The Canal and Central Panama

The Panama Canal bisects the country just to the west of Panama City, which enjoys excellent views of the monumental waterway. Between the canal and the rain forest that covers its islands, banks, and adjacent national parks, there is enough to see and do to fill several days. Central Panama stretches out from the canal across three provinces and into two oceans to comprise everything from the mountains of the Cordillera Central, to the west, to the jungles around Bayano Lake east of the canal, and from the coral reefs of the Caribbean coast in the north to the beaches of the Pearl Islands in the Bahía de Panamá (Bay of Panama) in the south. Much of the region can be visited on day trips from Panama City, but the hotels in gorgeous natural settings outside the city will make you want to do some overnights. You could easily limit your entire vacation to Central Panama; the region holds most of the nation's history and nearly all the things that draw people to the country—beaches, reefs, islands, mountains, rain forests, native cultures, and, of course, the Panama Canal. Within hours of Panama City, in many cases a fraction of an hour, you can enjoy bird-watching, sportfishing, hiking, golf, skin diving, white-water rafting, horseback riding, whale-watching, or lazing on a palm-lined beach. More »