Panama Canal Cruise: safe ports?

[OCruisers]

Puntarenas has some interesting excursions BUT they tend to be long tours with long bus rides which just doesn't suit us. Because we wanted ones no longer than four/five hours, we took the "Scarlet Macaw Sanctuary & Mangrove Boat Tour" once and have taken the "Eco-Jungle River Adventure" twice. Both were somewhat interesting.

 

Guatemala isn't the safest place on earth but the port is kept very secure as is the road between Puerto Quetzal and Antigua. The "Colonial Antigua On-Your-Own" is a good one. The bus takes you there and back... otherwise, you can do whatever you wish there. Old Antigua is kept quite secure.

 

LuLu

[Chinook Wind]

We have been to this port 3 times on different itineraries and would NEVER consider leaving the quay area unless on a ship tour. Crew members have told us that they don't feel safe leaving the area...in fact there are several stories about crew being mugged for their clothing...one crew member had to get back to the ship in his underwear! So, it's not recommended to leave the area on your own!

Yet if you don't have a tour booked it's perfectly safe to walk around the immediate port area and shop in the grocery store and duty free electronics store (that are both full of crew doing their own personal shopping). There are also 2 small casinos with a good selection of slots...even made a bit of $$$ there one trip! The other big attraction is the free WiFi.