Miraflores At The Panama Canal

This is an interesting place with lots of very entertaining informative history of the Panama Canal. The 3D IMAX movie is actually very impressive. Learning through this place makes one appreciate the fact that the Panama Canal is one of mankind's most important engineering achievements of all time.

It was one of my dreams to see the Panama Canal and it was even better than I had imagined. Best to visit in the afternoon, as you can see the ships crossing the canal after 1PM. Get there earlier to see the IMAX presentation of the canal’s history, narrated by Morgan Freeman. 10/10, a must visit if you are in Panama.

Do you want to see how the ships transit through the Panama Canal locks? The building has a terrace on ground level and bleachers on the 1st level for observing the Canal’s operation, the passage of ships through the locks and how they move. It is the ideal place to take pictures and to hold memories of this engineering marvel. Transits of ships may vary depending on schedule. Visiting this technical marvel near Panama City is very interesting because here you can see up close how large ships pass through the Panama Canal locks. The Miraflores Locks were completed in 1913. Since 1914, ships have been traveling through the 82-kilometer-long Panama Canal, passing through a total of three locks. The economic importance of the canal becomes clear when you consider that a ship passage costs an average of 250,000 USD (maximum approx. 400,000 USD). About 40 ships pass through the canal every day... The Miraflores Locks is Panama's most visited attraction. The lock system now also includes a panoramic restaurant, from whose terrace you can easily observe the locking processes. There are also further viewing terraces on three levels and also an interesting museum.

A giant container ship arrives from the Atlantic on the north-west. The little electric locomotives called mules tow it towards the two enormous gates. The gates start parting. The water levels equalize as the two arms of the gates open up fully and rest along the walls. The mules tow the container ship across to the Pacific on the south-east. We watch with rapt attention as the engineering marvel unfolds in front of our eyes. What an experience to watch these gates in action!

Cool place to visit the locks. The Imax movie was excellent. Great way to learn the history of the canal. The locks themselves are less impressive. Too many people and if you hit it at the wrong time you do not get to experience the ships passing through the locks very well. Still a must see experience to catch a wonder of the world.