Panama Canal partial transit cruise

Riding through the locks yourself is a different thing from watching ships at the Miraflores viewing deck. A partial transit covers the Pacific half of the canal. Northbound, the boat leaves Flamenco Marina on the Amador Causeway, passes under the Bridge of the Americas and is raised 18 metres in two steps at Miraflores, crosses the small Miraflores Lake, and rises another 9 metres at Pedro Miguel. Then comes the Centennial Bridge and the 13.7 kilometre Culebra (Gaillard) Cut, the channel blasted through the Continental Divide, where the dredgers fight constant landslides. You get off at Gamboa and a coach brings you back. Southbound trips run the same route in reverse, starting with the coach.

It takes most of a day, around five hours. Northbound check-in is very early in the morning, southbound later, and the canal authority sets the exact time only the day before, so ring to confirm. Hotel pickup from some hotels, a meal, soft drinks and a bilingual guide come with most tickets. A hat and a rain jacket are worth packing.