 6:30 pm.

If you're traveling from David or elsewhere, head to Almirante port to catch the water taxi to Bocas. Almirante is the small port town closest to downtown Bocas that connects the mainland to the archipelago.

Here are the two companies offering this trip for the sum of approximately $5:
Transporte Marítimo Valencia
Pana Bocas Express (formerly Taxi 25)

1. After 6:30 pm, it is sometimes possible to find a private boat that will bring you to Bocas. Calculate around $80 - $100 for two people. If you can share the boat with other people, it will be cheaper. You have to negotiate the price with the captain. PS: For your safety, make sure the boat has lights to navigate at night.

2. You can rent a hotel room. We advise you not to wander around the streets of Almirante at night.

In any case, contact us!

We sometimes have captains available!

Be careful not to confuse the water taxi, a passenger transport, with the ferry, which carries cars and goods.

If you have rented a car, you have two options.

First option: you can leave your vehicle in Almirante
and take the water taxi to Bocas. You can keep your vehicle in a secure parking, a few steps away from the water taxi, for approximately $5 per day. Recommended.

Second option: you can also board the ferry with your car from Almirante.
The crossing takes about two hours.

For timetables and prices,
visit the ferry's website.