Beer Runs to Panama

Everyone in Costa Rica knows that everything is cheaper in Panama. Liquor and Beer are 40% less there because of the taxes here in CR. Panama uses the U.S. dollar and because of the Panama canal there are all kinds of great imports at great prices. I have gone through the border twice and taken a taxi into Changuinola, which is a town set up primarily for shopping and as a pass through for the Bocas del Toro region of Panama. This region has a must go-to festival every year where people in masks whip each other as a tradition to beat out the devil (but I will post more on that after we go in 2012). When you pass through the “legit” border you have to pay around $4 on both sides CR and Panama, add on the $30 in gas to get down there (it’s about 2 hours from our place) and your cost savings diminishes. So Barry and I found this alternative. It’s a liquor store in the middle of nowhere Panama along the Sixaola river. We don’t have to drive as far, we park our car way back in a banana field and hop on the boat to cross the river to a fully functional liquor store on the opposite bank. You basically buy as much as you can carry and/or fit in the boat for the ride back to your car. We have even found good bourbons and Chilean wines.
In the image Barry illustrates
A. The place we park the car
B. The route of the boat
C. The liquor store in the middle of nowhere Panama.

Update 10/14 – The Costa Rican tax police have since found out about this place. They will wait for you on the point A side and take all of your goodies when you return from the store. No longer recommended.