Alternative Transit
The Most Outstanding Tour Through the Panama Canal for 2023
Alternative Transit Tour with Guaranteed Daily Departures
Boat Excursion Plus Land Excursion
Don´t miss out on the chance to navigate the waters of the Panama Canal. We now offer a new way to experience the Panama Canal. From its epicenter to its aquatic source.
Please remember that that this is an Alternative Transit tour and as such we will not be traveling through the canal locks. We will however be navigating along the bulk of the Canal including its principal water source, Gatun Lake.
Alternative Transit or Alternative Tour Through the Panama Canal. This tour is designed especially for those visitors who for whatever motive are not able to join our partial or complete transit tours. Traveling the Panama Canal, we will navigate alongside huge ships and ocean-going vessels all while sailing the vibrant tropical Rainforest habitat that surrounds the Canal. Our journey will take you through the major part of the Canal.
This impressive Alternative Transit tour is divided into 3 phases.
First Phase of the Alternative Transit Tour Through the Panama Canal
Our tour begins when we pick you up at your hotel in the city of Panama or at the airport. The tour offers two departure times daily for your convenience. 7:30am and 1:30pm. These departure times, however, can be adapted to better accommodate your schedule availability and time constraints. For example, in consideration of travelers with arrival, layover or departure flights with different time limitations, the tour departures can be made modified to accommodate your flight schedule.
After meeting up with your guide, we will travel directly to the Panama Canal, where we’ll be boarding our boat, in this case a small boat with a 6 to 10 people capacity.
The trip to the pier takes approximately 50 minutes, traveling parallel to the Canal. During this part of the trip we will follow the Canal from south to north route (Pacific Ocean to Caribbean/Atlantic Area). You will have the chance to observe captivating scenery, forest, lakes and of course during the trip we will be accompanied by the Panama Canal as we will drive the route that travels parallel to the Canal alongside its banks.
Boat Tour and Gatun Lake
Upon arrival at the Chagres River, we will be boarding one of our boats. The Chagres River is the fresh water source of the Panama Canal. We will navigate along the river for approximately 1 kilometer before entering the actual Canal waterway. The natural scenery we’ll encounter along this route is truly spectacular.
Congratulations, you will now be officially navigating the Panama Canal. An enjoyable benefit for visitors as a result of traveling in these smaller boats is that you will be able to actually stick your hands in the fresh water of the Canal as we navigate, a detail not possible on our other transits tours, due to the larger size of the ships.
As we travel the waters of the Canal from south to north, we’ll experience enormous tankers, cruise and cargo ships passing alongside us. We’ll be boating across the immense Gatun Lake which functions as a fresh water source feeding the Canal operations. It is the most exuberant and natural part of the Canal as it is surrounded by forest and filled with islands that form part of the Soberania National Park.
The Most intensively Studied Rainforest in The World.
Within the Gatun Lake section of the Canal, you will witness abundant nature, including dozens of islands of different sizes. You will as well witness how the ships traverse this immense lake of 436 square kilometers. Gatun Lake forms the widest part of the Canal, is 33 kilometers long and is the most protected part of the Canal due to its important ecological value. One of the most important islands within the lake is Barro Colorado, where the Smithsonian institute maintains a biological laboratory. Remember that the Panama Canal functions with fresh water. In this section of the Canal plant and animal species can be found that don’t exist anywhere else on the planet. It is for this reason annually dozens of biologists from all around the world travel to the laboratories on Barro Colorado Island to study these endemic species.
As a result of the notable biological diversity found within the Panama Canal, it is famed within the scientific community as being The Most intensively Studied Tropical Rainforest in The World.
Here along Gatun Lake, we’ll be navigating at an altitude 26 meters above sea level, surrounded by the abundant nature of Soberania National Park and the beauty of the Panama Canal and Gatun Lake. Have your camera or cell phone at the ready as navigating the Panama Canal alongside enormous tankers and ships is not something you’re likely to experience every day.
Monkey Island in the Panama Canal
As a part of our adventure along the Panama Canal our journey by boat will also take us to visit Monkey Island. Home of four different monkey species. Mantled Howler, White-Faced Capuchin, Geoffroy’s Tamarin, and Lemurine Owl Monkeys). As a surprise, some of the monkeys just might jump right into our boat. They are friendly. Also, in the nearby islands we can see, crocodiles, toucans, sloths, iguanas, and numerous exotic birds.
After our visit to Monkey Island, we’ll be heading back to the pier where we’ll disembark our boat. Along the way you’ll once again have the opportunity to capture all the snap shots and selfies you wish using the huge ships, abundant scenery or the waters of the Canal as your backdrops.
Second Phase of the Alternative Tour Through the Panama Canal
Although we’ll leave the boat behind, you’ll be sure to take with you delightful memories of an unequaled experience. Not everyone has the chance to navigate the Panama Canal.
For this phase of the tour we’ll be boarding comfortable coaches or minivans to initiate the solid ground part of the journey, this time from north to south. Your experienced bilingual guide/driver will be making strategic stops along the way to highlight key sights allowing you the chance to appreciate other unique details of the Canal. As an additional plus to this type of transit, you’ll have the opportunity to cross over one of the 4 bridges spanning the Canal and from its unparalled height gain a panoramic view of the Canal.
After crossing over the bridge 2 times we’ll continue on along the via parallel to the Canal continuing with our strategic stops selected by your guide before arriving at the Pacific Ocean entrance/exit to the Canal.
Pacific Ocean Entrance and Exit to the Panama Canal
At this location you’ll be able to appreciate, in addition to captivating scenery. Just how the ships enter and leave the Canal. It is in other words the mouth of the Canal and the point at which the fresh water of the canal and the ocean mix. The views from this point back at the city of Panama are unrivaled.
Our extensive tour culminates at the Amador Causeway. This series of four Islands; Naos, Culebra, Perico and Flamenco linked by a causeway is one of Panama City’s most extraordinary and hallucinating attractions. The Causeway linking the islands is a developed motor way that includes as well bicycle lanes and paths and traverses multiple small parks, allowing varied viewing points to observe the entrance and exit movements to the Canal.
After spending some time exploring the Causeway are we’ll return you to your hotel or to the airport. If you wish to grab lunch or dinner while out your guide will be able to suggest a variety of restaurants available along the Causeway such as the Sirena Restaurant on Flamenco Island, just at the entrance to the Canal.
Third Phase
Miraflores Locks + Canal Visitor Center
As an added value to this tour, we take you to the Canal Visitor Center, Miraflores Locks, so that you can see the locks from the observation terraces. You will also be able to see the ships enter the Canal Locks and visit part of the exhibition halls.
It is very difficult to get tickets for this place, because the spaces are limited. We will do our best to ensure your entrance to the Canal Visitor Center and Miraflores Locks. You only have to pay the entrance directly ($ 10 USD per person). To visit this place, reservations must be made in advance, since the Canal has limited entry per day and only by appointment.
Per Person Fares
Adults:
- 1 person: $320 USD.
- 2 people and more: $ 295 USD per person.
- Children 2-6 years old: $ 200 USD per person.
- +7 % tax.
- Duration: 5 hours approximately.
- Availability: Daily.
- Start time: 07:30 am. and 1:30 pm. Approximately.
The Tour Includes:
- Narrator guide in Spanish / English.
- Bottled water.
- Round trip transfers.
- Land vehicle travel
- Aquatic travel aboard a small boat.
- Navigation Rights along the Canal.
- National Park entrance fees.
- Taxes
What to bring
- Light clothing, comfortable shoes (tennis)
- Hat
- sunscreen
- camera
- umbrella or raincoat (rainy season from May to December).
- Sun protection eyewear.
Does not include Meals, Miraflores Locks tickets.
Please visit our Blog on Facebook to view photos and videos of our tours. https://www.panamacanaltours.travel