Bus from airport

Dave,

The ride takes about 8 hours (because of all the stops) or if you use the express bus you can do it in 5.  The reason to take the bus is mostly cost.  It's cheap enough.  If Air Panama didn't have a weight limit on luggage per person I think more people would fly out to David (a 45 minute flight) verses a 8 hour bus ride.  But it's comfortable enough, and the scenery is beautiful unless you are on the midnight run which means you get to sleep on the bus.

And you have to take a taxi from PTY to the Albrook station.  Last price I paid for a taxi ride was $33 so I found a shuttle driver who only charged me $25.

Best,

Florence

Thanks AuntieFlo..
I think the ride would also give an idea of the countryside and probably a lot of small towns to see along the way. Is Panama City the only place to fly into commercially, I have heard some residents of Boquete fly into Costa Rica ??
Wife and I are Planning on being there to look for something sometime in the next 3 months, Maybe in the next 2-3 weeks. We are looking at Boquete area, Dolega, or,or,or. any info would be appreciated and we are serious about finding low cost, Long term Rental, Preferabaly not too far from David and preferably where we might be able to have a nice garden and a few animals. I have seen a couple of small acreage Rentals but not many..
Since we would really like to move permantly sometime in the next 6 months ANY help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Dave

Dave,

Yes you can fly into Costa Rica (we just did it in fact).  The only thing about doing that, and honestly what just makes me laugh, is how tight security will be when you do that.  We've flown into PC and never had our bags searched (they run them through a scanner).  We just came in from San Jose and they opened every piece of luggage for every passenger and asked questions about products they didn't understand.  I don't know if they were training or not but they did it for visitors and locals so it was all the same.  It was annoying but it didn't take long to get through so I just wanted to mention it.

I have access to renting you a 3 bedroom 2 bath home for short term like you mentioned (2-3 weeks) for $45 a day.  It's closer to David than Boquete but the prices of places would be better near David.  They can be found near Boquete, it just depends on what your budget is.  Anyway this house would give you a place to make your base while you look around at other areas and decide on what you want.  It would also be good to live among the locals to see if you like it.  It is also becoming our summer so prices of things is going to go up for hotels, etc. since summer runs now until April (just wanted to mention it).  If you are interested in knowing more I can get you more information and even pictures of the place (we're going to take them today in fact). 

My first recommendation is to come and live here 6 months and then decide on whether you want to come to Panama permanetly.  You might also want to look at the town of Volcan or Cerro Punta.  But again, you will know more once you are here and driving around. 

Let me know if you want to proceed, or just if you want more information, and feel free to email me offline.  The house I mentioned is booked for the last two weeks in December right now but it will fill quickly since so many of the hotels here will be full now that the Boquete Flower and Coffee show (January) is getting ready to happen and even the Boquete Jazz Festival (end of February).

Best,

Florence

Dave,
My wife and I just returned from Panama. We rented a car and toured around Panama city, North to Colon and west along the Panamerican highway. It's about a seven to nine hour drive to David depending on what you drive or ride in. The PanAm highway isn't quite like a major highway in the U.S. or Canada.
You can also fly on Copa airlines or obviously Air Panama.
We met an excellent tour guide while we were there named Luis Anderson. If you need more info on thius, Luis may be able to help. His e-mail address is [email protected]. He also has a Magic Jack and you can call him at347-568-1598.
Hope that helps.
Rick Purrott

Rick,
Thank you so much for the info..can't get too much info. Everyone on this site that takes the time to respond to others has been so helpful. One never knows, someday we may be neighbors. good luck to you and thanks again.
Dave