You can travel by bus from Panama City to the Island. When making plans consult the bus schedule found at the website link below. Make sure you put in Chame (from Panama City) to Almirante. The bus terminal can easily be found. It is located near the national airport and the Albrook Mall. Your taxi driver can take you there no problem. The bus ride is about 10 hours.
Here are a couple things you may want to bring along:
-Jacket or blanket. The bus goes over the mountain where the temperatures drop drastically but the drivers leave the air conditioning on so it can get quite cold on the bus.
-Earplugs. The drivers usually play movies on the bus. Often these are violent or immoral. The earplugs can also drown out any other noise if you want to rest.
-Passport. Keep it handy, as there is a checkpoint on the route.
-Dramamine. For motion sickness.
When you arrive in Almirante, you will need to take a taxi to the boat launch.
There are usually taxis waiting for travelers. If not, you can flag one down on the street quite easily. The taxi ride is about 5 minutes to the boat launch and usually costs one dollar.
You will take a boat to the island. The boat leaves every half hour. The cost is $4 per person.
There are two boat companies.
The first one is Bocas Marine Tours. Their website is link is posted below.
The other is Taxi 25. There site link is also posted below.
You only need the boat if you are traveling by bus. The airplane takes you right to the airport in Bocas.