How to get from Costa Rica to Bocas del Toro?

You have some time to spare and want to visit the amazing diving location? Here's how you can do it.

The way is not complicated, but as both countries are not friends with public transportation, I had to change many buses and get angry at each of them, so bear with me!

The stats

My journey was:

San Jose ==> Sixaola/Guabito ==> Changuinola ==> Almirante ==> Bocas del Toro

I planned to do the whole way in about 7 hours, and have half a day more to spare in Bocas. It took me about 11 hours in total, and I had to spend the night in Almirante, not as I planned.

Things to know

• The bus from San Jose to Sixaola costs somewhere around 10 USD, and should take 5-5.5 hours

• The border crossing is open every day from 7am to 5pm

• The micro-buses from the border to Almirante are going until 4pm, after that there is a bus to Changuinola that comes once every 2 hours or you can take a taxi. The bus costs 1 USD

• From Changuinola there are micro-buses until the evening (at least 8pm), they leave as soon as they get filled, so you might need to wait a bit. The bus here costs 1 USD as well

• From Almirante there are boat taxis that will take you to Bocas del Toro for 6 USD, the boats are going every 30 minutes between 6am and 6pm. The ride takes about 30 minutes

• There is also the option to take the ferry, it doesn't work every day but when it does, you can even take your car with you (I believe somewhere around 25 USD). The ferry itself should cost a few bucks, less than the taxi. On the other hand, the ferry is slow and will take about 2 hours to get to Bocas del Toro

The journey

I started my journey in San Jose, I took a bus from the MEPE terminal to Sixaola, the border town from the Costa Rican side. I left at 8am, the bus was supposed to take 5 hours, but it took around 7.5 hours instead.

The border crossing was normal, took about half an hour and I crossed to Guabito, the border town from Panama's side. The time was somewhere after 4pm. Unlucky for me, as from my research the last micro-bus that goes from there leaves just before 4pm. I asked around and found out that there is a bus coming in about half an hour. I took the bus, that took me to Changuinola, another small town on the way, there I found a micro-bus that is going up to Almirante. I had to wait a bit for the bus to fill up and I arrived to Almirante around 7pm. Even though I knew there will be no more boats today I went to the docks to see if by any chance I can catch a ride with whoever is there.

Almirante, until this day, feels to me as the shadiest place ever. It is probably not as bad as I remember, but after the day I had, the only 2 people that I spoke to (to ask about the boats) tried to scam me out of some money, and I ended up in a hostel that looks like it is going to fall apart.

I woke up at 5am with the sun, I went to the docks to catch the first taxi so I can manage to do a morning dive in Bocas. There was no taxi of course, but there was the ferry (which I didn't know that takes 2 hours) I was waiting on the docks so early and probably looking so tired so they let me ride for free. I watched a movie with the crew and made friends, and got a free ride so nothing to complain about.

Final thoughts

I did manage to get in time to the morning dive. And I enjoyed my time in Bocas del Toro. My plan basically failed with not taking in account the very probable delay in the Costa Rican bus. I would advise to start you journey from somewhere closer than San Jose (maybe Limon, or Puerto Viejo). I hope this information will help you if you are planning to get to Bocas del Toro from Costa Rica.