What we do
We organize private transport with a driver for people visiting Panama. The most common request is simple: a flight lands at Tocumen, and the passengers want a car waiting that takes them straight to a hotel in Panama City or to a rental in Coronado or Playa Blanca without haggling at the curb. We also cover the two smaller airports, Panama Pacifico on the west side of the canal and Scarlett Martinez in Rio Hato on the beach strip itself, and we arrange private day trips from the city and the beaches with the same driver for the whole day.
Everything is quoted by email before you travel. You send the date, the flight number, how many people and bags, and where you are going. We reply with a price and, once you confirm, the pickup details. There is no booking engine on this site yet and no published price list, because the price depends on the route, the hour and the size of the group. See the contact page for the short list of things to include in your message.
Airport pickups
Tocumen handles nearly all international arrivals. It sits about 22 km east of the banking district, which sounds close and usually is, 25 to 30 minutes on the Corredor Sur toll road at a quiet hour. At 5 pm on a weekday the same trip can take over an hour, and the Corredor Sur itself charges a car around US$2.65 in tolls end to end, paid only by Panapass transponder (no cash lanes). Copa passengers arrive through Terminal 2, most other airlines through Terminal 1, and the two are linked by a walkway of roughly 170 meters. The airport transfers page has the full table of distances, drive times and tolls for each destination, plus the official airport taxi fares so you can compare.
Panama Pacifico (BLB), on the former Howard air base, has a handful of flights a day, mostly Wingo from Colombia and Cuba. It is closer to the beaches than Tocumen is, since you are already west of the canal. Rio Hato (RIH) gets seasonal direct flights from Canada between roughly November and April and sits 5 to 15 minutes from the Santa Clara and Playa Blanca resorts, so a transfer from there to Coronado is a 40 minute hop rather than a two hour haul.
Panama City to the Pacific beaches
The beach towns most visitors use are strung along the Interamericana (Pan-American Highway) between 75 and 125 km west of the city: Gorgona, Coronado, San Carlos, then Santa Clara and Playa Blanca near Farallon. The road is a divided highway the whole way, and the driving itself is easy. What is not easy is predicting the time. Leaving the city means crossing the canal on either the Bridge of the Americas or the Centenario Bridge, and both bottleneck on Friday afternoons and the day before any holiday weekend. Sunday evening is the same story in reverse. On a quiet Tuesday morning Coronado is about 1 h 20 min from the Cinta Costera; on a Friday at 4 pm it can be three hours.
Our beach transfers page walks through each town with distances and times from Panama City, Tocumen and Rio Hato, and the kinds of things that slow the trip down: afternoon rain from April to December, the police checkpoint near the Chame turnoff, and the periodic night closures of the Bridge of the Americas for maintenance work.
Day trips with a private driver
Having a car and driver for the day in Panama is less of a luxury than it sounds, because the interesting places are spread out and buses do not go to most of them. From the city, people ask us for the Miraflores locks and the Amador Causeway, Casco Viejo, the Gamboa rainforest and Lake Gatun, the Caribbean side at Portobelo and the San Lorenzo fort, and El Valle de Anton, the town inside a volcanic crater about two hours west. From Coronado, El Valle is under an hour up the hill and is the most popular outing by far. Each trip has its own page with entrance fees, opening hours and honest timing, including how long you will spend in the car.
How booking works
There is no booking engine here, and for now that is on purpose. Write to info@panamaroadrunner.com with your travel date, flight number, number of passengers and bags, and your pickup and drop-off addresses. We reply with a price for that exact trip. If you want to change something, a later pickup, a stop at the supermarket, an extra passenger, reply and we requote. Nothing is booked until you accept a price and we send the pickup details.
Book a few days ahead when you can. Holiday weekends fill up early, especially Carnival, Easter week, the November independence dates and the Christmas period, and Friday afternoon departures from the city are the hardest to time. Same day requests are sometimes possible, but we cannot promise them. The contact page has a worked example of a message that gives us everything we need in one go.
Frequently asked questions
How do I book a transfer?
Email info@panamaroadrunner.com with your date, flight number, passenger count, luggage and pickup and drop-off points. We reply with a quote, and once you confirm we send the pickup details. There is no online booking form yet.
How much does a transfer cost?
We quote each trip individually by email, since price depends on route, hour and group size. For reference, the official Tocumen airport taxi stand charges US$30 to Panama City and US$120 to Coronado, Playa Blanca or San Carlos for up to 2 passengers (tocumenaero.com).
How long is the drive from Tocumen airport to Coronado?
About 110 km. In light traffic it is around 1 h 45 min; on a Friday afternoon or the eve of a holiday, plan for 2 h 30 min or more because of the canal bridge crossings and the Interamericana.
Which airport should I fly into for the Pacific beaches?
Tocumen (PTY) has by far the most flights. Rio Hato (RIH) is on the beach strip itself but only has seasonal direct flights, mostly from Canada between November and April. Panama Pacifico (BLB) is west of the canal, so it saves 30 to 40 minutes to the beaches compared with Tocumen, but its flights are limited to a few Colombian and Caribbean routes.
Do you offer shared shuttles?
No. Every booking is a private vehicle for your party only. If you want the cheapest option, the intercity buses from Albrook terminal to the beach towns cost a few dollars, but they drop you on the highway rather than at your door.
Are you the same Panama Roadrunner that was based in Coronado?
Yes. Panama Roadrunner started in Coronado, and the Pacific beach strip is still the core of what we do, along with Panama City and the three airports. Email us the details of your trip and we will quote it.
Facts checked 2026-11. Fees, hours and road works change, so confirm before you go.
