Top Local Tips for Panama City

Cabs in Panama City: BE CAREFUL Cabs in Panama City are notorious for ripping off tourists. Be SURE to agree to a price before getting into the cab. The drivers can be very manipulative. You should never pay more than $5 one way to anywhere in the city. If they're charging more than this and advising that is the normal rate, they are lying. We were typically told $15-$20 for each destination and by asking other cabs, usually found the same destination to be $2-$3 with a different cab. You should NEVER agree to an hourly rate, it will not be cost effective or beneficial in any way as cabs are abundant in Panama City. The hourly rate ($8-$10/hr) is a scam, unless your travelling significant distances and staying less than 5mins at each location.

Taxis from the airport You might as well rent a car in Panama - it cost me more to get to Paitilla from the airport than a day's car rental. Apparently, the government has restricted access to the airport and they only allow tourismos to pick up - none of the usual local taxi drivers were there competing for our business as I expected.

Taxi ride The Radisson doesn't provide a shuttle to the airport. But if you walk round the corner towards the Sheraton, you can take advanatage of their irregular airport shuttles for $15 one-way, which is much cheaper than just flagging off a taxi. However, if you get a taxi outside a hotel, it's guaranteed to be at least $25. On arrival, head straight to the information desk and ask for a 'collectivo' / shared taxi and you'll get dropped off as you go along which will save you about $10 one-way. The cheapest way of course is to get the bus as it's only 25 cents. However, they are cramped and you probably can't see where they are anyway so may not be a good idea to catch them at the airport if you've never been to the city before, Otherwise, get out of the airport, go right and follow the road and find the bus-stop across the road going from right to left towards the city. Going from town to the airport, you can find buses which says 'Tocumen' on the window-screens along the Balboa & Calle 50