The schedule below was submitted by a traveller in Jan 2019.
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There are now several Buses between Sona – Panama city each day of the week:
Sona Panamá:
12:30 am
4:30 am
8:30 am
10:30 am
1:30 pm
3:30 pm
Panama sona
6:45 am
8:20 am
10:20 am
12:45 pm
2:20 pm
4:20 pm
Also for the transport between Bocas, Boquete and Santa Catalina you could use hellotravel Panama shuttle, there is even a 20 % discount with the code ESCAPADE20 so it might be worth it 🙂
Since I’ve heard there is many who struggled to get information about how to get from Bocas del Toro to Santa Catalina in one day, I would like to share my experience.
There is shuttles to Santiago for $33 per person, local buses to David, or the bus to Panama City.
We decided to go with the Almirante-Panama City bus to Santiago. It leaves at 8am in the morning but arrived around 7.30am to pack the bus. Many locals takes this bus, so I guess it’s cheap. It is usually full, so book a ticket in advance at the Taxi 25 deck in Bocas Town. There’s a green booth called Transbocia or something like that. The price from Almirante to Santiago is $19.5.
Boat taxis to Almirante from Bocas Town start at 6am and leaves every 30 minutes. If you leave 6.30am or 7am, you will still manage to catch the bus. Takes about 30 minutes.
When you but the ticket to get to Bocas, buy the return ticket for $10 instead of $6 one-way. Valid for one month. Same at every boat taxi company.
As you reach Almirante, take a taxi to the bus station outside of town. $1 per person.
There is another booth where you can get your ticket if you haven’t booked in advance.
After a long but scenic bus ride we reached Santiago at 2.30pm, and the next bus to Sona leaves at 2.45pm. There’s a lot of traffic and the taxi charge $2 in total, so it’s convenient to get a taxi. They pass the bus station frequently, although you might need to wave one in from the main road. Don’t waste time as you might miss the bus to Sona, otherwise you will miss the last bus to Santa Catalina.
The bus to Sona takes about an hour and cost $2 per person. At 4.30pm the mini van/colectivo left Sona, not 4.45pm as the schedule shows. We travelled on a Monday. That’s why it’s important to catch the bus in Santiago.
We arrived in Santa Catalina about 5.45pm and the price is $4.95 per person.
If you miss the bus there’s taxis that charge $40 per taxi. You don’t want to do that.
Summary:
Bocas Town to Almirante: 6.30am/7am – $5
Taxi to bus station: $1
Almirante-Santiago: 8am to 2.30pm – $19.5
Taxi to bus station: $2 per taxi
Santiago-Sona: 2.45pm to 3.45pm -$2
Sona-Santa Catalina: 4.30pm to 5.45pm – $4.95
Total: $34,45
Expensive, yes. Although, I haven’t found a faster option expect the shuttle. I guess this is the cheapest option to get to Santa Catalina in one day.
Thanks, Samuel! this is epic. I have added it to the Bocas page as well.
Thanks for being on point and on tatrge!