A unique experience is to transit the Panama Canal and pass through the locks on board of an excursion ship. In three chambers of the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks you will be risen from the Pacific to the level of the Canal, 26 m above sea level. Here begins the Corte Culebra. Digging this 14 km long ditch was the biggest effort of the Canal construction. In Gamboa you enter Gatun Lake of the Canal, created by damming the lower Chagres River in order to make it navigable for the ships and to have a water reservoir for the chambers of the locks. The half transit finishes in Gamboa or will be done the other way round.

The full transit continues on Gatun Lake passing rainforest islands and peninsulas at a distance. The lake becomes wider and in the late afternoon the ship navigates through the three steps of the chambers of the Gatun lock, getting back down to ocean level. The ship continues towards the Caribbean port of Colon, where buses bring you back to Panama City.