Gamboa Rainforest Experience From Panama City

We had a great experience with the rainforest seeing three kinds of monkeys, birds, and crocodiles. We saw the frogs and sloths at the rehab center and had a great meal.

This was an excellent experience and one of the highlights of our time in Panama. It is a wonderful way to experience the Gamboa rainforest and its wildlife, and the different activities make for a very complete day. Everything was very well organized and punctual, and the tour includes lunch at a lovely restaurant, which was a very nice addition. A very special mention has to go to our driver, Emiliano, who was genuinely one of the nicest and most knowledgeable people we met during our trip. He was incredibly kind, helpful and informative, and his knowledge of Panama and the area added enormously to the experience. He really went above and beyond and made an already great day even better, accompanying us through the tour. The boat portion through the rainforest was particularly enjoyable and gives you a fantastic opportunity to see the landscape and wildlife from a completely different perspective. My only recommendation would be to check the weather forecast if you have some flexibility with your dates. A significant part of the experience involves traveling by boat, and heavy rain can make that portion considerably more difficult—although, of course, you are visiting a rainforest! Overall, excellent value for money, very well organized, and a fantastic experience. I would absolutely recommend Panamazing and would happily book with them again—especially if we could have Emiliano as our driver!

Our guide was punctual in picking us up for a full day. He shared some interesting insights into Panamanian history and culture on the drive with a few relevant detours. A nice complement to the canal tour, as we had a motorboat tour that also passed by two large container ships that we could see up close!

Incredible way to experience the wonders of the rainforest and to be introduced to the Panama Canal. The telecabin ride to a lookout tower above the canopy was great, and I registered 9 different bird calls on one portion of the trip! We also saw wildlife, including tamarinds and howler monkeys on various islands in the lake - and huge carrier ships rounding the curve at the Culebra Cut. Lunch was a nice buffet by the water (and we spotted a Mama Capybara and her kits!). Then we joined the guide again for a wander through a butterfly habitat, orchids, and the sloth sanctuary- truly remarkable day.

Better than expected. Very punctual, lake gatun is stunning, and the aerial tram ride is actually worth it. Would recommend for an easy day trip from Panama City.

We stayed at the Westin and Joseph from Panamazing hod us all set up and we had a great time, saw some monkeys, sloths, big freighters’s coming through the canal and an aerial tram with some amazing views. Pick up from the hotel and the return was great and the driver was well prepared with cold bottles of water and snacks. Fun day!

Wonderful trip! Perfect half day in which we saw the canal and then went on the lake and saw the wildlife. Our tour guide, Roberto McBarnette, was great. Very knowledgeable. And booming with Maria Capellan at the resort was a breeze.

Wow! Best experience ever. Highly recommend. Good value, great tour guide and great sales person Joseph.

Relatively small group which was nice. The boat ride to see three different types of monkeys was the highlight. The view from the observation tower was beautiful with 360 view of the Chagres River and Gatun Lake. The buffet lunch served at the visitor center had good Panamanian food

This combo tour included a boatride in the Panama Canal, a boatride in Gatun Lake to Monkey Islands, visits from monkeys onto the tour boat; a tram ride through the rainforest, a climb to the observation tower with breathtaking views at the top! We saw butterflies, orchids and beautiful but poisonous frogs at the frog farm and sloths! The guides were awesome and made the tour so educational as well ensuring that we had a safe a highly memorable experience. If you travel to Panama City, Panama this tour should absolutely be included in your itinerary!! I can’t recommend highly enough!!

Great experience. The pick up and drop off from the hotel was in time and Olga the driver was helpful, friendly and very attentive. The experience was great the food at the Gamboa hotel was ok. All of the exhibits were good. I would recommend this activity. Took great pictures.

Surprised my mom for her Birthday with a trip to Panama. I used Panamazing for our Gambia rainforest expedition. I highly recommend. Lots to learn, lots to see.The boat ride to Monkey Island, the sloth exhibit, the aerial tram was amazing. The lunch was great. Our driver Michael was a wealth of knowledge on the history of Panama.

This tour was amazing! So interesting and informative! Out tour guide Michael was very knowledgeable and very professional. It was obvious he loves his country. We also did the Canal and City tour with our guide Heavenly-yes that's her real name! She was terrific also. So much fun. We also schedule our airport transfers with Panamazing. The whole experience was perfect top to bottom. All transfers were on time and everyone was very accommodating. Thank you Panamazing for making our trip so memorable! Do not hesitate to book anything with Panamazing!!

This was a really good tour BUT it had 14 people and the information said no more 9 people for the tour. The boats around us had 3-6 people on the boat, which was much more accommodating than our boat of 14 people. We weren’t able to see the monkeys very good and did not have the opportunity to feed them. We were in the back and could not hear the tour director at all. I definitely feel like the tour should have stard within their guidelines where they market the tour that there will be no more than 9 people

Boat ride to see monkeys was interesting . Aerial tram displayed beautiful forest but unable to climb tower. Lunch was outstanding but uncomfortable shuttle rides caused us to skip exhibits.

5 stars isn’t enough to give! I reached out to Panamazing via their website before our trip. I immediately heard back from Juan. Sitting up our transportation to and from the airport with him was so easy and affordable. Normally we would also wait to book excursions once we got to the resort. But I thought I will just ask what excursions they offer. I am so glad I did! Again super fast response! Juan answered all my questions and ended up coordinating private tours for us with all the things we wanted to do, again at very affordable pricing. And the experience while we were here also amazing! Drivers were always waiting for us at our hotel. Everyone was so nice and professional. The vehicles were immaculate. We saw the Panama Canal and Gamboa Rainforest (which Juan customized for us into an all day tour instead of two half days). Our guide for the day made sure we had the best seats and VIP treatment everywhere we went. We also booked a private tour to Panama Viejo and Casco Viejo. Again very professional and knowledgeable guide who showed us all the sites! All of our experiences were amazing and the best pricing you will find! Pick up times were smooth and the excursion itineraries were exactly as promised! Don’t waste your time looking anywhere else. Just reach out to Panamazing and let them handle everything for you! You won’t regret it!

We loved our trip me at Gamboa. Truly an exceptional experience. Tour staff Ivan, Natalia, and Ernesto were not just solid tour staff, but also truly warm, kind, and fun human beings. We felt part of the family. Also Juliet from the Monkey Bar and many of the dining room staff (so many!) were just so thoughtful and helpful. Thank you to all at Gamboa! Including the sloths. And a notable mention to the Embera and Wounan people for letting us into their lives.

Airial tram not working. Couldn’t do all activities. Boat on river was enjoyable. Butterfly exhibit was OK.

The tour was wonderful the ride to the rainforest is long due to the traffic the boat ride to see the monkeys were nice then the skyliner ride was nice too it made a stop every couple of minutes but on the way back it started raining the best advice will be pack a poncho so if it rain you won’t be wet for the rest of the day after the ride we went to a butterfly, and frog exhibit. There were also sloths. Then lastly lunch was not until 2 ish so pack snacks along with poncho. Overall I would recommend if you want an all day tour.

Great sights of the Panamanian Forest. Amazing views from the boat, and fantastic sights of the Chagres River from the observatory. This is a beautiful excursion.

Awesome tour and the Panamazing guides were very informative and helpful with the tour. I highly recommend Panamazing!

Great tour, boat ride was amazing - we saw so many animals - crocodile, iguanas, three types of monkeys. The aerial tram was just ok, not much to see, but lunch afterwards was delicious! So much food and so many options, that even this picky eater was thrilled with the choices. The afternoon activities - butterflies, frogs, orchids, and sloth sanctuary were also great.

Our driver was friendly and kept us safe and on time for everything and pointed out interesting things along the way. This was a great combo of Panama canal, wildlife from different views. The guide during the boating portion was amazing and I couldn't believe how many things she was able to spot...we saw 3 kinds of monkeys, caiman, crocodile, toucans, and lots of other birds. We didnt see any wildlife on the aerial tram but it was still a beautiful ride and walking to the top of the viewing tower was well worth it! The exhibits were great and we loved seeing the frogs, butterflies and sloths. The included buffet lunch was one of the best meals we had on the trip! Highly suggest!

Excellent tour. Nafi was a great guide, as was Carla on the water. We saw tons of animals, enjoyed the aerial tram, and lunch was great.

This tour was worth every single penny. We got picked up on time, in a comfortable air conditioned van. Our tour guide was personable and fun, and taught us a lot on our way to and from the Gamboa rainforest. It made the drive fun! The excursions were great and lunch at the Gamboa Hotel was awesome. Highly recommend this one!

Sadly, the service and communication by the company was very inconsistent. It started off poorly when the first airport transfer was not there to meet our party and took over an hour to get someone there to provide the transfer and it was still confusing. Remaining transfers were smooth and on time. Communication regarding including tours was inaccurate causing an additional hour delay at the resort.

Company allowed the booking the evening before then cancelled it in the morning, but said I had requested the cancellation (I had not, of course). So I woke up early for nothing and did not get to take the tour. There was no communication with me until later as to why this had occurred. In that brief communication, they simply said the tour was unavailable. Why was it offered and allowed me to book it then?

From the boat tour on the Canal to see the wildlife, everything was great. We felt safe and well informed. My favorite part was seeing the sloth sanctuary and being in the rainforest when it actually rained. The views were gorgeous and I recommend this experience to anyone who loves nature.

Awesome! The transportation was seamless. The scenery was beautiful. The lunch yummy. A must see! We got to Go on. The panama Canal. See monkeys. Travel in an aerial tram. One of the best things you can see in panama. The tram was so peaceful

Excellent service - staff is knowledgeable and the views are spectacular. The package of all the excursions is worth the money.

This was a great experience, we were able to see boats from the canal which was different than seeing them from land. Our guide Enrique was awesome , professional, knowledgeable and courteous. The driver was great as well, he was very cautious and we appreciated his safe driving. The rainforest was cool, we didn't really see much wildlife. We saw monkeys from the boat but they didn't want to come down from the trees. The buffet lunch was really good, wide variety, fresh and tasty. . The views were great, it's hot I recommend keeping water with you during the walks and aerial tram. Also learned a lot about sloths at the sanctuary, we were up close and personal with rescued sloths. And the tour was longer than we expected but it worked out. I recommend this tour company.

We were in Panama for vacation at Hyatt Playa Bonita. Our tour guide Louis was amazing. The man is extremely knowledgeable. There was not a financial or cultural or historical question he could not answer. Were are cultural and history geeks I was impressed. The driver was careful, the tour was amazing. The guides even carefully scooped baby crocodiles for us to see and hold. They have a knack for getting the monkeys on the boat to eat mangoes. We will go on tour with them anytime we travel. WELL DONE!!!!!

Wanted to give a thumbs up to Panamaming Tours for organizing the above tour for us. Mr. Joseph Yanez was my contact person in Panama and he was very helpful and attentive to our needs. He gave us quite a few inputs during our stay in Panama as well. While we missed seeing the exhibition within the Gamboa rainforest due to time constraints at the Skyway, which took longer to load more people due to crowds. the arrangements done by Mr.Joseph was excellent. We definitely Thank him for that and also will recommend others to book through Panamazing. Best wishes.

Seeing the animals was really fun and the reason why I did this tour however the tour guide Ricardo was super rude. Recommend going with another tour company if possible.

Excelent service offered by Federico assigned at Dreams Playa Bonita hotel,great and unique tour! We dind't liked that we sau only one monkey beacuse our boat was borken and we left on the river în the afternoon în stead of morning.

Excellent job and we love all the tours we did and it was amazing. I will be coming back here again and get the tour from them without hesitation.

Lidia/India (sorry didn't hear her name correctly) was amazing. Her and our bus driver Pedro were so knowledgeable, funny, and charismatic. All of the tours were amazing. I would definitely recommend this tour to anyone.

Expect to spend 5 hours on the bus. No water and the morning with the aerial tram is a waste. The boat ride and the sloth excursion are great. It’s a large group experience.

The experience was good. The guide was maybe a 2 star. Gave no history or pointing out of any landmarks or even talked to us. He was so busy socializing with people he called his”bosses”. I would have fired him. When I asked a question, he rudely answered. Too many people looking for tips

We had next to zero guidance here , except for ten minutes on the boat . Basically we were just driven from one point to the other , no one spoke a word of English , zero explanation of anything . Never ever again . Could have don’t it on our own without having a tour guide tell at us in Spanish to hurry up , after not even understanding a thing we were seeing .

This tour was the perfect way to experience the Gamboa rainforest in all its beauty! This tour is perfect for families or solo travelers. We started off on a boat tour of the Panama canal past ships traversing the canal to visit multiple islands with monkeys - we saw three different species! Then we took the aerial tram through the rainforest and had some breathtaking views of the Chagres river followed by a trip to the sloth sanctuary and butterfly conservatory before lunch on the river where we saw turtles and caiman!

We booked with Federico at our resort for a party of 5 and have nothing but great things to say about booking with him and our tour. Highly recommend!!!

Really nice experience . It was a different site of Panama City but still amazing. I highly recommend it

Wanted to see the countryside and this tour did the trick. We got to experience a boat ride to see the monkeys and we were lucky to see three different species. We took the tram up in the rainforest and then we walk up the tower above the trees for a exciting view!! Children and adults would enjoy this tour.

Guide Ricardo was one of the best. However, we were picked 2.5 hours before as the first and dropped 2.5 after as last. Spent hours in pick up and drop. I wish they had 203 small vans or reversed the route while dropping back. Very unfair to us to spend 5 hours.

Fantastic day trip. The guide Robert is very nice and knowledgeable. They picked us up on time and everything ran like clockwork. The boat ride along the Rio Chagres and then the lake islands was amazing. We saw Howler, Titi and Capuchin monkeys, and even a sloth way up on the trees (I couldn't believe our boat guide found it). We also saw beautiful bats. The air tram ride was fun, although there was no wildlife to be seen, except for a lonely --but beauriful frog, at the tower. The butterfly and frog houses were a nice touch, and then seeing sloths at the rescue center was truly amazing. They are such beautiful animals. Finally, it was lunch time and everyone in my group was quite pleased with the buffet, and especially the desserts and the location. This tour was the highlight of my visit in Panama and I'd do it again without a doubt.

I booked a day in advance and was lucky. It was my best day in Panama during a business trip. The pick up was on time. Robert, the guide, is very nice and knowledgeable. We were lucky with the weather as it only rained for a little while. The boat tour along the Panama Canal/Chagres river, passing the huge ships, was exciting. The boat captain and guide were amazing. They found us a sloth up in the trees. We also saw howlers, tamarins and capuchins. I was disappointed to see another boat where people were encouraged to feed the capuchins by hand, which made the monkeys totally fearless of approaching humans. The air tram ride to the forest canopy was beautiful, although we saw no wildlife there. Climbing the tower seemed like a challenge but we made it and it was worth it. The bonus was finding a beautiful frog there. The view was spectacular. We then went to see butterflies, frogs and the sloth sanctuaries. There were also gorgeous orchids. It was a beautiful experience. Finally lunch. We were hungry and the buffet at Don Caiman was just what we needed. The food was quite good, the desserts fantastic, and the view was beautiful. I would do this tour again.

This tour was a lot of fun - I think part of that is due to how organized and well executed the tour operators were, but also out of pure luck. I appreciate our driver Miguel and his ability to get us to see everything in a compacted amount of time, not to mention his ability to navigate the sometimes crazy traffic of Panama City! Once we arrived at Gamboa Forest, we were handed off to a separate tour guide who accompanied us on the boat (I don’t believe she was employed by the same tour company, but they probably work closely together). We got really lucky because we saw a LOT of animals - monkeys, crocodiles, sloths, even bats! It was really cool! But I think it’s a crapshoot as to what you will actually see - and not within the control of the tour operator, of course. Nature does what it wants, when it wants :-). Still, is it worth it to spend a few hours cruising around Gatun Lake, likely seeing some huge ships passing through the Canal as you motor onwards? Most definitely! The sloths were sooooooo cute <3 Those animals are adorable - we even saw one in the jungle high up in the trees. The sloth sanctuary, frog pond, butterfly garden - all a pleasure! My group was also really cool - everyone got on really well, and were quite talkative with one another. That part is also a crapshoot - but in general, when I do these tours, I have good group experiences - all depends on what you bring and the energy you give off. Lunch was surprisingly very good and well executed - I was honestly expecting something a bit less quality (since it’s included) but I have to say I was happy with the presentation. It’s a buffet style restaurant with a beautiful view of the river. Something for everyone, so vegetarians / vegans, etc. should be well accommodated. Be aware that your drop off / completion time may exceed what is estimated. I didn’t get back to hotel for almost 2 hours past the estimation, mostly due to traffic and diversions, but also because our group took a little longer at some sites, and we needed to corral everyone together back to the bus. This in no way detracts from the overall experience, mind you - it’s still worth it! But I recommend planning around the drop off time - give yourself at least 2 hours past what is estimated, in case you want to make dinner plans or something later. Overall - a lot of fun, and I recommend it!

Truly an amazing experience. The tour is worth every dollar and our guide was terrific!. Recommend without a doubt!