"Cruising the Panama Canal" a Panama Travel Page by ozzypete

The best way to get to see the Panama Canal is on a cruise ship that travels through the locks at either end. On the Altantic ocean side is the Gatun Locks and on the Pacific ocean side is the Miraflores Locks. I was on a cruise ship travelling through. To have a basic understanding of how it works, Lake Gatun is 85 feet above sea level, therefore vessels have to go through a number of locks (three on the Gatun side) until the vessel is a sea level. Each lock gradually fills up with water, then the gates open and allow vessel to move into the next lock. There is six or more locomotive engines that guide the ships through on train tracks each side of lock. There was only about 4-6 feet clearance on each side of the ship to the sides of the locks. This freight ship (pictured) only had about 2 feet either side. You have to actually visit Panama to see this enormous engineering project for yourself.