I have wanted to sail through the Panama Canal ever since I learned of its existence. And I learned of its existence in third grade social studies class. It may have been fourth grade. Either way, it was definitely the mid-1980’s. So I didn’t even consider other excursion options for the port of Colon, Panama. I was going to take the canal cruise excursion and that was that. I actually booked this excursion the day I booked the cruise, which is a level of commitment I have never before achieved. I usually research and weigh my options and research and weigh some more. Not this time. I was like please take my money in exchange for this excursion please and thank you.

Ok fine. That’s an exaggeration. I did read a few reviews of this trip, and they all mentioned that it is a really long day. Many people used all caps. This excursion is a REALLY LONG DAY, they said. But I was like: I do not care if it is a three day excursion, I am doing it. Also, how long can a day be, am I right?

Now that I’ve done the Panama Canal by Ferry excursion I can confidently say: this excursion is a REALLY, REALLY LONG DAY.

But it is a really, really long day I’m so deeply glad I was able to experience.

To be fair, many things beyond anyone’s control made the day feel so long. Disembarkation in Colon was delayed by an hour and a half, which mean that I spent 90 minutes in the early morning sitting in the theater waiting to be able to exit the ship–along with a good 600 other people who were waiting for their excursions. Once we finally disembarked, we scurried through an enormous and rather industrial looking duty free shop before boarding a coach bus to take us to the boat launching point.

Our bus had a tour guide, and he provided a fantastic narrative of the country we were passing through all the way to the ferry dock at the Gamboa Dredging Station, which is located where the Chagres river intersects with the Panama Canal, immediately south/east of Gatun Lake. Fun fact: for some reason I thought the canal ran east/west, because my very elementary understanding of oceans is that the Atlantic is east and the Pacific is west. But when transiting the Panama Canal, you are traveling from north to south through the narrow country of Panama, which runs vaguely east/west.

The ride to the ferry dock at Gamboa took one hour and ten minutes. Fifteen minutes or so were spent exiting Colon, which is a very interesting-looking city. It kind of looks like someone set Havana on fire and then walked away. For like a hundred years. This is not to say Colon is ugly–it isn’t. It’s actually rather fascinating, and I wish I had time to explore it beyond the bus ride out of town. But if you are used to cruising to traditional Caribbean ports with beaches and brightly-colored buildings, this isn’t that.

We were then on a very nice highway for about thirty minutes before turning off onto what our tour guide called a forest road. We wound through what appeared to be a state or national park for another 25 minutes or so before arriving to our ferry.

The ferry was larger than I thought/hoped, and everyone on our bus piled on–followed by five more busses. I found a seat on the second/top deck on the port side of the ferry, in the front just before the shade cover ended. I thought I wanted to sit in the front front, out of cover, but the seats were black plastic and had been baking in the sun all morning, so they were hot like lava. But don’t worry. It’s only medium-important to get a good seat, as you’ll be up and walking around the ferry for most of the day.

After boarding the ferry we sat there. And sat there. And sat there some more. We didn’t actually set sail until an hour and fifteen minutes AFTER we boarded. We were given two reasons for this, and I’m not sure which one was accurate. Probably both. The first reason was that the locks in the canal cause traffic. Only one large ship–or two ferries, like ours–can go through at a time. And transiting a lock takes time. We were behind a much larger ship that took priority over our little vessel, so we had to wait. Which was fine. It was a beautiful, sunny day and I was sitting in the shade.

We got underway a little before noon and, after traversing the three locks and the entirety of the canal, emerged into the Pacific around 4pm. We then spent another hour slowly puttering toward the farthest point in Panama City before docking and returning to the bus.

During our five hours on board the ferry, we transited three locks and crossed the continental divide. I wasn’t sure if a ferry transit would be as epic as going through the Panama Canal on a cruise ship–as cruises billed as Panama Canal cruises do–but as it turns out, the ferry was a far better option, and I’m really glad that MSC includes Colon as a port stop so that this experience is possible. Being on a small ferry rather than a huge cruise ship gives you a very up close and personal view of the workings of the locks. On a huge ship, you are 15 stories above the water. On the ferry, we could (and did) reach out and touch the walls of the canal and make eye contact and smile with the men working the locks. I cannot imagine a better way to experience the Panama Canal than on a small ferry. For more on what this experience was like, please see the photo essay near the end of this post.

We emerged from the canal into the Pacific by 4:15pm and then continued on to enjoy some time puttering around in Panama Bay. The sun started to descend toward the horizon at this point, and the light was perfect, and the Panama City skyline framed by boats in the harbor and mountains in the distance was stunning. If you also want to relax in this kind of atmosphere, you can avail services like yacht charter st martin.

It was nearing 5:30pm when we disembarked the ferry, and we still had a 90-minute bus ride back to the port. The sun was setting as we drove out of town and our tour guide provided narration so we had a value-added mini tour of Panama City. It wasn’t long until we hit some of the worst rush hour traffic I’ve ever seen. We got back to the ship so late that they had to wait to depart for more than an hour past sail away, and they drove the bus right up to the gangway so we could re-board the MSC Divina as quickly as humanly possible.

I will admit that I did have a little mental breakdown on the bus ride home once we encountered the traffic. It was a long, hot, sunny day, and ending it with a 90-minute bus ride was hard. But I do not regret taking this excursion. And I’d do it again. Except I wouldn’t, because there are a ton of other cool things to do on a port day in Colon. My travel companion Heather took a wildlife cruise on Gatun Lake and spent the day on a boat with monkeys. There are also city tours of Panama City, as well as a variety of nature excursions. I realize that Colon is a very nontraditional cruise port, but I am glad it was a part of this very unique itinerary.

If you have the opportunity to transit the Panama Canal on a ferry, do it. Despite all of the warnings I’m providing about the longness of the day, it was one of the best things I’ve ever done on a port day.

Below you will find several of my photos from this excursion, a detailed itinerary of actual travel and activity times, and a short FAQ section which will hopefully answer most questions about this excursion. But if you are considering this excursion and have any additional questions, please ask in the comments. I will always respond.

Panama Canal by Ferry Excursion in Photos

Puente Centenario

This is a mule. It is named that because they used to use actual mules until they came up with this train-esque devide. They are used to keep the ropes taut so larger vessels don’t bang into the sides of the canal.

Looking aft in the Pedro Miguel locks.

Lowering into the Pedro Miguel locks in a small-ish ferry.

Entering the Miraflores Locks, which are a series of two locks.

Second lock at Miraflores.

Following an empty container ship under the Bridge of the Americas.

Exiting the Panama Canal into the Pacific Ocean at Panama City.

Panama City sunset as seen from the bus back to Colon.

Panama Canal by Ferry Excursion Timetable

Drive from Colon to Gamboa Dredging Station: 1 hour 10 minutes.

Sitting on the ferry not moving: 1 hour+

Transit of Panama Canal: 5 hours.

Waiting to get off the ferry and then waiting to get back on the bus: 30 minutes.

Drive back to Colon: 1 hour 30 minutes.

Panama Canal by Ferry Excursion FAQ

Availability of Food: A lunch was served on the ferry about halfway through the transit. I didn’t eat it because I have health issues, but it looked perfectly passable as a way to stay alive for the day. There were also ice cold bottles of water and cans of Coke available at all times. You could also buy a can of beer for $2 USD.

Availability of toilets: There are no toilets on the bus, but there are two large restrooms on the ferry–one for men and one for women. The women’s room had three or four stalls, and the toilets were standard flush toilets and were clean and well stocked (toilet paper, soap etc.)

Transportation mode: Coach bus to ferry to coach bus.

Travel times: 75 minute bus ride. 5 hour ferry. 90 minute bus ride.

Activity level: low. The bus was not wheelchair accessible, but if you can get onto a bus you can do this excursion.

Could You Do This Independently? 

No. Absolutely not. Even if there were tour companies in Colon which provide this service–and there are not–you would almost guarantee that you’d miss the ship. It’s a very long day and there is a lot that is out of the control of the tour operators–like traffic, both on the canal and on the highway back from Panama City. This is one of the few times where you do just need to take the cruise ship excursion.