Cruises from Cristobal Pier - Panama

The first person to give thought to the possibility of a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans was the King of Spain. About four hundred years ago that thought matured and became a possibility. However, French attempts to build a canal failed and cost the lives of hundreds of men. Eventually, the United States did what others had attempted to do and in 1914 successfully opened the Panama Canal.

A Neutrality Treaty first signed in 1977 by the Presidents of Panama and the United States gave control of the canal to Panama. Following renegotiations, a final agreement signed on December 30, 1999 gave full ownership and responsibility for maintenance of the canal to Panama. Over nine thousand canal workers live in Cristobal, Colón and nearby communities.

Ships passing through the Canal float into the Gatún Locks, leading into Lake Gatun. The trip through the canal is 77km (48 mi), and takes eight to nine hours. More than 14, 000 ships and cargo vessels pass through the canal’s Gatún Locks into Gatún Lake annually. Passengers disembarking at the Cristobal Pier enter the Cristobal Cruise Terminal where they discover the Aventuras 2000 Information Centre.

Once docked, passengers can spend the day onboard or disembark at Cristobal Pier to take sightseeing tours through Cristobal, Colón, and surrounding areas including the rain forest. Some spend free time in the Cristobal Cruise Terminal. Inside the terminal, tourists discover a duty-free shopping mall, flea market, lounges, an Internet café, restaurants and telephones. The shops offer clothes, panama hats, woodcarvings, jewellery and crafts made by the local Darien Indians.

The local males wear the traditional loincloth and colourful beads and go barefoot. Some of the females dress in skirts and beautiful strings of beads but no top and no shoes. The Cuna Indians use bright coloured, unique fabrics to create beautiful multi-coloured pictures called Molas.

During the building of the transcontinental railway, the United States founded the city of Colón in 1850. While attempting to build a canal the French workers dumped the excavated soil into a swamp area of Manzanillo Island. Out of this landfill grew the town of Christophe Colombe; which translated to Spanish means Cristobal Colón. When the United States took over the building of the canal, the port played a vital role as the port of entry for construction materials, equipment and canal workers. The United States named what they referred to the canal-zone as Cristobal.

Both Cristobal and Colón experienced periods of growth and prosperity. An elementary school from 1918 and a high school from 1933 remain. In the 1950’s, Cristobal residents began to build new homes and develop the cities of Coco Colo and Margarita. This caused a decline in population, which dropped to less than 500 residents. Cristobal has never recovered.

January to March is the driest time of the year and April to December is the official rainy season. The temperature averages in the middle 80’s throughout the year. In the rainy season Cristobal and Colón have very high humidity.