Gamboa Rainforest Resort

Does anyone know the best and safest way to get to Gamboa on our own? The Carnival tour charges $101/pp for the aerial tram at the resort. I don't have a problem paying the $101, but I would like to spend more time at the resort (have lunch, maybe go to the spa, etc.). The Carnival $101 fee doesn't even cover any kind of meal or snack. Any suggestions??

We recommend you stick with the Ship tour as we were tendered off the ship while it was transiting the canal. Then we were bused to the rain forest and bused back to where the ship was docked after it went thru the 2nd set of locks (on the Atlantic side). We were on the Celebrity Infinity.

We are not familiar with how Carnival arranges this tour.

Happy planning. The Panama Canal was great.

I called the resort a few months ago and I believe their tours were only around $30 per person. We have 5 in our family so I've been trying to figure out how to get transportation to the resort. If I remember right, I think they said it was about an hour from the pier at Colon (no tender) so transportation is the expensive part. Anyone hired a taxi that was just waiting near the pier?

BTW, DH and I are UND graduates (circa 1980). Go Sioux!

Be careful here if you are not using the ship's tours. Although the Gamboa Resort is not a huge distance from Colon by US standards, it is not near the port. There is only one road to Gamboa and some areas are prone to heavy traffic and periodic jams. If for some reason your vehicle had mechanical problems, alternate transportation make take some time to arrange. Allow 1.5 hours travel time each way, even though it should not take that long under "normal" conditions.

I agree, go Sioux. Unfortunatly it won't be Sioux for long the way it looks.