Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GETTING TO GUABITO & BOCAS DEL TORO, PANAMA
Welcome to Costa Rica's most entertaining border crossing! An old railroad bridge that
spans the churning waters of the Río Sixaola connects Costa Rica with Panama amid a
sea of agricultural plantations. Until recently, oversized buses and trucks also plied this
route - making for a surreal scene whenever one of these vehicles came clattering along
the wood planks, forcing pedestrians to scatter to the edges. Today there's a parallel
bridge for motor-vehicle traffic, inaugurated in mid-2012, but pedestrians still get the fun
of walking across the old bridge.
From here, most travelers make for Bocas del Toro in Panama, a picturesque ar-
chipelago of jungle islands that is home to lovely beaches and endangered red frogs, and
is easily accessible by regular water taxis from the docks at Almirante.
The border is open 7am to 5pm (8am to 6pm in Guabito, Panama, which is an hour
ahead of Costa Rica), though one or both sides may close for lunch at around 1pm. At the
entrance to the bridge, on the right-hand side, pay the US$7 Costa Rica departure tax
and get your exit stamp at the
Costa Rica immigration office
( 2754-2044). Once over
the bridge, stop at Panama immigration to get your passport stamped and pay the US$3
entry tax. Note that Panama no longer requires tourist cards for foreigners entering from
Costa Rica, but you will be required to show proof of onward travel out of Panama, such
as a copy of your plane ticket home. Personal cars (not rentals) can cross here.
Guabito has no hotels or banks, but in a pinch you can exchange colones at the market
across the street. From the border, half-hourly buses (US$1.25, one hour) run to Terminal
Piquera in Changuinola, where you can transfer to one of the frequent buses to Almirante
(US$1.75, 45 minutes) for the water taxi. Alternatively, from Guabito you can take a col-
lective taxi (per person US$10, one hour) straight to Almirante. From this point, hourly
water taxis (per person US$6, 25 minutes) make the trip to Bocas del Toro between
6:30am and 7pm.
For a more streamlined, if slightly more expensive, trip to Bocas del Toro, take one of
the daily shuttles from Cahuita or Puerto Viejo de Talamanca.
Activities
Hiking
A coastal trail heads 5.5km east out of Manzanillo to
Punta Mona
. The first part of this
path, which leads from Manzanillo to Tom Bay (about a 40-minute walk), is well
