Marina - Panama Potpourri: Miami to Panama City

Where this cruise calls, day by day

9 ports and 2 sea days over 10 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Miami, FL

   United StatesDepart
   Miami, FL port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore

2. Day 2 · At sea

3. Day 3

   Cozumel

   MexicoPort
   Cozumel port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
4. Day 4

   Costa Maya

   MexicoPort
   Costa Maya port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
5. Day 5

   Harvest Caye

   BelizePort

   Norwegian built this 75-acre island off southern Belize precisely to avoid Belize City's long tender ride - ships tie up at a pier and you walk ashore. What is there is a resort day: a large freshwater pool with a swim-up bar, a saltwater lagoon, a zip line, a ropes course and a shopping village, on Norwegian ships only. Food and drink are for sale rather than included.

   • The saltwater lagoon and the freshwater pool
   • Zip line over the water and the ropes course
   • The butterfly house and wildlife exhibit
   • Boat-and-bus excursions to Placencia and the southern Maya sites

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at Harvest Caye itself; mainland Belize excursions leave by boat to Placencia or Independence, adding 20-30 minutes each way.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr is the dry season; Jun-Oct is wet and hot, with hurricane risk peaking Aug-Oct

6. Day 6

   Santo Tomas de Castilla

   GuatemalaPort

   Guatemala's Caribbean port sits in the Bay of Amatique next to Puerto Barrios, and it is a commercial pier with a shed of craft stalls rather than a destination. This side of the country is Garífuna and Q'eqchi' rather than highland Maya, and the good excursions reflect that - a river gorge, a coastal town reachable only by boat, and one of the great Maya carving sites.

   • Quiriguá's carved stelae, a UNESCO site about 90 minutes away
   • A Río Dulce gorge boat trip and the Castillo de San Felipe
   • Livingston, the Garífuna town reachable only by boat
   • Las Escobas waterfalls in the Cerro San Gil reserve

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at the commercial pier; there is no town at the gate, Puerto Barrios is a short drive, and everything else is an hour or more.

   Best months

   Jan-Apr is driest; this coast is wet most of the year and Sep-Nov is heaviest

7. Day 7

   Roatán

   HondurasPort
   Roatán port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore

8. Day 8 · At sea

9. Day 9

   Puerto Limon

   Costa RicaPort

   Limón is Costa Rica's Caribbean port and a working one - the pier is in town, the town is scruffy and humid, and almost nobody stays. This coast is the country's wettest and its most Afro-Caribbean, with Jamaican-descended Creole culture and rainforest starting right behind the city. Everything worth doing runs inland to the canals, the aerial trams and the whitewater rivers.

   • Tortuguero canal boat trips
   • The Veragua Rainforest or the Braulio Carrillo aerial tram
   • Whitewater rafting the Pacuare or Reventazón
   • Cahuita National Park and Puerto Viejo down the coast

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at the pier in central Limón; you can walk into town in minutes, though there is little reason to linger.

   Best months

   Feb-Mar and Sep-Oct are the driest windows - the Caribbean side reverses the national pattern and rains hardest Nov-Jan

10. Day 10

    Panama Canal (Transit)

    PanamaPort
    Panama Canal (Transit) port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
11. Day 11

    Panama City (Fuerte Amador)

    PanamaArrive
    Panama City (Fuerte Amador) port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore