Centro de Visitantes Agua Clara — Attraction in Cristóbal

BRING A PONCHO INSTEAD OF AN UMBRELLA OR WATERPROOF JACKET. High winds can occur out of nowhere with rain and depending on the quality of your umbrella, it can damage it. This place is pretty easy to walk around except the mini rain forest path which is located next to the restaurant on the left of the entrance. It's an incline that includes handrails if you need them and it can be slippery if you don't watch your step. The steps are about a foot tall which is an odd design and can be moderately difficult for older folks. The humidity can also affect your pace of walking. Next to the visitors center is a view balcony where you can watch ships go through the locks (the sections that they call it when the ship rises and falls) and watch them in action. There's also a tiny gift shop. Every 15 mins or so, there's a mini documentary presentation (15 min length of duration) near the entrance of the park about the construction and fascinating history of the 2nd lock system that included people involved from around the world representing different countries. Very cool things to learn about how consumerism is fueled by the assistance of the...

This is a very modern visitor center located at the Agua Clara (Clear Water) locks of the Panama Canal. These are the new locks located at the Caribbean entrance (North transiting to the South). There is a series of three locks with rolling gates. The visitor center is perched on the hillside overlooking the locks. There is a quite spectacular view down to the three locks with a hint of the old Gatun locks in the distance. You can just see the tops of the ships passing through the Gatun locks in the background. In addition to the viewing areas, there is a small touristy gift shop. There is an air-conditioned theater with a video presentation on the history of the Panama Canal, given on the half-hour. There is a small children's playground. There are restrooms. The only jarring bit is the man on the microphone who constantly and loudly announces things in Spanish and English in this otherwise...

Agua Clara, Panama Canal locks in Colón, Panama is a new addition to the original Panama Canal. It is about an hour or so from Panama City via a scenic tolled highway. This site has a welcoming Visitor Center that has a comfortable viewing deck to observe all the action taken to allow ships a safe passage through the canal. There's an admission fee that includes a short movie (~15 minutes) on the architecture and building of the canal - alternating timeslots for English audio. Hot and cold drinks and some snacks are also available. Shaded seating areas to patiently enjoy the delicately slow passage of the ships led by tugboats that appear too miniscule to manage such majestic ships. You are seated at almost eye level of the upper areas of the ships so the views are just amazing!! There is a PA system that explains the steps during the passage -...