Popular Things to Do in Fuerte Amador (Balboa)
Don't Miss in Fuerte Amador (Balboa)
The marina at the tender pier contains several restaurants and souvenir shops, but most of the area's attractions are in Panama City proper.
Biomuseum: The Frank Gehry-designed Biomuseum, a brightly colored, modern-style building, is an easy cab ride across the causeway. The Smithsonian-affiliated museum tells the story of how the isthmus of Panama came to be.
Casco Viejo: Casco Viejo -- included on tours or accessible by cab -- is the old part of the city where you can walk narrow streets lined with flower-filled balconies, view cathedrals and historic sites and purchase local souvenirs (such as molas, colorfully designed fabric panels).
Miraflores Locks Museum and Visitor Center: The Miraflores Locks museum and visitor center gives engineering enthusiasts a view of the locks in action, as well as presents the history of the canal's construction. Some lines offer evening tours here, dependent on the itinerary, with the possibility to watch ships go through the locks after dark.
Wildlife Rides: Wildlife-lovers can take an aerial tram into the jungle canopy of Soberania National Park, or choose a boat tour through the islands of Gatun Lake, in the center of the canal; both trips offer chances to see wildlife.
Other tours include a trip to an Embera village to meet local Panamanian tribespeople or a ride on the Panama Canal Railway from one coast of Panama to the other.