Air connections
Tumbes has daily flights to Lima with Aerocontinente and TANS. The Aerocontinente office is at Av. Tumbes Norte 217. The TANS office is in the Hotel Costa del Sol. The airport is a 15-minute drive from the centre. Taxis charge $4.
Bus connections
Tumbes has good bus connections south.
South
Piura is 4 hours away, Chiclayo is 7 hours away and Trujillo is 10 hours away. There are some direct buses to these cities, although often it is necessary to catch a Lima-bound bus and get off at your destination. Make sure that the bus to Lima is not non-stop, if this is the case. Basic services cost $7 to Trujillo, $6 to Chiclayo and $4 to Piura.
Transportes Santa Rosa (corner of Tumbes Norte and Piura) has services to Piura at 9.30am and 10.30am. El Dorado (Av. Piura 459) has basic buses to Trujillo at 7.30am and 6pm, and a more comfortable service at 9pm. There is a basic service to Chiclayo at 10pm. The company also has basic services to Piura at 8.30am, 12.30pm, 3pm, 6pm, 12am, 12.30am and 12.45am.
Colectivos to Piura (3½ hours, $7) leave from Av. Tumbes Norte 302.
Lima
Lima is about 18 hours from Tumbes on basic buses, which stop at many destinations on the route. The journey costs about $11. Better buses are generally non-stop and can be much quicker, arriving in Lima in 14 hours, although they are much more expensive.
Most companies have offices on Av. Tumbes Norte, close to the Plaza Mayor. Flores, Ormeño and Cruz del Sur have ticket offices on the 3rd block of Av. Tumbes Norte as well as their bus stations a few blocks further up. For some reason, it is cheaper to buy tickets from the ticket offices and not the bus stations. Flores (Av. Tumbes Norte 310, although buses leave from bus station further up Av. Tumbes Norte) has a basic service at 12.30pm and a better service at 5pm for $14. Basic services on Flores are more comfortable than on most companies. Cruz del Sur (Av. Tumbes Norte 319, although buses leave from bus station further up Av. Tumbes Norte) has basic services at 12.30pm and 7pm and a bus-cama service at 5pm for $28. Ormeño (Av. Tumbes Norte 314, although buses leave from bus station further up Av. Tumbes Norte) has basic services at 11.30am and 6pm, a better service at 1pm for $20 and a luxury bus-cama service at 7pm for $34. Civa (Av. Tumbes Norte 518) has a basic service at 4pm and a semi-cama service at 6pm for $17. Cial (Av. Tumbes Norte 556) has basic services at 1pm and 5pm. Tepsa (Av. Tumbes Norte 199, T522428) has basic buses leaving at 12.30pm, 7.30pm and 8.30pm. El Sol (Av. Tumbes Norte 217) has a basic service at 7.30pm. El Sol (Av. Tumbes Norte 289) ? not the same as the previous El Sol! - has basic services at 2.30pm, 5.30pm, 8pm.
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