Bocas del Toro to Puerto Viejo: How I Traveled Overland to Costa Rica

Getting from Bocas del Toro to Puerto Viejo is actually pretty straightforward, but apparently my friend and I decided straightforward was unnecessary.

We were traveling overland through Central America with backpacks and trying to keep the trip as cheap as possible, so instead of booking a direct transfer from Bocas del Toro to Puerto Viejo, we took the boat back to Almirante, hitchhiked to the Costa Rica border and then jumped on a local bus to Puerto Viejo.

It was my first time hitchhiking, I was convinced there was at least a reasonable possibility we were going to get kidnapped, and my friend was once again wondering why he had agreed to travel with someone who was scared of absolutely everything.

In the end, it turned into one of those random travel days I still remember years later.

So if you’re trying to work out how to get from Bocas del Toro to Puerto Viejo, here are both options: the easy route you can book in advance and the very cheap route we somehow managed ourselves.

Bocas del Toro to Puerto Viejo: Quick Answer

The easiest way to travel from Bocas del Toro to Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica is to book a combined ferry and van transfer.

These transfers take around 5 hours and currently start at about $25, making them a pretty affordable option if you don’t want to organize each part of the journey yourself.

→ Book your Bocas del Toro to Puerto Viejo transfer

We did it independently instead.

Our route was:

Bocas Town → Almirante by boat → hitchhike to the Costa Rica border → cross the border on foot → local bus to Puerto Viejo

It cost us very little because the boat was around $5, the ride to the border was free and the local Costa Rican bus was cheap.

Would I tell everyone to hitchhike across Panama to save a few dollars?

Probably not.

But it made for a much better story.

Leaving Bocas Town

We were staying at Hostal Hansi in Bocas Town, almost directly across from the boat port, so getting to the boat was incredibly easy.

That morning, my friend went diving or snorkeling — I genuinely cannot remember which one — while I stayed at the hostel.

When he came back, we packed our backpacks, checked out and cooked some eggs and sausages before leaving.

We had no complicated plan.

We were going to get back to mainland Panama, somehow reach the Costa Rican border and eventually make our way to Puerto Viejo.

That was about as detailed as our itinerary got.

Taking the Boat From Bocas del Toro to Almirante

The first step was taking one of the local boats from Bocas Town back to Almirante.

The boat cost around $5 from what I remember.

I already hated the journey from Almirante to Bocas del Toro when we arrived.

The journey back was approximately one million times worse.

It was another small wooden boat bouncing across the water, and I spent most of the journey holding onto my friend for dear life while he became increasingly embarrassed by the fact that I apparently believed every wave was about to kill me.

I hate boats.

This trip did not change that.

Eventually, we made it back to Almirante alive, which I personally considered a major achievement.

We Decided to Hitchhike to the Costa Rica Border

Once we arrived in Almirante, we started walking along the road trying to work out how we were going to reach the border.

There were vans traveling in that direction, and my friend stopped a few to ask how much they cost.

They weren’t expensive.

Apparently they still cost too much for us.

We were traveling Central America on a backpacker budget, and my friend quickly decided that instead of paying for one of the vans, we were simply going to hitchhike.

Excuse me?

I had never hitchhiked before.

Within minutes, two guys stopped and offered us a ride.

My immediate reaction was basically:

What if they kidnap us?

What if they suddenly ask us for money?

What if this is an absolutely terrible idea?

My friend thought I was ridiculous.

This was becoming a recurring theme during our trip.

My First Hitchhiking Experience

Initially, we only asked the guys to take us as far as the next town.

Instead, they insisted on driving us all the way to the Costa Rica border.

And that was it.

No weird situation.

No asking for money when we arrived.

No secret kidnapping plot.

Just two guys in Panama who saw two backpackers standing beside the road and decided to make sure we got safely to the border.

I remember being genuinely amazed by that.

I had spent the beginning of the ride worrying about everything that could possibly go wrong, and instead I ended up having my first hitchhiking experience because two complete strangers were simply being nice.

Travel gives you moments like that sometimes.

You start the day expecting transportation and end up remembering the people instead.

Crossing the Panama–Costa Rica Border

The actual border crossing was straightforward.

We got stamped out of Panama, crossed into Costa Rica and completed immigration without any major problems.

I remember paying a small border fee, which was something we encountered during several border crossings on that Central America trip, but I don’t remember the exact amount anymore.

The whole process was relatively quick.

There was none of the chaos or confusion we experienced on some of our other overland travel days.

Once we were officially in Costa Rica, we started looking for transportation to Puerto Viejo.

Taking the Local Bus to Puerto Viejo

We found the bus station, asked when the next bus to Puerto Viejo was and were pretty much immediately on our way.

The local bus made several stops along the route, but otherwise the journey was easy.

After the boat I thought was going to kill me and the hitchhiking experience I thought might get us kidnapped, sitting on a normal bus felt wonderfully uneventful.

We eventually arrived in Puerto Viejo with our backpacks and absolutely no accommodation booked.

That particular decision led to an entirely different story involving the Costa Rican jungle, snakes, insects, my friend getting bitten by something within approximately five minutes and me genuinely crying because I had apparently been taken directly into my personal version of hell.

But that story can wait.

How Much Did Our Bocas del Toro to Puerto Viejo Journey Cost?

Our journey was extremely cheap.

From what I remember:

Bocas Town to Almirante boat: around $5
Almirante to Costa Rica border: free because we hitchhiked
Border fee: small fee, but I don’t remember the exact amount
Costa Rica border to Puerto Viejo: cheap local bus fare

So we spent very little getting from Bocas del Toro to Puerto Viejo.

However, our route obviously relied on somebody agreeing to pick us up.

If you want a predictable journey, paying around $25 for a combined ferry and van transfer makes considerably more sense.

→ Book your Bocas del Toro to Puerto Viejo transfer

Should You Travel Independently or Book a Transfer?

If I were giving practical advice to someone planning this route today, I’d say there are two very different options.

Book the ferry + van transfer

This is the easiest choice.

You book everything together, travel from Bocas del Toro toward Puerto Viejo and don’t have to figure out transportation on either side of the border.

It costs more than doing everything independently, but at around $25, the difference isn’t enormous.

→ Book your transfer to Puerto Viejo

Travel independently

You can also take the boat to Almirante, arrange transport toward the border yourself, cross into Costa Rica and then catch a local bus to Puerto Viejo.

This can be cheaper, but it involves more figuring things out as you go.

And no, hitchhiking is absolutely not a required part of the route.

That was just us.

Would I Hitchhike This Route Again?

Maybe.

Which is honestly not the answer I would have expected from myself before this trip.

At the beginning of that car ride, I was genuinely nervous.

By the end, I was mostly amazed that two strangers had gone out of their way to drive us all the way to another country’s border without expecting anything in return.

That experience challenged some of the assumptions I had about hitchhiking and about trusting people while traveling.

That doesn’t mean I suddenly think hitchhiking has no risks or that everyone should do it.

But it became one of the many little experiences from our Central America trip that reminded me how often complete strangers can surprise you in a good way.

Bocas del Toro to Puerto Viejo: Final Thoughts

Traveling from Bocas del Toro to Puerto Viejo ended up being much easier than I expected.

You can book a combined ferry and van transfer and make the journey in around five hours, which is probably the simplest option for most travelers.

Or you can apparently take a wooden boat you hate, arrive in Almirante with no real plan, refuse to pay for a perfectly affordable van, hitchhike with two strangers to the Costa Rican border and then take a local bus to Puerto Viejo.

Both work.

One just gives you a considerably stranger story afterward.

For us, it was actually one of the easier travel days of our Central America trip — although the accommodation waiting for me in Puerto Viejo was about to make sure the day did not remain peaceful for long.