Panama City bus travel information and updates have recently been submitted by one very helpful woman Julia in Boquete. Have a look at all of the information she provided you with below and let us know if you can help add a bit more! Thank you, Julia!!
Panama City to Isla Grande
Take any Colon bound bus from Allbrook station and ask the driver to let you off at Sabanitas, it takes ~1-1.5hr and costs $3.60.
From Sabanitas you take a chicken bus to La Guaira for $2.50-3. From La Guaira a boat will take you to Isla Grande this should cost $2.50 but you may pay more as a tourist.
Buses return from La Guaira to Colon:
Monday-Saturday: 0530, 0630, 0730, 0930, 1230
Sunday: 0700, 0900, 1230, 1530.
Panama City to Portobello
Take any Colon bound bus from Allbrook station and ask the driver to let you off at Sabanitas, it takes ~1hr and costs $3.60.
Take the La Guira bound chicken bus and get off in Portobello.
Panama City to El Valle
Micro buses leave from Allbrook Terminal every ~30min/1hr, it takes 2-3hrs and costs $4.25.
Help your fellow traveller
If you have taken any of the buses on this page, please drop us a comment below about how the trip went, what time you left, how long it took and what it cost. And, definitely let us know if we have anything wrong.
Lets help each other in our travels!
Hello! We are planning to travel from Panama City to Boquete in February 2025. Found lots of useful info on going from David to Boquete and the timetable for express buses from David to Panama City on the David page, but does anyone have info for going from Panama City to David? Thanks in advance!
Airport to the downtown Panama City
The easiest way from the airport to the city it is to take bus corredor sur -Zp Las siesta 480/s481/s482. The fare is 0.75$ Each way and it is air conditioned. After clearing immigration and customers came out of the door and make a Left turn and look for a place that sells SIM cards ask for the metrobus card costs $5 and includes $2 for the fare. After come out the airport and take a right turn you will follow a path that most of the people working at the airport do. You can ask anyone for the corredor sur bus stop too. Once you finish this path it will leads you to the main road/ highway you have to cross the street and wait for the bus. Make sure to signal bc they just don’t stop. You can go all the way to albrook with this bus and connect with the metro. Google maps have update timetable for the bus so you know when the next one is coming. You can reload the card at any metro station. Also, MiBus maps Panama app for free is very helpful to plan the routes
Does the Panama to Chitre make bathroom stops? Thanks
two of us travel from albrook to Isla Grande. the trip went well and as described above but the price from albrook to sabanitas in 2021 was $3. From Sabanitas we took a bus to Portobello which was the end of the line for us because we were too late for the last bus of the day which I’m guessing left sabanitas at 3:00 ish. we were just after that and had to take a bus to Portobello then hitchhiked the remaining 20 minutes to laguara where we caught a boat for $2.50. also from Portobello we could have taken a taxi for 15 or $20 depending on who you asked. isa grande is a do not miss destination. it was beautiful perfect very small island with not many tourists and as long as it’s not a animating holiday it’s pretty empty which is great. there’s snorkeling swimming some hiking and just very nice people in time for 2 or 3 Days to relax. we stayed at the moncado hostel which has rooms or bunk rooms for individuals. it’s a very beautiful setting tucked a block behind the main town. Then we stayed at the cabanas cabanita which was very nice little room right on the ocean, swimming right out in front of the porch. there are lots of different schedules for the bus going back so we’ll have to find out which one is correct. however everybody agrees the last bus out is 10:00 a.m. on the mainland.
Hello
My name is John and I am a divorce African American male. I am looking to visit Panama in October for the Festival del Cristo Negro (Festival of the Black Christ) in Portobelo.
What are the actual dates for the festival?
Can someone provide me more information about Panama and the festival?
Thanks
John
What is a “chicken bus”?
Hi Ray, “chicken bus” is usually considered the basic bus service in some Central American countries. It’s the colloquial name for those beautiful bright coloured ex-school buses. I am not sure by who or when the term chicken bus came into play, but it is likely based on the fact that it isn’t totally unusual to see a chicken on one, usually by a local who is transporting them. The public transportation system is a super important way for many locals to get around and they use the bus to transport things from time to time since they don’t often have cars, hence the periodic siting of a chicken.
You can actually take one of the old buses from albrook to Sabanitas for just 1.70$
Panama City to Isla Grande
Take any Colon bound bus from Allbrook station and ask the driver to let you off at Sabanitas, it takes ~1-1.5hr and costs $3.60.
From Sabanitas you take a chicken bus to La Guaira for $2.50-3. From La Guaira a boat will take you to Isla Grande this should cost $2.50 but you may pay more as a tourist.
Buses return from La Guaira to Colon:
Monday-Saturday: 0530, 0630, 0730, 0930, 1230
Sunday: 0700, 0900, 1230, 1530.
Panama City to Portobello
Take any Colon bound bus from Allbrook station and ask the driver to let you off at Sabanitas, it takes ~1hr and costs $3.60.
Take the La Guira bound chicken bus and get off in Portobello
Panama City to El Valle
Micro buses leave from Allbrook Terminal every ~30min/1hr, it takes 2-3hrs and costs $4.25.
Thank you, Julia!