Panama Canal Tour: Pacific to Atlantic Adventure

Experience the Panama Canal like never before with our Ocean to Ocean tour. Discover the magnificent waterway by boat and foot, while encountering diverse wildlife and historic landmarks. Book now!

Duration: 8 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Panama City - This tour begins with hotel pickups starting at 6:10am. I know it sounds crazy to get up so early on your vacation, but you will thank me for it later. Starting this early we can beat the crowds and see more wildlife in cooler temperatures.
  • Panama Canal - We will ride along the waters of the Panama Canal right next to the ships…
What's Included
  • Panama Canal boat ride (90 minutes)
  • Professional guide
  • Bottled water
  • Entrance fees
  • Transport by air-conditioned minibus
  • Lunch
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off (select hotels only)
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
  • Due to heavy traffic, no free pickup from hotels located near Amador Causeway, Clayton (City of Knowledge) Playa Bonita. Separate transportation for the an extra charge
  • Playa Blanca, or Rio Hato, Metromall, Arraijan or Tocumen Airport need to arrange own transportation
  • This is not a TRANSIT tour, we wont travel by boat inside the locks.
Additional Information

Partake in this distinct adventure across the Panama Canal, stretching from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, savouring the canal’s beauty both on water and land. You’ll embark on a thrilling boat journey down the canal, acquainting you with the traversing vessels and rich wildlife along the canal banks, before dropping by the historic Fort San Lorenzo…

Location
Panama City
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.8
(1534 Ratings)
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Sandra_g
Jul 21, 2025
Unforgettable Journey - The experience was a learning journey. Our tour guide is very knowledgeable and explained critical historical moments with the most important details.
Review provided by Viator
Marcus
Jul 20, 2025
Well worth it and John was amazing! - An excellent tour filled with a lot of information that is easily digestible and never boring. John took the time to explain everything in excellent detail, accompanied with his iPad to illustrate what he was talking about. Strongly recommend this tour!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Laurald3161bi
Jul 19, 2025
Highly recommend - Our guide John was a wealth if information; knowledgeable about the flora and fauna of Panama and the history and politics of the area. We thoroughly enjoyed this excursion. We were able to observe many animals in their natural habitat: howler monkeys, tamarin monkeys, bats, a variety of birds, a coati, a sloth. Spent time at the Panama canal locks and watched ships passing through and to see how the locks operate then on to San Lorenzo fort where a delicious lunch was served. It was a top-notch experience from start to finish-highly recommend! 👌
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tina_j
Jul 18, 2025
Good time - It was enjoyable. We were fortunate enough to see a ship going through the locks which was pretty cool to witness. Then lunch at the fort was so good we took the advice of our tour guide and went to the restaurant in Casco Viejo and ate some other dishes they had.
Review provided by Viator
Danielle_s
Jul 9, 2025
Great - The boat tour to view the animals was great. The tour guide had so much information about the canal and was so willing to answer all the questions we had.
Review provided by Viator
Gareth_s
Jul 5, 2025
An fascinating day of lakes, lochs and wildlife sanctuaries - Superb day of ships, sloths and scenery capturing some of the wonders of Panama. The boat ride brought us close to capuchins, tamarins, iguanas, bats and birds then a sloth and coatis in the San Lorenzo sanctuary. The visitors centre at Aguar Clara loch was excellent. Most appreciated was the excellent commentary pf our guide John assisted by our driver Manuel
Review provided by Viator
300timh
Jul 5, 2025
Excellent Day Trip - John was an excellent guide and we had a great time on the tour. Highly recommended for a day trip if you want to see and learn about the canal, visit national parks and see wildlife.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Wildorchid99
Jul 5, 2025
Ocean to Ocean Combo tour. Best for families! - The ocean to ocean combo tour was worth every penny. Our tour guide, John, was very knowledgeable, friendly and passionate of what he does. He takes his time and we didn't feel rushed on each stop of the tour. I was hesitant at first due to the very early start having a kid with us as we were picked up at 6AM from our hotel in the financial district. However, we were the first group in Gatun Lake which is nice and quiet because we were the first group to see the animals. After about 30 minutes, other tour groups crowded the lake. We had a restroom stop after the boat tour on our way to Agua Clara. We spent time in Agua Clara because my hubby and the other couple in our group were very engulfed in watching the ship pass thru the locks. We rode a van going down on the ground level of the locks too. The Fort grounds were beautiful with its history posted on its walls. The picnic grounds were kept clean and we saw animal there too. Our provided lunch was delicious which was from a famous local restaurant in Casco Viejo. John, gave a lot of recommendations on what to do, visit, stay and eat in Panama on our way back to our hotels. I definitely recommend this tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Valeries
Jul 4, 2025
Fun and responsible Eco-tour of the Canal Zone - If you're thinking about seeing the Canal, Gatún Lake and San Lorenzo--this is the tour you're looking for! The communication was clear and timely going into the tour and John is an incredibly knowledgeable, generous and responsible guide. I was sad to see other tour operators encouraging feeding monkeys and tamarinds--don't be that person:) This is the ideal, responsible eco-tour. The day started bright and early with pick up from our El Cangrejo area hotel in a comfortable air-conditioned van to head to Gatún Lake where we explored the Monkey Islands by boat--we saw sloths, tamarinds, white faced and howler monkeys, iguanas, basilisks and too many bird species to mention. Afterward we took a break in Gamboa where were able to use the bathroom and pick up a coffee and hojaldra breakfast snack, then on to Fort Sherman and to the Agua Clara locks in Colon, where we were able to see a tanker go through the new locks. Finally, we headed to Castillo San Lorenzo protected area for a delicious Panamanian lunch and time to explore the old Spanish fort. All along the way, John offered cold water and binoculars to share and took care to guide our group toward making the most of the day--we ended with drop off back at our PTY hotel. Highly recommend. If you have them, bring along your binoculars and rain gear(just in case).
Review provided by Tripadvisor
988anamarar
Jul 4, 2025
Great trip and great guide - Great trip that had a mixture of fun activities, nature, history and education. John was a wonderful tour guide. The lunch that was provided was delicious authentic Panamanian food. Arrived on-time and returned as scheduled.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $135
up to 15 guests
2 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).