Trip Overview: Border Crossing Costa Rica to Panama
Looking to travel from Cahuita or Puerto Viejo to Bocas Del Toro? It may be tempting to take the “Easy” $35USD tourist shuttle but we have a way to do it for less than half the price ($13.66). Crossing the border from Costa Rica to Panama by Public bus is pretty straight forward. We’ve written a comprehensive guide so you can do it to!
Trip Overview: Costa Rica to Panama
Cost: $13.66 USD per person + $12 USD exit/entry fees.
8.50 am – 10.45 am Bus Cahuita to Sixaola
10.45 am – 11.10 am (now 12.10 pm) Border crossing (note: clock has changed one hour forward)
12.25 pm -1.20 pm Bus to Changuinola
1.20 pm – 2.05 pm Bus to Almirante
2.20 pm – 2.50 pm Boat to Bocas Town
Bus from Cahuita/Puerto Viejo to Sixaola
To get to the Panama border (the town is called Sixaola), you’ll need to take the bus either from Cahuita or Puerto Viejo depending where you’re staying. The bus leaves from the main bus station in town and is run by the company MEPE, you can buy tickets at the station (not on the bus). The bus comes from Limon hourly and arrives at Cahuita approx 50 minutes past the hour every hour (ie. our bus was scheduled for 8.50am, though it arrived at 9.10am). It then goes via Puerto Viejo arriving at approx 30 minutes past the hour.
You can check the latest schedules at the bus station in Cahuita or on the website for Puerto Viejo.
The ticket from Cahuita to Sixaola cost 2652 colones each and took us around 1.5 hours (we arrived at 10.45am).
Exit Costa Rica
Once you arrive at Sixaola you’ll be dropped at a bus station a short walk from the border. We followed Google maps to the border (it’s pretty straight forward though you can just walk toward the raised road that is the border crossing – it’s hard to miss).
Once at the border you’ll need to go through migration to get your stamp prior to exit. There was no line so we got through quickly. There is also a bathroom a little further down in this same building so use it!
To save time we paid our Costa Rica exit tax online – this is currently $8 USD (Feb 2024) and you can pay via Banco BCR.
Enter Panama
Walk across the bridge to Panama (around 5 minutes) and put your watches 1 hour forward. This part is a little confusing… there is an office right next to the bridge as you arrive in Panama, this isn’t the migration office. It’s a little further and to the left. A child was there directing people and took us to the correct office. Get your entry stamp and then across the road pay the entry tax ($4 USD in Feb 2024).
We read that Panama is very strict on having proof of onwards travel, however, they only asked us how long we were staying in Panama (1 month) and no other questions. We we unsure whether our confirmation email for our boat trip to Columbia would be enough proof but luckily we didn’t have to show it! Of course always make sure you have proof in case you’re asked and check the latest requirements via the Panama government.
Note that friendly shuttle drivers at the border will offer to take you straight to Almirante for $10 US, they’ll say that the public bus drops you off a 15 minute walk from the boats – but it doesn’t! The public bus will take you right to where the boat leaves and you only have to swap buses once – in Changuinola. It cost us $2.5 each taking the bus vs $10USD to get the shuttle. It also took the same length of time as we were on the same boat as others who took the shuttle option. Up to you if you prefer to take a shuttle from here but if not keep reading.
Bus to Changuinola
By the time we passed through both border controls and walked across the bridge it was 12.10 pm (note the 1 hour time change in Panama so it only took us about 25 minutes to go through both borders)
Head under the bridge to your right and you’ll see a supermarket with a bench next to it. This is the bus stop to Changuinola. We waited about 15 minutes for the next bus to arrive. This bus cost $1 and took just under 1 hour. Get off at the last stop which is the bus station to Almirante (you’ll pass the David bus station but it’s a bit further).
Bus Changuinola to Almirante
We arrived at 1.10pm to the Changuinola bus station. There will be a lot of buses that say Almirante on the front, these are more like mini vans than buses. We jumped straight into one and got the last two seats. This bus cost $1.5 and took just under an hour. It also dropped us off right at the Lanchas/Boats to Bocas (despite what the shuttle drivers at the border tried to say)
Almirante to Bocas Town
We arrived in Almirante around 2.10 pm. Once we jumped off the bus someone approached us and said to follow them for the boat. All of the locals were also following them so we took it as a good sign. The company was Valencia and we paid $12 each for return tickets to Bocas Town ($7 one way). We waited around 10 minutes for the boat to leave – there is also a toilet here.
The boat to Bocas town took about 25/30 minutes. Once in Bocas town we got a water taxi for $1 to Isla Carenero where we were staying.
Summary of costs (Feb 2024)
Transport
Bus Cahuita to Sixoala: $5.16
Bus to Changuinola: $1
Bus to Almirante: $1.50
Boat Almirante to Bocas Town: $7 (or $12 return)
TOTAL: $13.66
(and the cheapest shuttle we could find is $35!)
Other:
Costa Rica exit fee: $8
Panama entry fee: $4
All in USD
There you have it how to get from Costa Rica to Panama by public bus. If you’ve had any other experiences or have other information to share with travellers let us know in the comments below!
