SophieH asked 7 years ago
Hi there. I’ve been exploring your site and finding everything so interesting and useful so thank you! My boyfriend and I will be attending a conference in Panama City in late August (from Scotland). We plan to extend our trip to visit Costa Rica for around 10/11 days. I\’m looking to find out about travel options between Panama City and CR. I know we can fly to SJO but given our trip will be finishing in San Jose, I wondered if there were other (regional?) airports that we can fly to? All the information I have found seems to suggest buses/driving are the only other options for getting between the two countries.We\’re not yet set on our CR itinerary but keen to enjoy the Pacific Coast (possibly Drake Bay).Any advice would be great.Thanks again for such a fantastic website!Sophie
Jenn and Matt Staff answered 7 years ago
Hi SophieH,
To the best of our knowledge, all of the small regional airports in Costa Rica are only used by companies flying within Costa Rica. I did a quick search though, and it looks like Copa Airlines flies from Panama City to Liberia (LIR) twice a week. So from there you could explore the northwest area of Costa Rica and then make your way back to San Jose (maybe visiting Monteverde and La Fortuna/Arenal along the way).
Another idea is for you to fly from Panama City to Bocas del Toro, Panama (near the Costa Rica border on the Caribbean side) and then shuttle up into Costa Rica from there. Carib Shuttle does a boat/land shuttle combo that is very affordable ($33/pp) to/from the Bocas. Hope this gives you some ideas, have a nice trip.