diff --git a/dvc/config.py b/dvc/config.py
--- a/dvc/config.py
+++ b/dvc/config.py
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ class RelPath(str):
                     "endpointurl": str,
                     "access_key_id": str,
                     "secret_access_key": str,
-                    Optional("listobjects", default=False): Bool,
+                    Optional("listobjects", default=False): Bool,  # obsoleted
                     Optional("use_ssl", default=True): Bool,
                     "sse": str,
                     "sse_kms_key_id": str,
diff --git a/dvc/exceptions.py b/dvc/exceptions.py
--- a/dvc/exceptions.py
+++ b/dvc/exceptions.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 """Exceptions raised by the dvc."""
 from funcy import first
 
-from dvc.utils import format_link, relpath
+from dvc.utils import error_link, format_link, relpath
 
 
 class DvcException(Exception):
@@ -258,8 +258,7 @@ def __init__(self, target_infos, stats=None):
         m = (
             "Checkout failed for following targets:\n{}\nIs your "
             "cache up to date?\n{}".format(
-                "\n".join(targets),
-                format_link("https://error.dvc.org/missing-files"),
+                "\n".join(targets), error_link("missing-files"),
             )
         )
         super().__init__(m)
diff --git a/dvc/main.py b/dvc/main.py
--- a/dvc/main.py
+++ b/dvc/main.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 from dvc.external_repo import clean_repos
 from dvc.logger import FOOTER, disable_other_loggers
 from dvc.tree.pool import close_pools
-from dvc.utils import format_link
+from dvc.utils import error_link
 
 # Workaround for CPython bug. See [1] and [2] for more info.
 # [1] https://github.com/aws/aws-cli/blob/1.16.277/awscli/clidriver.py#L55
@@ -92,9 +92,7 @@ def main(argv=None):  # noqa: C901
             logger.exception(
                 "too many open files, please visit "
                 "{} to see how to handle this "
-                "problem".format(
-                    format_link("https://error.dvc.org/many-files")
-                ),
+                "problem".format(error_link("many-files")),
                 extra={"tb_only": True},
             )
         else:
diff --git a/dvc/tree/s3.py b/dvc/tree/s3.py
--- a/dvc/tree/s3.py
+++ b/dvc/tree/s3.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import logging
 import os
 import threading
+from contextlib import contextmanager
 
 from funcy import cached_property, wrap_prop
 
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@
 from dvc.path_info import CloudURLInfo
 from dvc.progress import Tqdm
 from dvc.scheme import Schemes
+from dvc.utils import error_link
 
 from .base import BaseTree
 
@@ -31,11 +33,6 @@ def __init__(self, repo, config):
         self.profile = config.get("profile")
         self.endpoint_url = config.get("endpointurl")
 
-        if config.get("listobjects"):
-            self.list_objects_api = "list_objects"
-        else:
-            self.list_objects_api = "list_objects_v2"
-
         self.use_ssl = config.get("use_ssl", True)
 
         self.extra_args = {}
@@ -75,24 +72,49 @@ def s3(self):
 
         session = boto3.session.Session(**session_opts)
 
-        return session.client(
+        return session.resource(
             "s3", endpoint_url=self.endpoint_url, use_ssl=self.use_ssl
         )
 
-    @classmethod
-    def get_etag(cls, s3, bucket, path):
-        obj = cls.get_head_object(s3, bucket, path)
-
-        return obj["ETag"].strip('"')
-
-    @staticmethod
-    def get_head_object(s3, bucket, path, *args, **kwargs):
+    @contextmanager
+    def _get_s3(self):
+        from botocore.exceptions import (
+            EndpointConnectionError,
+            NoCredentialsError,
+        )
 
         try:
-            obj = s3.head_object(Bucket=bucket, Key=path, *args, **kwargs)
-        except Exception as exc:
-            raise DvcException(f"s3://{bucket}/{path} does not exist") from exc
-        return obj
+            yield self.s3
+        except NoCredentialsError as exc:
+            link = error_link("no-credentials")
+            raise DvcException(
+                f"Unable to find AWS credentials. {link}"
+            ) from exc
+        except EndpointConnectionError as exc:
+            link = error_link("connection-error")
+            name = self.endpoint_url or "AWS S3"
+            raise DvcException(
+                f"Unable to connect to '{name}'. {link}"
+            ) from exc
+
+    @contextmanager
+    def _get_bucket(self, bucket):
+        with self._get_s3() as s3:
+            try:
+                yield s3.Bucket(bucket)
+            except s3.meta.client.exceptions.NoSuchBucket as exc:
+                link = error_link("no-bucket")
+                raise DvcException(
+                    f"Bucket '{bucket}' does not exist. {link}"
+                ) from exc
+
+    @contextmanager
+    def _get_obj(self, path_info):
+        with self._get_bucket(path_info.bucket) as bucket:
+            try:
+                yield bucket.Object(path_info.path)
+            except bucket.meta.client.exceptions.NoSuchKey as exc:
+                raise DvcException(f"{path_info.url} does not exist") from exc
 
     def _append_aws_grants_to_extra_args(self, config):
         # Keys for extra_args can be one of the following list:
@@ -127,9 +149,12 @@ def _append_aws_grants_to_extra_args(self, config):
 
     def _generate_download_url(self, path_info, expires=3600):
         params = {"Bucket": path_info.bucket, "Key": path_info.path}
-        return self.s3.generate_presigned_url(
-            ClientMethod="get_object", Params=params, ExpiresIn=int(expires)
-        )
+        with self._get_s3() as s3:
+            return s3.meta.client.generate_presigned_url(
+                ClientMethod="get_object",
+                Params=params,
+                ExpiresIn=int(expires),
+            )
 
     def exists(self, path_info, use_dvcignore=True):
         """Check if the blob exists. If it does not exist,
@@ -164,36 +189,19 @@ def isdir(self, path_info):
         return bool(list(self._list_paths(dir_path, max_items=1)))
 
     def isfile(self, path_info):
-        from botocore.exceptions import ClientError
-
         if path_info.path.endswith("/"):
             return False
 
-        try:
-            self.s3.head_object(Bucket=path_info.bucket, Key=path_info.path)
-        except ClientError as exc:
-            if exc.response["Error"]["Code"] != "404":
-                raise
-            return False
-
-        return True
-
-    def _list_objects(self, path_info, max_items=None):
-        """ Read config for list object api, paginate through list objects."""
-        kwargs = {
-            "Bucket": path_info.bucket,
-            "Prefix": path_info.path,
-            "PaginationConfig": {"MaxItems": max_items},
-        }
-        paginator = self.s3.get_paginator(self.list_objects_api)
-        for page in paginator.paginate(**kwargs):
-            contents = page.get("Contents", ())
-            yield from contents
+        return path_info.path in self._list_paths(path_info)
 
     def _list_paths(self, path_info, max_items=None):
-        return (
-            item["Key"] for item in self._list_objects(path_info, max_items)
-        )
+        kwargs = {"Prefix": path_info.path}
+        if max_items is not None:
+            kwargs["MaxKeys"] = max_items
+
+        with self._get_bucket(path_info.bucket) as bucket:
+            for obj_summary in bucket.objects.filter(**kwargs):
+                yield obj_summary.key
 
     def walk_files(self, path_info, **kwargs):
         if not kwargs.pop("prefix", False):
@@ -209,7 +217,8 @@ def remove(self, path_info):
             raise NotImplementedError
 
         logger.debug(f"Removing {path_info}")
-        self.s3.delete_object(Bucket=path_info.bucket, Key=path_info.path)
+        with self._get_obj(path_info) as obj:
+            obj.delete()
 
     def makedirs(self, path_info):
         # We need to support creating empty directories, which means
@@ -221,10 +230,12 @@ def makedirs(self, path_info):
             return
 
         dir_path = path_info / ""
-        self.s3.put_object(Bucket=path_info.bucket, Key=dir_path.path, Body="")
+        with self._get_obj(dir_path) as obj:
+            obj.put(Body="")
 
     def copy(self, from_info, to_info):
-        self._copy(self.s3, from_info, to_info, self.extra_args)
+        with self._get_s3() as s3:
+            self._copy(s3.meta.client, from_info, to_info, self.extra_args)
 
     @classmethod
     def _copy_multipart(
@@ -238,8 +249,8 @@ def _copy_multipart(
         parts = []
         byte_position = 0
         for i in range(1, n_parts + 1):
-            obj = S3Tree.get_head_object(
-                s3, from_info.bucket, from_info.path, PartNumber=i
+            obj = s3.head_object(
+                Bucket=from_info.bucket, Key=from_info.path, PartNumber=i
             )
             part_size = obj["ContentLength"]
             lastbyte = byte_position + part_size - 1
@@ -293,7 +304,7 @@ def _copy(cls, s3, from_info, to_info, extra_args):
         # object is transfered in the same chunks as it was originally.
         from boto3.s3.transfer import TransferConfig
 
-        obj = S3Tree.get_head_object(s3, from_info.bucket, from_info.path)
+        obj = s3.head_object(Bucket=from_info.bucket, Key=from_info.path)
         etag = obj["ETag"].strip('"')
         size = obj["ContentLength"]
 
@@ -313,39 +324,35 @@ def _copy(cls, s3, from_info, to_info, extra_args):
                 Config=TransferConfig(multipart_threshold=size + 1),
             )
 
-        cached_etag = S3Tree.get_etag(s3, to_info.bucket, to_info.path)
+        cached_etag = s3.head_object(Bucket=to_info.bucket, Key=to_info.path)[
+            "ETag"
+        ].strip('"')
         if etag != cached_etag:
             raise ETagMismatchError(etag, cached_etag)
 
     def get_file_hash(self, path_info):
-        return (
-            self.PARAM_CHECKSUM,
-            self.get_etag(self.s3, path_info.bucket, path_info.path),
-        )
+        with self._get_obj(path_info) as obj:
+            return (
+                self.PARAM_CHECKSUM,
+                obj.e_tag.strip('"'),
+            )
 
     def _upload(self, from_file, to_info, name=None, no_progress_bar=False):
-        total = os.path.getsize(from_file)
-        with Tqdm(
-            disable=no_progress_bar, total=total, bytes=True, desc=name
-        ) as pbar:
-            self.s3.upload_file(
-                from_file,
-                to_info.bucket,
-                to_info.path,
-                Callback=pbar.update,
-                ExtraArgs=self.extra_args,
-            )
+        with self._get_obj(to_info) as obj:
+            total = os.path.getsize(from_file)
+            with Tqdm(
+                disable=no_progress_bar, total=total, bytes=True, desc=name
+            ) as pbar:
+                obj.upload_file(
+                    from_file, Callback=pbar.update, ExtraArgs=self.extra_args,
+                )
 
     def _download(self, from_info, to_file, name=None, no_progress_bar=False):
-        if no_progress_bar:
-            total = None
-        else:
-            total = self.s3.head_object(
-                Bucket=from_info.bucket, Key=from_info.path
-            )["ContentLength"]
-        with Tqdm(
-            disable=no_progress_bar, total=total, bytes=True, desc=name
-        ) as pbar:
-            self.s3.download_file(
-                from_info.bucket, from_info.path, to_file, Callback=pbar.update
-            )
+        with self._get_obj(from_info) as obj:
+            with Tqdm(
+                disable=no_progress_bar,
+                total=obj.content_length,
+                bytes=True,
+                desc=name,
+            ) as pbar:
+                obj.download_file(to_file, Callback=pbar.update)
diff --git a/dvc/utils/__init__.py b/dvc/utils/__init__.py
--- a/dvc/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/dvc/utils/__init__.py
@@ -385,6 +385,10 @@ def format_link(link):
     )
 
 
+def error_link(name):
+    return format_link(f"https://error.dvc.org/{name}")
+
+
 def parse_target(target, default=None):
     from dvc.dvcfile import PIPELINE_FILE, PIPELINE_LOCK, is_valid_filename
     from dvc.exceptions import DvcException

@colllin Thanks for the feedback! Indeed, we could just wrap that exception and present something nicer. Let me see, should be able to provide a quick fix...
diff --git a/tests/func/test_s3.py b/tests/func/test_s3.py
--- a/tests/func/test_s3.py
+++ b/tests/func/test_s3.py
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ def test_copy_singlepart_preserve_etag():
 def test_link_created_on_non_nested_path(base_info, tmp_dir, dvc, scm):
     tree = S3Tree(dvc, {"url": str(base_info.parent)})
     cache = CloudCache(tree)
-    s3 = cache.tree.s3
+    s3 = cache.tree.s3.meta.client
     s3.create_bucket(Bucket=base_info.bucket)
     s3.put_object(
         Bucket=base_info.bucket, Key=(base_info / "from").path, Body="data"
diff --git a/tests/unit/remote/test_remote_tree.py b/tests/unit/remote/test_remote_tree.py
--- a/tests/unit/remote/test_remote_tree.py
+++ b/tests/unit/remote/test_remote_tree.py
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ def test_walk_files(remote):
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("remote", [pytest.lazy_fixture("s3")], indirect=True)
 def test_copy_preserve_etag_across_buckets(remote, dvc):
     s3 = remote.tree.s3
-    s3.create_bucket(Bucket="another")
+    s3.Bucket("another").create()
 
     another = S3Tree(dvc, {"url": "s3://another", "region": "us-east-1"})
 
@@ -98,10 +98,10 @@ def test_copy_preserve_etag_across_buckets(remote, dvc):
 
     remote.tree.copy(from_info, to_info)
 
-    from_etag = S3Tree.get_etag(s3, from_info.bucket, from_info.path)
-    to_etag = S3Tree.get_etag(s3, "another", "foo")
+    from_hash = remote.tree.get_hash(from_info)
+    to_hash = another.get_hash(to_info)
 
-    assert from_etag == to_etag
+    assert from_hash == to_hash
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("remote", remotes, indirect=True)
diff --git a/tests/unit/remote/test_s3.py b/tests/unit/tree/test_s3.py
similarity index 60%
rename from tests/unit/remote/test_s3.py
rename to tests/unit/tree/test_s3.py
--- a/tests/unit/remote/test_s3.py
+++ b/tests/unit/tree/test_s3.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import pytest
 
 from dvc.config import ConfigError
+from dvc.exceptions import DvcException
 from dvc.tree.s3 import S3Tree
 
 bucket_name = "bucket-name"
@@ -68,3 +69,41 @@ def test_key_id_and_secret(dvc):
     )
     assert tree.access_key_id == key_id
     assert tree.secret_access_key == key_secret
+
+
+def test_get_s3_no_credentials(mocker):
+    from botocore.exceptions import NoCredentialsError
+
+    tree = S3Tree(None, {})
+    with pytest.raises(DvcException, match="Unable to find AWS credentials"):
+        with tree._get_s3():
+            raise NoCredentialsError
+
+
+def test_get_s3_connection_error(mocker):
+    from botocore.exceptions import EndpointConnectionError
+
+    tree = S3Tree(None, {})
+
+    msg = "Unable to connect to 'AWS S3'."
+    with pytest.raises(DvcException, match=msg):
+        with tree._get_s3():
+            raise EndpointConnectionError(endpoint_url="url")
+
+
+def test_get_s3_connection_error_endpoint(mocker):
+    from botocore.exceptions import EndpointConnectionError
+
+    tree = S3Tree(None, {"endpointurl": "https://example.com"})
+
+    msg = "Unable to connect to 'https://example.com'."
+    with pytest.raises(DvcException, match=msg):
+        with tree._get_s3():
+            raise EndpointConnectionError(endpoint_url="url")
+
+
+def test_get_bucket():
+    tree = S3Tree(None, {"url": "s3://mybucket/path"})
+    with pytest.raises(DvcException, match="Bucket 'mybucket' does not exist"):
+        with tree._get_bucket("mybucket") as bucket:
+            raise bucket.meta.client.exceptions.NoSuchBucket({}, None)

s3: better error on missing credentials
A colleague was recently onboarding to our dvc project and received this error:
```
$ dvc pull
ERROR: unexpected error - Unable to locate credentials
```

I believe that if this was a better error message, they may have figured it out on their own.  It wasn't clear that they were missing **AWS** credentials when running a **dvc** command.  Maybe you could say something more like "Unable to access s3://... (the remote url).  Do you have a network connection and have the proper credentials set up?"  which (I think) would address the problem more generally for various remote providers while giving a little more information to the user to figure it out.

tests/unit/tree/test_s3.py::test_get_bucket tests/unit/tree/test_s3.py::test_get_s3_no_credentials tests/unit/tree/test_s3.py::test_get_s3_connection_error tests/unit/remote/test_remote_tree.py::test_copy_preserve_etag_across_buckets[s3] tests/unit/tree/test_s3.py::test_get_s3_connection_error_endpoint tests/func/test_s3.py::test_link_created_on_non_nested_path[base_info0] tests/func/test_s3.py::test_link_created_on_non_nested_path[base_info1]
tests/unit/tree/test_s3.py::test_grants tests/unit/remote/test_remote_tree.py::test_walk_files[s3] tests/unit/remote/test_remote_tree.py::test_makedirs[s3] tests/unit/tree/test_s3.py::test_key_id_and_secret tests/func/test_s3.py::test_copy_singlepart_preserve_etag tests/unit/tree/test_s3.py::test_sse_kms_key_id tests/unit/remote/test_remote_tree.py::test_isfile[s3] tests/func/test_s3.py::test_copy_multipart_preserve_etag tests/unit/remote/test_remote_tree.py::test_exists[s3] tests/unit/remote/test_remote_tree.py::test_isdir[s3] tests/unit/tree/test_s3.py::test_grants_mutually_exclusive_acl_error tests/func/test_s3.py::test_makedirs_doesnot_try_on_top_level_paths tests/unit/remote/test_remote_tree.py::test_download_dir[s3] tests/unit/tree/test_s3.py::test_init