Comments on: Update on Getting to Bocas del Toro

By: Editor

Editor — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:37:57 +0000

The shuttle is now going to start leaving Puerto Viejo at noon daily. But, no, you won’t connect with it if you are arriving San Jose at 9:45am. The drive from San José takes 4+ hours (5 comfortably from the airport with a quick meal break).

You have a couple of options:
1. Spend the night in Puerto Viejo and then go the next day on the shuttle.
2. Fly to Bocas from San Jose – this is on Nature Air and leaves most days but is often booked. Note that this leaves from the OTHER airport in San Jose not from the International Airport.
3. Take the bus from San Jose to Changuinola and then get to Almirante for the Bocas boat. That bus leaves San José at 9am daily though so you’d have to spend the first night in San José.

The full info on all these options is on the Puerto Viejo Satellite Transport page – Getting to Bocas at http://puertoviejosatellite.com/transport.php#bocas

Doug.

By: Ron Meyers

Ron Meyers — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:30:09 +0000

John, don’t know where to start and not sure how to finish. Four guys departing San Jose Airport at 9:45 am on the 23rd of Feb. want to be in Bocas later that day…Is this possible? We were thinking about the private van from the airport to Puerto Viejo (don’t know how long that takes)and then do the $34.00 program. Don’t know how timing would work for all of this. Any help or suggestions would really be appreciated.

By: John Wheatley

John Wheatley — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 01:47:25 +0000

Thanks for the update, Doug. One correction: the boat ride from Almirante is now $4. We will inform you and everyone as soon the canal opens again, but with environmental impact reports and bureaucracy and the high cost of transporting the dredge to the canal, we are looking at a half year, quite possibly much longer. Shame, no? Anyway, in my humbly biased opinion, the complete transit option for $34 is the way to go!