David has the regional Enrique Malek International Airport with daily 50-minute flights from Panama City on Copa and Air Panama. Three or four times a week there are also direct flights from San José in Costa Rica. The terminal is small and the security routine is quick.
Overland from Panama City the Inter-American Highway runs west to David in seven hours by car, eight by long-distance bus. Buses leave from the Albrook Terminal hourly through the day; the express buses use modern coaches and are perfectly comfortable. From San José in Costa Rica, a bus to David via Paso Canoas border crossing takes about ten hours; from the Pacific coast town of Golfito the trip is half that.
From David, half-hourly minibuses run up to Boquete in about 45 minutes and to Volcán and Cerro Punta in about an hour and a half. Rental cars are available at the airport and in central David — useful if you want to combine the highlands with the Pacific coast, which is hard to do on public transport.