Costa Rica & Panama Canal

The tropical city of Puerto Caldera is located in the Esparza Puntarenas Province on Costa Rica's western coast. The province has close proximity to many of Puntarenas’s major tourist attractions and nature reserves, such as Puerto Caldera, which is a great place to parasail. Perfect for the adventure tourist looking for some action, this small port town has some amazing steep cliffs, from which one can take off to see some truly breathtaking views of the country’s Pacific Coast. Read more about Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica

Quepos, located in a tropical inlet surrounded by rainforest, is a city in Puntarenas Province on the Central Pacific coast of Costa Rica. It has moved on from its banana-growing roots to be a premier holiday destination. The locals go out of their way to make visitors welcome, and their ‘love of life’ is reflected by the fact that dancing in the streets is a local pastime, that culminates and explodes in the month long Festival del Mar. Read more about Quepos, Costa Rica

The Golfo Dulce is a unique and interesting area in beautiful Costa Rica. From the ship can be seen emerald jungles surrounding a delightful gulf with calm waters. The millions of trees comprise one of the most diverse tropical rain forests in the world. Read more about Golfo Dulce, Panama

Read more about Isla Parida, Panama

Fuerte Amador (Fort Amador, located at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, is part of an artificial peninsula jutting out into the Pacific from Balboa, which connects four small islands to the mainland. On the west side of Fuerte Amador is the Pacific entrance to the Canal, and on the east side is Panama Bay facing Panama City. The surrounding ocean is always filled with vessels patiently awaiting their turn to transverse the Canal, while on the skyline a few kilometres to the north are the skyscrapers of Panama City. Read more about Fuerte Amador, Panama

Gatun Lake is a large artificial lake situated in the Republic of Panama that forms a major part of the Panama Canal. The lake was created between 1907 and 1913 by the building of the Gatun Dam across the Chagres River. At the time it was created, Gatun Lake was the largest man-made lake in the world, and the dam was the largest earthen dam. Read more about Gatun Lake, Panama

Cristóbal lies at the northern entrance to the Panama Canal. It is part of the province of Colón, a port city at the entrance to Limon Bay, at the Atlantic (Caribbean) entrance of the canal. (Interestingly, Cristóbal Colón is the Spanish translation for Christopher Columbus.) The port, Old Cristóbal, was first built by the Panama Railroad Company in the 1850s, and dredged material became landfill for the present Cristóbal. Read more about Cristobal, Panama