Visitors to Panama who possess only a tourist card must leave the country every 90 days. Many people on a budget travel to Panama’s border towns, and cross over to Costa Rica for the mandatory 72-hour exit. This is probably one of the cheapest methods to reset your stay in Panama, but the border at Paso Canoas is one of the strangest places in the world.

Visitors arrive by either car or bus to the Panama immigration department in the town of Paso Canoas. This is one of busiest Panama/Costa Rica borders. When leaving Panama you must have your visa stamped with Panama’s exit visa. The clock then starts for the 72-hour countdown until you can return.

About 500 meters down the road from Panama’s immigration office is the Costa Rica immigration office where you must obtain an entry stamp. This is where things get weird. If you are on a really tight budget, you don’t even have to leave the confines of the border town to wait out your 72-hours. There are a handful of very modest accommodations that sit between the Panama and Costa Rica borders. As long as you have your Panama exit stamp and your Costa Rica entrance stamp, there’s no need to actually walk through the gate in to Costa Rica. You can easily wait out your 72-hours in one of the $8 hotels that sit in the “twilight zone”.

There is no fence or gate that you must go through to get in to or out of Panama. There is on the Costa Rica side though. There is about a 500m zone in between the two countries that serve as a no man’s land. The area is full of sketchy characters, backpackers, hustlers and Duty Free shops. This zone is almost a holding area for those lost or misguided tourists.

This no man’s land is also where you will find an abundance of Panamanians and Ticos willing to help you “speed up” your 72-hour wait. I am not suggesting that you go the “not-quite-legal” route, but it certainly is possible in most cases. Unofficial assistants will approach you to see if you want to speed up the process. For anywhere from $40 to $80 you will be able to leave Panama, enter Costa Rica, leave Costa Rica and re-enter Panama in a matter of a couple of hours. If you do use this system, do it with caution, as higher up officials realize that some employees take money under the table to facilitate a speedy re-entrance. Every so often the immigration employees will be replaced with new ones, so you have to know which employee to go to. This is where the “unofficial assistants” come in handy. On the Costa Rica side, do not pass money through the window since the office has cameras focused in on the employees.

The Paso Canoas border between Panama and Costa Rica is a weird and wild place. You’ll see very interesting things happen and even more interesting people. Just be careful, since the locals know the area is crawling with unassuming tourists.

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Filed under: Country Guide, Living & Retirement, News on March 9th, 2009