Costa Rica & Panama Canal

Colón is the capital of Colón Province, in Panama. It sits on the Caribbean coast, at the entrance to the Panama Canal. The Canal Expansion Observation Center is a park with viewing platforms over the canal’s Atlantic locks and Gatún Lake. The vast Colón Free Trade Zone offers tax-free shopping. Just west of the city, at the mouth of the Chagres River, Fort San Lorenzo is a well-preserved colonial military structure.

Renowned as the Eighth Wonder of the World, marvel as your ship is raised, then lowered, 85 feet to sail gracefully through three massive locks in the Canal.

One of the entrances to the Panama Canal on the Pacific side, the port of Fuerte Amador, founded in 1519, is a short drive from Panama City. In Panama City, the best are found at the market in Balboa.

One of the entrances to the Panama Canal on the Pacific side, the port of Fuerte Amador, founded in 1519, is a short drive from Panama City. In Panama City, the best are found at the market in Balboa.

The Golfo Dulce is one of the most unique and interesting areas in Costa Rica. It is home to the largest rain forest in Central America. This unspoiled ecosystem is one of the few places in the world where rain forest covered slops drop directly into an ocean gulf. This combines the diversity and magic of tropical virgin rain forests, with the peace and beauty of private, secluded beaches, set around an incredible world of exotic marine life. The gulf, which is roughly 16 kilometers wide and 48 kilometers long, is very manageable by small boat, while offering an unlimited number of environments and opportunities to explore and discover your “tropical nature” at its best. It is truly quite incredible.

The Paridas archipelago, an emerald scatter of over 50 uninhabited tropical islands in Panama’s Pacific coast, about 35 miles south of the border with Costa Rica. Many native Panamanians are not even aware of the islands’ existence and this is how the chain came to be known as the “Lost Islands of Barú”.

Shore Excursion Port Tips The former banana-exporting town of Quepos is your basecamp for a day of rainforest adventure. Take a walk along trails that weave up to waterfalls, or ride horseback to a beautiful jungle pool. A float trip through a mangrove swamp populated by monkeys, crocodiles, egrets, and herons is also available. Or you may choose a nature walk through Manuel Antonio National Park, with its lovely beaches, easy trails, and animal life.

Tiny Caldera is situated between the volcanic beaches of Golfo de Nicoya and some of the country’s highest mountain peaks.