A Santa Catalina, Panama Travel Guide

How To Get To Santa Catalina

Santa Catalina By Car

We were on a Panama road trip, so drove in with our rental car.

From the main highway, it takes around 40 minutes to reach Santa Catalina. You’ll turn off near a gas station – fill up here if you’re low – and then leave the tarmac behind. The approach road is currently loose grey gravel with frequent potholes and no markings down the middle or along the sides. You cannot drive it quickly, and you shouldn’t try.

It’s also very much a shared road. Pedestrians and cyclists use the edges, and the dust clouds kicked up by passing cars can make it difficult to see oncoming traffic. Loose stones spit up from tyres and windscreen chips are a concern if a large vehicle flies past you – which happens more often than you’d hope.

When we visited this year, there was ongoing construction along this road, so it looks likely that it will eventually be fully paved or properly gravelled. When that happens, tourism in Santa Catalina will likely change substantially.

Once you’re in Santa Catalina, you won’t really need the car at all (fyi – Bambuda has a good free car park for guests)

Know // You don’t need a 4×4 in the dry season, but the extra clearance of an SUV makes the approach road less stressful. In the rainy season, conditions worsen quickly and a higher-clearance vehicle is definitely worth it. Rainy season can hang over until November through to December.

Santa Catalina By Bus

If you’re travelling Panama on a budget or you simply prefer to move slowly between places, Santa Catalina is perfectly reachable by public transport – it just takes a little more time, a little more patience and an understanding that all routes eventually funnel through the small inland town of Soná, from which there are realtively regular departures throughout the day.

Journey time from Soná to Santa Catalina is approximately 1.5-2 hours and tickets cost $5 USD. The current timetable shows departures at 5.15am, 8.30am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm and 4.30pm (note that the 8.30am and the 3pm don’t run on Sundays).

Do let us know in the comments if those times change.

Alternatively, if you miss the last bus or don’t fancy hanging around waiting for the next one, you can jump in a cab in Soná. The standard fare is around $40 USD but always be sure to confirm the price with the driver (we did meet someone who paid significantly more).

Note that the bus drops you off in the centre of Santa Catalina (outside Caricaco coffee shop – here on Google Maps), so you’ll have to walk along the road for10-30 minutes to reach certain accommodation.

Panama City / Beginning at Albrook Bus Terminal, you need to take a bus to Soná. These run throughout the day, with departures at 5.50am, 8.20am, 10.20am, 12.45pm, 2.20pm, 3.15pm, 4.20pm and 5.45pm (correct at time of publication). Journey time is around 4-5 hours depending on traffic and stops and you don’t need to pre-book your place; just look for Soná on the window boards when you arrive at the station. Tickets cost $9 per person.

In practice, the full Panama City to Santa Catalina journey takes around 7 to 8 hours, so if you’re keen to get a bus – not a taxi – from Soná, be sure to set off from Panama City nice and early.

David (or Boquete or Bocas) / There is no direct bus from David to Sona, so instead you’ll have to first make your way Santiago. Frequent comfortable coaches depart from David’s main bus terminal, taking around three to four hours to reach Santiago. A ticket is approximately $8.

From Santiago, local buses to Soná run steadily throughout the day, taking around an hour and costing $2. Then you just need to make the same final change as everyone else!

It sounds like a faff, but we’re told that it works surprisingly well as long as you start early enough. If you leave David in the morning, you’ll almost always make the Soná connection in time and reach Santa Catalina mid-afternoon!

This is the same route you’ll follow if coming from Boquete or even Bocas, but it’s super important to be aware that due to the number of potential connections involved to make it all the way to Santa Catalina, the further away you begin your day, the greater the chance of not making it to your final destination in one day. We’d recommend that if you are trying to reach Santa Catalina from Bocas, that you just assume you’ll need to get a taxi from Sona and remove a little of the stress.

El Valle de Antón / From the centre of El Valle, take the San Carlos or Panama City bus and get off at the Pan-American Highway (just advise your driver on your final destination and he’ll know where to stop). From here, pick up a through-bus to Soná if one is passing, or continue via Santiago if you miss it.

Total travel time for this journey is around six to eight hours.

A note on Playa Venao / Travellers looping the Pacific coast often compare Santa Catalina and Playa Venao, and moving between the two by bus is possible – it just isn’t linear or all that sensible. You’d have to make several bus connections – Venao > Pedasí > Las Tablas > Santiago > Soná > Santa Catalina – which on paper looks like madness. If you do give it a go, then let us know in the comments (and please start your journey early!)

Santa Catalina by Shuttle

Shared shuttles are an increasingly popular way to get around Panama, and the following are the current approximate rates to / from Santa Catalina:

· Boquete – $35 USD

· David – €35 USD

· Lost & Found Hostel – $40 USD

· Bocas del Toro – $70 USD

· Playa Venao – $45 USD

· Boca Chica $40 USD

· Panama City – $60 USD