Day 1: San Jose to Puntarenas, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital, sits in the Central Valley region with the Talamanca Mountains to the south and volcanoes to the north.
Arrive at your leisure today, and transfer to our all-inclusive hotel on the Pacific Coast near the small town of Puntarenas.
Day 2: Puntarenas to Puerto Caldera Port – Isla Negritos, Costa Rica
Enjoy the day in the sun at our all-inclusive hotel. In the afternoon, we will transfer to the MS Panorama and set sail for Isla Negritos.
At over eighty hectares, the Negritos Islands Biological Reserve is home to laughing seagulls, frigate birds, parrots, and boobies.
Day 3: Quepos and Manual Antonio Reserve
Manuel Antonio Reserve is a wonderful place to view wildlife, with plentiful white-faced capuchin, howler, and squirrel monkeys. The reserve also features a Forest Canopy Tour for an aerial view.
In the afternoon, those not on the Canopy Tour will have a chance to explore the quaint town of Quepos.
Day 4: Drake Bay and Corcovado
Corcovado National Park is the largest park in Costa Rica and covers almost a third of the peninsula. National Geographic has called Corcovado "the most biologically intense place on Earth in terms of biodiversity."
Drake Bay is known to be a common wintering and breeding ground for humpback whales.
Day 5: Puerto Jimenez and Golfo Dulce
Puerto Jimenez is a small town in the southern region of Puntarenas Province. With just over 3,000 inhabitants, this historic gold mining and logging community is one of the largest towns on the Osa Peninsual. The rare scarlet macaw can be found in the surrounding jungle.
In addition to beautiful beaches, sport fishing, kayaking and kite surfing, the “sweet gulf” also houses the Golfo Dulce Forest Reserve. The reserve is a 149,500 acre protected habitat that offers swimming, hiking and birdwatching. Among the native animals that live in the reserve are the anteater, the jaguar, and the ocelot.
Plants at the area’s famed Casa Orquideas (House of Orchids) include orchids, heliconias, bromeliads.
Day 6: Isla Coiba, Panama
The island of Coiba retains 80% of its original forest cover—thanks to the penal colony located there for ninety years, which hosted Panama's most notorious criminals. Coiba Island Marine Park, considered one of the ten top diving spots in the world, is home to the largest coral reef in the Eastern Pacific.
Day 7: Playa Muerto, Darién, Panama
On our excursion into Darién National park, we are welcomed by members of the Embera Indians, one of the seven indigenous groups living in Panama. We’ll appreciate their beautiful handicrafts and well-preserved traditions. We’ll spend overnight at anchor here.
Day 8: Pearl Islands
We’ll have a morning sailing to Pearl Islands. This archipelago consists of over two hundred islands, many tiny and uninhabited. We will have a chance to hike through one of the other islands on the lookout for local birds and wildlife. We will then sail to Panama City and cross our first lock into the Panama Canal.
Day 9: Lake Gatun and the Panama Canal
We will visit the Panama Canal Expansion Observation Center in Gatun and enjoy lunch there.
After lunch, we’ll visit the Fort San Lorenzo Spanish Historical Forts on the Atlantic side of the Canal. Late in the evening we will enter our final lock and make our way to the city of Colon.
Day 10: Colon 2000 Terminal and Panama City
We will arrive in the morning on March 25, at the city of Colon, and board a shuttle back to Panama City. Here we’ll enjoy a city tour including the Panama Canal Museum, the Historic Old Town and the Panama Viejo archaeological site.
After free time to explore, we will meet at a local restaurant for our farewell dinner.
Overnight at the Panama Central hotel in Panama City's Old Town.
Day 11: Panama City
Today you may make your way to the airport for flights home, or choose to extend your stay in Panama.
