The 5 Best Ways to Visit the Panama Canal

This article may contain affiliate links where I make a small commission for purchases you make from links that you click from this article. By purchasing through these links, you support me at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support.

The main attraction in Panama is the Panama Canal – it’s what the country is known for. Sure Panama also has incredible beaches, great surfing, enticing island getaways, lush jungles, and Panama City has a growing Casco Viejo (Spanish for Old Quarter) to visit, but if you go there and don’t visit the Canal – then you are missing out! There are numerous ways to visit the Panama Canal and learn about it’s history as well as see the locks in action, but how do you choose the best way to see it?

I have been to the Panama Canal multiple times, and have even traversed the entire canal on a small ship cruise. But the main reason that took me to the canal was to fulfill one of my dad’s bucketlist items. We didn’t simply go to the canal visitor center for a couple of hours and call it a day – we went for a couple of days to see it from various perspectives.

Family Travel to the Panama Canal

As our Uber pulled into the Miraflores Visitor Center at the Panama Canal, I suddenly had a memory race through my mind. I was transported back to being 13 years old again traveling with my parents for spring break in Florida. We always went to the same little place near Sarasota for the week. But somehow this year I convinced my parents to stop at Disney World on the way home, even though it was out of the way. I knew my Dad had no real interest in Disney World and the never-ending lines. In fact, my dad intensely hated lines and crowds. I understood that he was making this trip for me and that it would take a great deal of self-control and patience on his part to survive the day.

I just remember being so excited as we entered the parking area for Disney World and looking at my dad’s face as we parked the car in a lot bigger than I had ever seen before in my life. I could tell that my dad was already frustrated before we ever even heard “It’s a Small World” playing as we paid for the expensive tickets. I’ll always view that first trip to Disney World as a sacrifice that my dad made for me.

I looked at my dad sitting in the Uber and could tell he was excited to be here at this engineering wonder; in fact, it was the whole reason he came on this trip with me, to visit the Panama Canal.

Role Reversal As We Age

Once again a weird feeling of role reversal struck me; it happens more frequently now that we’ve both gotten older. There is always a point in your relationship with your parents where there is a switch – where you are taking care of them instead of them taking care of you. Suddenly I felt like the parent granting a child the wish of a lifetime. As we walked in and paid for our tickets I was excited too. The excitement wasn’t necessarily for the canal; I was excited to be taking my dad to the canal.

I had done my research and learned that the canal passages at the visitor center picked up again at 2 PM so we arrived right around 1:30 and had time to traverse the museum at the visitor center before heading out to the viewing platform. Dad was meticulous about seeing everything in the museum as he looked intently at each model and description; many times pulling me over to explain something.

As we looked at the diagram of how gravity makes the canal work, we got into an argument about where the water went. We each tried to explain our view and it immediately reminded me of when he helped me with my homework when I was young. That process was always frustrating because of his insistent descriptions when I just wanted to be done and go watch TV. But as an adult, I loved this exchange of ideas and understanding, it was a pleasure now.

The Panama Canal, An Engineering Miracle

It is well known that constructing the canal was one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken.

You might wonder what the big deal is – it’s just a water passage after all. However, it’s not just a sea-level water passage. To go through the Canal a ship has to be raised 85 feet up and then let back down over the course of 51 miles. I’m not great at science, but even I know this isn’t easy. Now for the real kicker – this all had to be figured out in the early 1900s when they barely even had access to electricity. Most of the mechanical operations were done by steam engines.

“For its time, the building of the Panama Canal was as difficult as putting a man on the moon.”

The Panama Canal was the largest concrete structure made at the time. The lock gates were as tall as an eight-story building. Their steel plates were held together with over three million rivets. In fact, it took over four years to complete the gigantic locks. During the entire construction of the locks, as well as the canal passage, there was an unprecedented number of inventions made that were essential for 21st-century construction.

So of course visiting the Panama Canal was an engineer’s dream. Even I, a mere business major and now writer was pretty fascinated by it. But for my dad, a retired Caterpillar engineer who worked designing big engines his whole life – this was his Disney World.

Best Ways to Visit the Panama Canal

The Panama canal is over 50 miles long – so of course there are a number of ways to visit it. Here are 5 ways that I recommend if you want to have a complete Panama Canal experience!

1. Miraflores Visitor Center

This is the easiest way to see the canal if you are staying in Panama City. The visitor center has undergone a lot of changes in the last few years. I first went there in 2019 and they had the viewing platform in their old office building, a 3 story museum, and there was a great restaurant there where you could sit outside or inside and eat dinner or have a drink while watching the ships pass through the canal. When I went back in 2025, I found out that museum and the Atlantic & Pacific Restaurant has been closed sadly. I hope they bring back the restaurant concept as I really loved it as a unique way to visit Panama Canal!

Generally, ships transiting from the Pacific to the Atlantic pass through in the mornings around and ships passing from the Atlantic to Pacific pass through in the afternoons

As of 2025, the visitor center has undergone many changes and they’ve made the viewing experience ADA compliant. They now have an IMAX theater, a playground for kids, and a new viewing area.

The entrance fee into the visitor center now includes an IMAX ticket and 3D glasses. The 45 minute 3D movie goes through some history and operations of the canal. I particularly liked the parts around the modern day operations of the canal.

IMAX Movie Screenings: 8:45 a.m, 9:45 a.m, 11:00 a.m, 12:15 p.m, 1:30 p.m, 2:45 p.m, 4:00 p.m, 5:15 p.m.

Once you watch the movie you can then head outdoors to the new viewing platform and watch as ships come through the locks. The process is narrated live in Spanish and English by a host so you can learn more about the ships and cargo as they go through.

2. Panama Canal Museum

The museum is actually located in Casco Viejo – not at the canal. Even though this isn’t technically the canal, it provides a wealth of information and history about the canal that you shouldn’t miss. In fact – I suggest you go to the museum before you visit the locks. It will better prepare you for the Miraflores visitor center experience.

We spent a half-day at this museum walking around and learning about the political history of the region, the construction process as well as the latest construction to expand the canal in 2016. You’ll walk out with an appreciation for just how big and challenging the making of the canal was.

“Together the French and American expenditures totaled $639,000,000. It took 34 years from the initial effort in 1880 to actually open the Canal in 1914. It is estimated that over 80,000 persons took part in the construction and that over 30,000 lives were lost in both French and American efforts.”

Note – the museum is a lot of reading, but it is all available in English and Spanish. Plan for a 1 to 2 hours there.

The museum is in a beautiful building in the Old Quarter of Panama City and once you are done at the museum treat yourself to a walk around this historical area.

3. Agua Clara Visitor Center

This is the newest way to see the canal and it is a bit more challenging to get to. This visitor center shows off the newly finished locks that allow New Panamax ships to pass through. The visitor center is on the Cholon/Caribbean side of the Canal therefore you need to drive about one hour to get to Cholon from Panama City. You may rent a car, take an Uber or Taxi (aprox $55), or there are a few public transport options for $10 to $15.

The Agua Clara Visitor Center offers panoramic views of the Canal – starting from Gatun Lake and through all 3 chambers of the Agua Clara locks. These new locks essentially doubled the capacity of the Panama Canal by adding a new lane of traffic allowing for a larger number of ships and increasing the width and depth of the lanes and locks allowing larger ships to pass. The New Panamax ships carry one and a half times their predecessors and when you see one you will see just how behemoth they are.

Dad and I visited these locks as part of our Uncruise trip. It was really fascinating to see the newer technology as well as the tugboats that guide the big ships through. The new system uses 7 tugboats with a combined horsepower of 16,000. They move around so effortlessly like little insects. However, these are complicated, powerful tugboats costing $11 million per tugboat!

There is a viewing platform there and a narrator providing information as the ships pass through. There is also a theatre, gift shop, and restaurants. I suggest you visit Mira Flores first and then go to Agua Clara so you can see the difference in technology and innovation. You can purchase your Auga Clara Visitor Center ticket ahead of time and skip the line.

4. Cruise Through the Southern Locks on a Tourist Ship

If you want to really see how the canal works, looks, and feels – then why not transit through one of the locks? There are a number of tourist boats that will take you through the Miraflores Locks for a half day tour.

You typically travel southbound through the Panama Canal with a local guide who will narrate the experience for you. This is a slow journey – traversing the locks with other large freighters can be a slow process.

You will first take a bus journey for a 45 minutes to Gamboa, home of the Panama Canal Dredging Division. Here you’ll get on your vessel, for a trip through the Gailard cut, the Pedro Miguel Locks and the Miraflores Locks. Admire scenic views of the Centennial Bridge, the Chagres River, and the Bridge of the Americas. A meal is normally provided on board during your journey. Disembark at the Flamenco Marina in Panama City. These tours typically take about 6 hours starting and ending in Panama City.

5. Do your Own Full Passage as part of a Small Ship Cruise

As we drove to the port I looked at all of the colorful containers stacked up so high it seemed like the Wall of the North! Driving through a big container yard isn’t your typical site as one goes on board a cruise ship, but when you board a ship going through the Panama Canal, you have to start deep in the bowels of maritime cargo. Our little ship, the Safari Voyager, was waiting for us amongst cranes and stacks of containers.

Note – we traveled with Uncruise, however they no longer offer this itinerary. However another small ship cruise company that I also love – Windstar – does offer a number of cruises in the Panama and Costa Rica region that include a full passage of the Panama Canal. You can see their itineraries here.

Dad and I boarded the small ship and settled in with the rest of the guests. It didn’t take long for the pilot ship to join us in the port and soon we were off to traverse the canal. We went up to the top deck and my dad placed himself in front by the railing. He stayed there for the next 3 hours intent on watching our passage from his prime spot. We even ate dinner and drank beers there as we started our passage!

It takes an average of 8 to 10 hours to pass through the 51-mile canal and set of 6 locks. We were doing this journey with another smaller ship as a ‘partner’. It’s not cheap to go through the canal; the average cost is $150,000 going as high as $1.2 million for the largest New Panamax ships. The toll is a bargain compared to the more costly alternatives of either a two-week voyage around Cape Horn or off-loading all containers onto a freight train to traverse the country and reloading another ship on the other side.

Our small ship cruise, which carried 62 passengers, paid $18,000 to $26,000 to traverse the canal. There are less than 300 cruise ships that actually pass through the locks each year and many of them simply go through the locks into Gatun Lake and then turn around and come back out. Only about 25 passenger ships pass through the entire 51 miles and 6 locks – and we were one of them!

As we watched electric mules ensure we didn’t hit the sides, and the water rises in the lock, we also had a constant narration by a local expert on the ship, Patrick. It was so nice to have Patrick there to answer questions as we passed through. We entered the largest man-made lake in the world, Gatun Lake around 9 PM, and Dad and I decided to go take a little nap until we reached the other side of the locks. At 11 PM we were at it again, passing through the remaining locks, dropping down 85 feet, and entering the Pacific Ocean.

That night we were up until 1:30 am watching all the excitement. While many passengers slept through the later night passage, I knew there was no way my dad would sleep through any of it. His joy was evident; it showed all over his face. He was able to do something few people get to do, pass through the canal. To an engineer, that’s sort of like a trip to Mecca – or maybe even Disney World.

Watch our transit of the Panama Canal with Uncruise

Want to learn more about the Panama Canal history? I bought my dad this comprehensive book about the Canal before we went on our trip. It has an extensive history of the political climate and how and why it was built. It’s a must read before visiting the Panama Canal.

I’m pretty sure we covered every way that we could see the canal at this point. We visited the Mira Flora and Agua Clara locks, spent a day at the Panama Canal Museum, and also did a complete Canal crossing on our Uncruise ship! However, it did give me an incredible understanding of how the canal was built and what it was like to traverse it. But most of all, it gave me a chance to spend more time with my dad and make some of his travel dreams come true!

Join my newsletter

Get my best travel tips, destination ideas, and travel discounts in my monthly email!

Send it my way!

Disclosure:

I was a guest of Uncruise Adventures for the passage, however all opinions expressed here are my own.