Panama Canal Experience: Imax, Miraflores Locks & Former Canal Zone

OVERVIEW

Please note this tour starts in Gatun Yacht Club and ends in Colon.

Watch a ship pass through the Miraflores locks and gain a deeper understanding of this engineering marvel through an IMAX film that describes the Panama Canal’s operation. Narrated by Morgan Freeman, the documentary clearly explains the complexities and challenges of the canal, past and present. Through extraordinary shots from the air, historical re-creations and up-close views of various ships passing through the canal, you will discover just how ingenious the locks are. Amazingly, they operate by gravity without a single water pump. In time, you will drive through the land bordering the canal, an area known as the Canal Zone until Panama assumed control of it in 1999. There you will see Fort Clayton, the former U.S. Army base for the Southern Command Headquarters, and the former Albrook Air Force Base, parts of which have been converted into a high-end commercial and residential area that includes an airport.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Watch an IMAX documentary movie with incredibly detailed footage of the Panama Canal.
• Gain a deep understanding of the canal’s history and the challenges to keep it operating.
• Watch a ship pass through the canal’s Miraflores locks from an elevated terrace.
• Pass through two former U.S. military bases, one for the Army, the other for the Air Force.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Dress in weather-appropriate clothing.
• Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.