The Panama Canal Atlantic to Pacific Transit gets it's own post for several reasons.
- We have been through several locks when we owned our boat
- We've seen the Panama Canal locks from the land side
- Locks amaze me
- It was a bucket list item
The last reason is because I got up at 5 am to get a front row seat in the Observation Lounge 💺 🙃 😅. They were already full except for the starboard corner. It was not exactly what I wanted but I still had my own window. To make it worse coffee ☕️ wasn't served until after 6.
There I sat all by myself playing my games patiently waiting for something to happen. As we approached, we could begin to see lights from plenty of ships 🚢 anchored ⚓️ awaiting their turn (still dark out). The flurry of excitement 😀 began around 6:30 as the pilot boat was coming towards us.
We traveled through Limon Bay towards Puente Atlantico (Atlantic Bridge).
Augusto (Gus) Villarreal joined us to provide commentary as we transited the Canal. He was so informative throughout the day. Under the bridge we go.
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| Puente Atlantico |
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| Atlantic Bridge |
We were scheduled to arrive at Gatùn Lock 🔐 at 8 am. The transit of the entire canal takes an average of 8 - 10 hours.
Guess who made an appearance 🤪 just as we were approaching the first lock? I get up at 5 and Rob has a front row seat at 8. Glad he got plenty of sleep. lol
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| As we approached we saw 👀 some crocodiles🐊 |
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| Approaching the original gates from 1914 with no changes |
"The construction of the Panama Canal took more than a decade and cost nearty $400 million. By the time it was completed in 1914, the Panama Canal had created a shorter and more economical shipping route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, dissecting Central America to simplify the transportation of goods. Today, ship's pass through the 48-mile-long waterway about 11,000 times each year without the need to navigate around Cape Horn or the Straight of Magellan. It was a bold project made possible by ground-breaking engineering, and there's still nothing else like it on earth."
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| Pulling alongside the dock |
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| Mule connected on port side |
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| Now we need to pull up to attach the mule on starboard |
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| The Mule port side |
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| The Mule starboard |
The highest paid transit was about 4 million dollars. The cost for the Mariner was about $190,000. Leaving out of the first tier of the first lock.
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| The workers walk across the top of the gate and yellow bars go down when the gates are getting ready to open |
Videos of the lock opening. Each video 📹 is about a minute long or less as this blog does not allow anything larger.
My last video for this section.
Gatún Lake
I took a break and had lunch which was a good time since it was raining.
The Culebra Cut is a 12.6-km (7.8-mile) artificial valley forming a critical, narrow section of the Panama Canal. It cuts through the Continental Divide, connecting Gatun Lake to the Pedro Miguel locks. After lunch, I repositioned to the back of the ship.
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| Centennial Bridge |
Heading into Pedro Miguel Locks. "The Pedro Miguel Locks are a single-step set of locks in the Panama Canal that lift or lower ships by 31 feet (9.4 meters) between the Pacific Ocean (via Miraflores Lake) and the Culebra Cut."
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| Tugboat service cost about $3000 an hr |
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| An approaching vessel |
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| Another ship entering the lock next to us |
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| One of our Mules |
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| Gates are closed |
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| The water is starting to lower |
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| Look how tight those cables are |
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| Gates closed -- safe to travel across |
We are safe to exit!
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| You can see how high up the ship in the other lock is |
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| Look how close we are |
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| Departing Pedro Miguel Lock |
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| Our Starboard side Mule |
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| The gates are beginning to close |
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| Gates are closed |
The Captain, the Pilot and the Mules did an excellent job of transiting the Canal without any incidents of touching the sides. Apparently the sister ship 🚢 bumped on their transit.
Even though I was up very early I still made it through dinner at Compass Rose and a show in the Constellation Theater 🎥.
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| Shanghai Style Dumplings |
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| Soft Poached Crispy Panko Egg with potato truffle foam & parmesan |
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| Mulligatawny Indian red lentils & coconut 🥥 soup |
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| Pan Fried Brazino Filet with green peas 🫛 bonne femme mashed potatoes, & lemon beurre blanc |
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| Parmesan Pecan Crusted Chicken Breast with cranberry jus, brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes |
Guest Entertainer David Shannon From Ireland to Broadway. This was his second show.
As usual each evening we receive our Passages (daily newsletter), breakfast menu, and chocolates. This evening we also received a time change notice and Certificates of Transit of the Panama Canal.
Date: January 15, 2026
"Pro Mundi Beneficio" Latin "For the Benefit of the World"
