Getting Around in Boquete

Boquete, Panama, is a small town with big ambitions. We've only lived here since September 2022, and already we can see changes big and small happening all around us.

Old-timers fondly recall the slower pace of life in what was once rural Boquete, when caballeros rode into town on horseback. And while you can still see horses on side streets, and pull up and park at the front door of most stores in town, the main avenue through Boquete is often jammed with cars.

Horses on the side streets of Boquete

Boquete doesn't have traffic lights, and only a few stop signs that are largely taken as a suggestion. Taxis will stop in the street to pick up passengers, and cars are parked anywhere they can more or less fit.

Buses are the primary mode of transportation in the area: they're cheap, go everywhere, and will pick up and drop off anywhere along their routes. Big coaches and repurposed school buses run continuously from Boquete to the city of David, while 10-seater vans known as "coasters" connect neighborhoods and towns across the region.

Speeding buses and taxis, narrow streets, deep gutters, and pedestrians and animals walking into traffic are all common in downtown Boquete. Still, the expectation is that drivers wait, let others in, and pull around when necessary. Honking is more informative than angry.

There is a police presence in Boquete, primarily along the main highway that runs for roughly 40 km from Boquete to David, the second-largest city in Panama. There is a permanent police checkpoint on the highway about 10 km before you reach Boquete.

Speeds on the highway range from 40 km/h to 80 km/h without much notice or signage, and keeping up with traffic earned us our first speeding ticket in Panama this year. It was a pretty perfunctory stop though and tickets are recorded electronically, so easy to pay online later.

Rainbow over Boquete

The town of Boquete lies in a valley flanked by neighborhoods perched on the surrounding mountainsides, notably Jaramillo and Volcancito. When we first arrived and were searching for a rental property, we spent time exploring these and other high-altitude areas, and were glad to have our four wheel drive Toyota.

Most of the neighborhoods in the mountains surrounding Boquete are only accessible by narrow, winding, and sometimes gravel roads. More than once I had to grab the seat after looking over the edge of a road with no guardrails that plunged precipitously down the mountainside.

Bottom line, getting around this growing region requires a lot of patience and goodwill, as road rage will get you nowhere. Some drivers are fast and some are slow. We just shrug and remember, This Is Panama (TIP).