You haven't been to Panama if you didn't take the Panama Canal Tour. Considered the 8th wonder of the world, this engineering marvel cuts through 50 miles of land across the Isthmus of Panama, saving the vessels almost three weeks of travel time. As my personal favorite tour, it doesn't matter how often I visit, the "WOW" effect is always there. Watching the ships being raised across 3 sets of locks 85 feet to the lake between the mountains is jaw dropping. There are 2 windows a day that you may be able to watch the ships go through the Miraflores Locks on the Pacific Ocean side of The Canal. Ships on both oceans are loaded onto the Gatun Lake early morning between at 7:30 to 9:00 am (1st window). It takes about 10 hours to complete the transit, so between 1:30 to 5:00 pm we are able to see the ships coming from the Atlantic side, passing through the locks (2nd window).
