Thanks to its special location close to a primary tropical rainforest, from Panama City you can be enjoying a hike deep inside the forest just by driving about 15 minutes. This makes Panama City a great base for exploring the tropical biodiversity of Panama, while still being able to stay in a comfortable hotel in Panama City each night. There are many different trips from Panama City that will take you to the jungle, but Monkey Island is definitely one of the best day trips to enjoy from Panama City and it’s great for all the family! It gives tourists a real insight into the complexities of the tropical jungle, allows them to get up close to some incredible wildlife and enjoy a boat trip on the Lake Gatun, an instrumental part of the Panama Canal.
Iguanas are common on Monkey Island
Gamboa is a small town in Panama City located close to the Chagres River and Lake Gatun, both beautiful examples of nature that the country offers. One of the main attractions of Gamboa is the Gamboa Rainforest Resort, famous for being one of the most spectacular hotels in Panama. The resort is located within the Soberania National Park and is a unique place in Panama that combines a certain degree of luxury with a wide variety of outdoor activities, including fishing, wildlife watching and kayaking among others. One of the most popular activities at Gamboa, is the trip to Monkey Island. It is good to know that you don’t actually have to be a guest at the Gamboa Resort to enjoy the trip to Monkey Island and it makes an excellent day trip from Panama City.
Monkey Island is located in Lake Gatun. Monkey Island is home to four different monkey species: The Mantled Howler Monkey, White-Faced Capuchin Monkey, Geoffroy’s Tamarin Monkey and the nocturnal and thus less commonly spotted Lemurine Owl Monkey. As well as the monkeys, other wildlife that you are likely to see includes turtles, crocodiles, sloths, iguanas and a wide range of tropical birds. Usually the boat captain takes fruit on the boat for tourists to feed to the monkeys so they approach the ship and interact with the tourists; although you should be careful doing this as the monkeys can sometimes get a little aggressive. Be sure to follow the captain’s instructions at all times!
White Faced Capuchin Monkey at Monkey Island Panama
The boat tour to Monkey Island can be done as a full-day tour with a tour company that includes the trip to Monkey Island plus a longer “cruise” around parts of Lake Gatun that includes lunch and allows you to bathe in natural swimming holes and do some bass-fishing and kayaking. You can book this through Monkey Island Panama and it costs $98 for adults or $65 for children. Kids under 6 go free.
Lake Gatun Panama
The Gamboa Resort offers a simple two-hour trip to Monkey Island for about $35 per person.
You can also do the tour to Monkey Island on a tight budget by simply going to the public dock at Gamboa (this is located about a quarter mile from the hotel going back across the bridge.) The local boatmen will be happy to take the boat out for a half-day for about $50, which will include a trip to Monkey Island, and perhaps some fishing. If you’re looking to fish, go early in the morning – the peacock bass are most likely to bite then and you can catch up to 200 in an hour!!!
