Adventures in Latin America – Taking a Bus from Panama to Costa Rica, Part 1

When I first thought about taking a bus from Panama to Costa Rica, I discovered that there was not a lot of information available.  You might find bits and pieces about catching a bus in Panama City.  Or you may learn that it ends in downtown San Jose, Costa Rica.  But this isn’t near enough information to actually book hotels or feel confident that you are going to get there safely.

That is why I wrote this article.  To help you find your way, and know exactly where you are going to end up.  You are about to learn exactly how to take a bus from Panama City, Panama to San Jose, Costa Rica.  You will learn about purchasing your ticket, and where you are going to disembark and hear some fun stories along the way.  This is based on accurate first hand information, unlike some of the crap you find out there which is based on hearsay and not even close to the truth.

There are basically two different buses you can choose to get from Panama to Costa Rica.  There are a couple of other choices like cruise charters and taxi / bus combinations, but you want to take the most direct route.  I am not going to cover charter buses in this article.

Your choices are Expreso Panama (http://www.expresopanama.com) and Tica bus (http://www.ticabus.com).  We travelled on Expreso because the times made more sense for us that way.   It arrived in San Jose in the early afternoon.  And the return trip arrived in Panama city at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning.

Because we know our way around Panama City, we felt safer arriving there in the middle of the night, than we would in San Jose which we were unfamiliar with.  And trust me when I say, Albrook Terminal in Panama City feels much safer than the bus terminal in San Jose.  It is larger, more populated and much more secure.  Even at 4:00 in the afternoon, the San Jose terminal was closed and you are in more of a red zone.  Its fine during the day, but I am glad we didn’t end up there in the middle of the night.  One of our taxi drivers confirmed that assessment.

Tica bus used to end at the Coca Cola bus station which is a known hotspot for pick pickets.  It is now ending at the newer station Terminal San Jose, but I am not sure if you will feel safe at 3:00 am there or not.

Once you have chosen your bus line, its time to purchase your ticket.  With Tica bus, you can purchase an open ticket on line, and then you can call or visit the Albrook terminal to actually reserve your seat and time.  With Expreso Panama, you can book your reservation online, but actually need to go into the Albrook station to purchase it.  We discovered that the online reservation did nothing for us.  We had to actually book the seat and pay for the ticket before it was confirmed.  I recommend you do this early, and do not rely on the online system.

The bus was not full, in the middle of the week, but almost every seat had a person in it, so if you want to actually sit with someone you know, you will want to book early.  We booked a couple of days in advance, and were fine.  On Sunday, the return bus was full.

Once you are on board, it drives straight through to the Costa Rica border without stopping.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  The bus does stop for a couple of inspections along the route.  Once it was a random stop, the other time was at a permanent checkpoint.  So, have your passport on you at all times.   And if you are one of the lucky people who can actually sleep on a bus, be prepared to be woken up a couple of times.  No, they won’t let you sleep through the inspection, and will poke you to get you to wake up.

Also, if you want to sleep right away (Expreso Panama leaves at 11:00pm), or you don’t speak Spanish, you might want to purchase a set of earplugs or a headset before your trip.  They play newer movies, but they are in Spanish.  And they are played at a volume that will definitely keep you “engaged”.

Arriving at the border is definitely an adventure.  Nothing to worry about, but if you don’t know what to expect, like us, it can be a little intimidating.  You have the advantage of reading this article, so you won’t have a problem.

When we arrived, between 5:00 and 5:30am, it was pitch black.  No one got off the bus, and we actually thought the bus drivers were just taking a rest.  Once the sun came up, I decided to get off the bus and see what was going on.  That’s when I discovered we were actually on the Costa Rican border.  Well, the Panama side.  I asked the driver how long it was going to take, and was answered an hour “Mas o Menos”.  More or less.  Yeah, right, welcome to Latin America.

So, after another 30 minutes to 1 hour of border guards and bus drivers hugging, kissing and patting each other on the back, the bus moves over 3 lanes and they start to unpack our luggage.  Then, just as we grab our bags, they load them back up and move the bus 100 meters or so further into Costa Rica territory and we unload again.

You will then be corralled, carrying your entire luggage collection, into a little room with 3 tables where a roll call will begin.  Answer aquí (here) when they call your name.

They will quickly dig through your luggage and send you back into Panama territory to load your bags back on the bus.  Next you head to the migration office where you will stand in line to “Salida” (exit) Panama.  This line moved very slowly.  Once you get to the desk, they will check your Passport to ensure that you haven’t overstayed your Panama visa.  And I assume fine you if you have.  They take your picture and send you on your way.

Unfortunately, they don’t tell you where to go next.  Did I remember to tell you that crossing the border  in a bus at a road crossing is not at all like the airport?

You are definitely in Latin America, and if you are a gringo (Latin slang for North American), you might feel a little out of your element.  This is how the locals travel, and not a lot of North American or Europeans transit this way.  It is very unlikely that you will find anyone who even speaks a word of English.  So finding out where you are going next can be tricky.  And guess what, your bus will be no where in site.

Anyway, once again lucky for you, you are reading this.  Walk up the main road approximately 400 meters.  Try not to be lured into the side streets.  Eventually you will see a number of people hanging around and a number of buses.  Maybe not yours right away, but you are in the right place.  Look for the window that says Entrada (enter) Costa Rica, or something similar.

Present your passport, and be sure to have your exit ticket with you.  You will be asked how long you are staying, and may be asked to show your return ticket.

So, that was migration.  Now it is time to grab your luggage off the bus, and get back in line for customs.  They love their line-ups or cola’s in Panama and Costa Rica.  Here they may go through your luggage again.  The lady in front of us had quite the conversation (in Spanish) and they went through her bags quite vigorously.  For us, she didn’t even open them, stamped our passport and we loaded back on the bus.

4.5 hours after arriving at the border, we were finally on our way to San Jose.  The bus did stop for desayuno (breakfast) at a cute, clean little out door restaurant.  It was full of dogs looking for a free meal, but they were friendly and well behaved.  Then its non stop to your destination, downtown San Jose.

It’s likely you will be inspected at least once on the way, so keep your Passport handy.  This “inspection” will be during daylight hours, so you will also be visited by vendors selling pipa juice, dried plantain and some type of fruit in juice.  It all looked really good, but I am not brave enough to try.  It’s probably ok, but wasn’t going to take the risk.

You arrive to San Jose into a bus terminal, and there should be taxis available.  The expreso Panama bus arrives to the “Empresarios Unidos de Puntarenas” terminal, which is a fairly industrial looking area.  Like I said earlier, you might be a little scared in the dark, and we grabbed the first taxi we saw.

One hint, if you are doing a search on “Empresarios Unidos de Puntarenas”, you are looking for the one in San Jose, not the one in Puntarenas.  We got a little worried at one point we might end up in the wrong place.

Be prepared to be raked over the coals a little by the taxi.  Taxis in Costa Rica are metered, but they didn’t go by that, they wanted $6.00 (3,000 colonies)  to get to our hotel 10 minutes away.  But, it was still very inexpensive compared to North America and at that point, 16 hours later, we just wanted to get to the hotel.  Your hotel might be a little further from the bus station, but probably not much closer.  We stayed at the Holiday Inn, Aurora.

Overall, your trip will be a long but enjoyable one.  You have to think of it as an adventure, and not get hung up on the little things.  This is Latin America after all, so things are not going to be what you are used to.  You can either get pissed off, or chuckle a little at what feels like chaos.  The second option is better.

The worst part of our trip was the bus bathroom breaking down with 4 hours left in the trip.  But other than that it was smooth sailing with lots of stories for our friends and family.  Much more than if we had taken a plane.  It is also a great opportunity to practice your Spanish and will meet many interesting people.

So I say you should do it.  Imagine the adventure of taking a bus trip from Panama City, Panama to San Jose, Costa Rica.  You might want to polish up your Spanish, it will make things much easier, but go for it.  You will not regret it.

A bus trip from Panama City Panama will be an adventure you talk about for years.

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