Eight Days of Sun, Adventure & Ocean Views: Our Western Caribbean Cruise

Jun 1

Written By Rima

In 2010, we took a week-long Carnival cruise from Florida. Hit three ports—Cozumel, Limon (Costa Rica), and Colon (Panama Canal), Panama.

Cozumel, Mexico: Beyond the Port

The port has shops and restaurants, but we did a city tour in San Miguel. Way better than staying at the port. Colorful buildings, local markets, fresh mango, and real Mexican culture. Our guide shared Mayan history. Definitely worth getting into town.

Puerto Limón, Costa Rica: Nature on Overdrive

We started with the Tortuguero Canals boat tour—they call it "Costa Rica's Amazon" for a reason. This gentle cruise through the canals was absolutely incredible. As we drifted past orchids and water lilies, our guide pointed out an insane amount of wildlife. We saw toucans, sloths chilling in trees, howler and spider monkeys swinging around, crocodiles lurking in the water, iguanas sunbathing, river otters, and turtles. The biodiversity is unreal.

We also visited a banana plantation, which was way more interesting than it sounds. Costa Rica is one of the world's biggest banana exporters, and seeing the whole process from plant to box was pretty cool. Our guide showed us how they grow, harvest, and package the bananas. It was a nice cultural and agricultural peek into Costa Rica's economy.

Honestly, you can't go wrong with any nature activity in Costa Rica. The whole country is a nature lover's paradise.

Panama: Engineering Wonder of the World

All about the Panama Canal. We booked the Two Oceans by Railroad excursion—basically a scenic train ride in vintage dome cars that runs alongside the canal from the Pacific to the Atlantic side. The views were unreal, and it's such a unique way to experience the canal.

We also did a canal transit tour to see the famous Miraflores Locks up close. Watching massive ships get lifted and lowered by millions of gallons of water is wild. The engineering is mind-blowing. Seeing it in person beats any documentary.