Overview & Highlights
Discover Panama and travel through the Panama Canal with an expedition cruise on a small, exclusive motor cruiser, MV Discovery.
Panama is a strategically vital country uniting two oceans, but its potential interest to the leisure visitor has perhaps been underplayed. Most have heard of its history, chequered with the movement of plundered gold, dodgy dictators, straw hats (these actually come from Ecuador) and, of course, the monumental feat of engineering which is the Panama Canal.
Fewer are aware of the abundant and diverse wildlife populating unsullied tropical rainforest and the intact, even flourishing, indigenous cultures which have survived the switchback ride of its history.
Much of the country’s interior is almost impenetrable, which makes an expedition cruise which passes both through the canal itself and along the little republic’s jungle-stifled shores the best way to discover its hidden charms. On this holiday, you spend a couple of days discovering the highlights at either end of the canal before setting sail to traverse it.
(Some departures travel southwards through the Canal from Colon to Panama City. The holiday is effectively the same as the one here, but in reverse).
Outline itinerary
Day 1
Arrive Panama City, transfer to hotel.
Day 2
Guided tour of Casco Viejo and the Biodiversity Museum.
Day 3
Visit the Darien jungle and the Embera indians
Day 4
Swim and snorkel among the palm-fringed Pearl Islands.
Day 5
Transit the Panama Canal to Lake Gatun.
Day 6
Explore Soberania National Park, the Pipeline Road and Panama Rainforest Discovery Centre.
Day 7
San Lorenzo National Park- UNESCO World Heritage Site
Day 8
Disembark. Guided tour of Portobelo, transfer to hotel in Panama City.
Day 9
Transfer to Panama City airport for your international flight.
What our clients say
97% of our clients rated their experience with us as Excellent or Good.
The tour was obviously well organised and structured, but it never felt rigid, there was the flexibilty to do your own thing if you wanted to, and enough 'free' time to go off and explore, or just sit and enjoy a coffee. The optional trips were varied and reasonably priced, and refreshingly there was no hard sell or pressure to join these trips. A truly wonderful journey.
MD, Stafford
Tailor made holiday
Our specialists have been expertly crafting award-winning tailor-made holidays to Latin America for 40 years. We would be delighted to create a truly personalised trip which perfectly matches your wishes and requirements.
Evie Oswald - Travel Consultant
It’s hard to believe that Evie has had time to cram so much in to her life so far. Having lived as a child in the Americas and Europe she found herself immediately attracted to Latin America.
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