Panama City

Panama City trip ideas

5hr Combo-Panama Canal Monkey Safari & Jungle Walk w/Local Brunch

Badge of ExcellencePanama City, Panama

Panama Canal and Gatun Lake Jungle Eco Cruise

Special Offer

From $89.25

$105.00 Save $15.75

Price varies by group size

Select Date and Travelers

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

5 hours
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Cruise the Panama Canal to Gatun Lake on a nature tour from Panama City that includes round-trip transport from central Panama City and time to explore Gatun’s wildlife-rich shoreline by boat. Visit jungle islands that were cut off from mainland Panama by the construction of the canal, which protect a thriving population of monkeys, birds, crocodiles, and mammals.

Gatun Lake tour from Panama City
Learn about Panama Canal history
Multiple times offered throughout the day
Pickup from a centrally located meeting point

What's Included

Boat ride on the Panama Canal (90 minutes)
Visit Monkey Islands
Driver/professional guide
Bottled water
Transport by air-conditioned minivan
Breakfast
Rainforest Walk

Gratuities
Not a transit tour and Doesn't include any locks visitors center.
Pick Up from Playa Bonita Hotels need to pay extra $10 per person for Roundtrip Transportation
No pick up or drop off at the Airport or Airport Hotels
Playa Blanca, or Rio Hato, Metromall, Arraijan or Tocumen Airport need to arrange own transportation

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Pickup details

We will start the pick ups 20 minutes before the starting time, we will send you a message with the exact time the day before the tour around 5:00pm, once we have the list complet of hotels. Hotels near the Tocumen Airport need to arrange a separate transportation to meet the group starting at central Panama city. For Playa Bonita Hotels you need to pay an extra of $10 per person total roundtrip to arrange a separate car to bring you to meet the group in downtown Panama city. Pick up at Cruiseship ports are not possible for SHARED tours.

What To Expect

Meet a guide and group at a central location in Panama City, then travel to the Canal-side town of Gamboa in an air-conditioned minivan. Built to house Panama Canal workers in 1911, Gamboa has preserved early 20th-century homes and landmarks and marks the point where the Chagres River flows into the Panama Canal.

Board a covered boat on the Panama Canal, and cruise alongside commercial and private boat traffic making the trip between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Emerge into Gatun Lake, and continue to the islands created by the construction of the Panama Canal: Gatun Lake formed when engineers blocked the Chagres River with Gatun Dam, once the largest earth dam in the world. Watch for wildlife along the shoreline of the Monkey Islands, and try to spot capuchin, howler, and tamarin monkeys in the foliage. Gatun Lake is also home to a diverse range of tropical birds, while coati, agouti, capybara, and iguanas forage in the understory.

At the end of the boat trip, make the return trip to Panama City by minivan, where this tour concludes with drop-off at a central location.

Panama City (Pass By)

Panama Canal (Pass By)

Gatun Lake

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Soberania National Park

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Centennial Bridge (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Children must be accompanied by an adult
Child rate applies only when sharing with 2 paying adults
A minimum of 2 people per booking is required on Shared tours

Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately. If it rains you might get wet.
Minimum age is 3 years
Tour is guided only in English
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 18 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

5.0

543 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 543 reviews

Excellent!

Courtney_O, Apr 2024

Paola was fantastic! We took a couple of tours while in Panama and she was by the far the best guide. She was incredibly informative, and showed such passion for her country and her work. The tour was a lot of fun and we saw so much in just half a day!

5hr combo tour of panamz

Annastassia_S, Apr 2024

This tour was amazing. A little of everything. Our tour guide was awesome. Very informative. She was like a human Google.

Super interesting and fun!

hgilgoff, Apr 2024

Paola was incredible. So knowledgeable and energetic and hard working! Smooth on time pick up and incredible boat ride and constant learning about nature and wild life and Panamá and Panama Canal. Super informative and interesting! Biodiversity and environmental science and fun all wrapped into one extravaganza!

Panama at its best

Giorgio_S, Apr 2024

What a tour with an amazing guide! We got to see practically everything: capuchin monkeys, howler monkeys, tamarin monkeys, sloths, toucans, iguanas, crocodiles. Without mentioning how cool it is to be in a small boat next to the giant container ships crossing the canal. The breakfast was also very good. So sad to see all of the tours next to ours that feed the monkeys though. They ruin the experience for everyone because the monkeys go to sleep afterwards (and they get diabetes).

Fun in Panamá

williamr_s, Apr 2024

Mike was a fantastic guide. The tour was interesting and informative. Loved the whole experience. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Wonderful Experience

Irma_V, Apr 2024

Paola was an excellent guide, friendly and very knowledgeable! We were able to see quite a few wild animals on our trip: crocodiles, three different types of monkeys, plenty of birds and blue butterflies!

Great trip and worth it!

Joan_D, Mar 2024

Mike was excellent guide! Lots of great info and very helpful. We had a wonderful trip including the boat ride and jungle walk. The food was good and the walk was doable for old knees and the heat! Wear sneakers! Great for kids and singles!

Great tour to get a taste of the canal and jungle without traveling far

david_h, Mar 2024

We didn't have much time so took this 5 hour combo tour out of Panama City. It includes a canal boat ride to Monkey Island, a nature walk and a decent brunch. We saw a fair amount of wildlife and local points of interest along the canal. The tour guide and staff are super well organized, efficient, knowledgeable and friendly. I strongly recommend this tour.

Must do in Panama!

Autumn_C, Mar 2024

Paola was an amazing guide, full of knowledge about the ecosystem and history of Panama. She reached out the day before to confirm the pickup details and the vehicle to look for. The riverboat tour was a blast! We saw so much wildlife (crocodiles, toucans, monkeys, sloths, bats and more), and even got up close to a container ship traveling through the canal. The Panamanian breakfast before the hike was fabulous (my child got seconds)! Here we learned about the trees, plants and animals of the jungle. We got to see a blue morpho butterfly which brought us good luck to see an entire family of monkeys traveling through the trees on our way out. I highly recommend!

Exceptional host and beautiful geography

Michele_K, Mar 2024

Our guide was a professional-knew everything about this area and the wildlife. Personable and articulate

Great!

Valeria_M, Mar 2024

This was great! John was a great tour guide and was very knowledgeable. Saw so many animals and loved eating an authentic Panamanian breakfast.

Highly Recommend this Trip!

Sasha_C, Mar 2024

Such a fantastic day! Great wildlife spotting. Yummy brunch. So much to see in such a full morning. Michael was absolutely wonderful with his appreciation for Panama and its history and wildlife. He was full of a ton of really interesting information. Both my 8 and 5 year old had a blast and had all of their many questions answered. Michael even followed up afterwards with some photos and information for my son to use in a school report. A 10 of 10!

Excellent and Fun

Franklin_C, Mar 2024

Well planned experience. Everybody did an excellent job. Every minute was interesting. Drivers and tourist guide were very professional. I will certainly recommend this tour.

Excellent morning

x9fs4mpj98, Mar 2024

We had a great morning with Michael. He was extremely knowledgeable about Panama and its history. Our favorite part of the day was the boat ride in the canal, where Michael spotted lots of wildlife to teach us about! Brunch was delicious; we were back before noon so we could take advantage of his great suggestions around the city.

Gatun Lake Wildlife!!!

Katherine_B, Mar 2024

Boat trip on the lake with opportunities to see wildlife in their natural habitat was amazing! Enjoyed watching a baby sloth climb through the trees on the jungle walk!

Definitely A Good Excursion

David_M, Mar 2024

First, be sure you know what this experience will be and pay attention to the description. We had a great time because we understood what we signed up for. the folks in slides hiking two kilometers and the folks that brought young children who had to be carried didn't enjoy it as much as we did. Your guide, John, was extremely knowledgable. Equally important, he was extremely ethical and wouldn't stoop to harmful stunts to try to lure monkeys out of the trees. Even so, we saw monkeys and other interesting animals. The time on Lake Gatun is best in the early morning.

Tour Guide Of The Year

Brad_G, Mar 2024

This was a great tour. We saw monkeys, crocodiles, birds of many species, and enjoyed the jungle hike. Breakfast was delicious and the transportation was perfect. Paola is what made the trip. She was impressively educated on history, nature, and Panamanian life. You could tell that she loved her job and truly wanted to make out trip perfect. I highly recommend.

Excellent tour

Amy_R, Feb 2024

Absolutely loved our tour and guide Mike. The wildlife was great. We especially loved meeting Carlito the crazy capuchen monkey. We learned so much about panama history, the wildlife, canal and country.

Great trip

Lyndee_L, Feb 2024

Michael (Mike) our tour guide made the trip. Very knowledgeable outside of basic trip presentation information. We saw monkey’s, sloth’s and cayman. We loved learning about local wildlife and the canal.

Awesome early morning nature tour

Danielle_C, Feb 2024

This was a fantastic tour. Our guide Paola was super knowledgeable about the history of Panama City and the wildlife we saw once we arrived at Gatun Lake and the nature walk. Brunch was a nice spread of delicious local food. We left earlier than expected, but it was totally worth beating the crowds and the heat. Without as many tours on the lake, we were able to see a crocodile, many monkeys, and birds. We were also lucky enough to see a sloth during the nature walk. I would totally do this tour again.

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