Caribbean Snorkel, Zipline & Fort Portobelo Tour in Panama: History, Marine Life & Rainforest Adventure

A Real Deal Team Experience.

After getting to know Panama City, I was ready to get out and explore the other side of the isthmus so I chose the Caribbean Snorkel and Zipline Adventure.  I find it crazy that you can cross from the Pacific to the Caribbean in just over an hour, and even crazier that you are traveling North and South rather than East and West…takes a bit to get used to, but also goes to show how diverse Panama is.

With a full day of fun planned, we started our morning with a very early pickup at 6:00am.  We were greeted by a very friendly guide by the name of Ross who had obviously been up longer than me and must have had a good sized cup of coffee.  Ross was super friendly and as the day went on, you really got the feeling he loved his job and loved sharing all his knowledge of Panama with us.  We were the first pick up, but we had a total of 9 in our group and after navigating good ol’ (note sarcasm) Panama City traffic we were on the road to Fort Portobelo by 7:30am.

First stop; snorkeling in the Caribbean! Upon arrival to the dive shop, they fitted everyone in snorkeling gear and went over instructions, explained where we were going and what to expect.  This is actually the first time I have been to the Caribbean anywhere, so I was really excited.   The weather this day was cloudy and the sea was a bit rough, but overall it was lovely to be out on the water and the scenery was simply stunning.

We first went to a secluded beach that had a nice calm cove to snorkel in.  One of my co-workers had been to that same cove a few months prior and raged about how she could barely swim without running into another school of fish there were so many.  She went on a rainy day as well so I was hopeful, but unfortunately that was not the case for us this day. The cloudy dark weather and rather murky water were not at all ideal and we saw very little fish.  So, instead I decided to ditch my snorkel gear and go explore the beach a bit.  We were the only people around which was awesome, but the boat captain said during the weekends this is a pretty popular spot for locals to spend the day (in other words, visit on week day). Although not the 50 shades of turquoise blue Caribbean Sea and white sandy beaches I had imagined due to the not so clear nor blue weather, snorkeling in Panama was still a great experience.

Noting the rough sea, the skies that showed no signs of clearing up anytime soon and possibly our disappointment in the snorkeling that day, Ross asked if we wanted to skip the second snorkeling location and go for a boat tour to Portobelo Bay instead.  Everyone agreed and I was secretly relieved as I was getting a bit chilled.  Good choice indeed, WOW!!  Our snorkeling tour in Panama turned into so much more!  Ross shared some of his knowledge of the area and Panama’s History of Fort Portobelo that I did not know much about, specifically Captain Morgan.  NOT the rum, THE Captain Morgan which is so much more interesting than my college age memories with Captain Morgan’s Rum….since those were all foggy memories anyhow.

We have all probably learned a bit about Captain Morgan and the pirates of the Caribbean in Panama in school.  Granted it has been a while since I have been there (I will not say how long), but I am sure text books have changed since I was in high school.   To start with, did you know that 30% of the world’s gold came through Portobelo in the 1600’s?  This was the time that the Spanish were robbing Peru of all its gold and sending it to Panama before shipping it back to Spain. Since so much gold came through this area, Captain Morgan, a pirate after all, of course wanted to plunder it. So what did he do?  He is a vulgar, heartless pirate and he did what pirates do best….sneak attack on the Spanish!   The harbor of Portobelo is made up of 2 fortresses and Captain Morgan and his small band of pirates conquered them both due to their lust of the gold.   I actually took notes on the entire historical narration and could tell you much more (which was far more informative and fun than any text book), but I think I will keep that to myself and let you experience it for yourself instead in hopes you get to visit Fort Portobelo one day.   We will just leave it at; they came, they conquered, then they partied for a few weeks (hmmmm…maybe that is where the rum got its name?).  Also, I do not want to steal Ross’s sunshine since he enjoys sharing his knowledge so much.

After the boat ride we got back to our originally scheduled tour itinerary and headed into to learn more about the Portobelo History in Panama from inside the town itself.  If you were not aware, Portobelo is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It is not super impressive from the outside,  but using your imagination the relatively unchanged site takes you back in history to the days of Spanish conquers, Sir Francis Drake and of course the aforementioned Captain Morgan and the pirates of the Caribbean.   First stop was to the small museum located inside the Real Aduana de Portobelo (custom house and also where all the gold was counted as it passed through). It is small but there is good info (not as cool as Ross’s rendition) and a lot of interesting artifacts leftover from the 1600’s.  After the museum we roamed around the rest of the small fort which we had already viewed from Portobelo Bay. Insider tip…be prepared to get your feet muddy here, it is really wet and soggy grass, but you will not want to miss the photo ops.

Next we walked through the town square and over to the Iglesia de San Felipe.  Portobelo is made up of a mix of people originally brought over from Africa and other island colonies as slaves by the Spanish.  They mixed with the indigenous Panamanians when they first arrived and over the centuries Portobelo has grown into a region with a unique mix of Afro-Caribbean and native Panamanian that thrives there today.   It is no wonder then that this church holds the Black Christ which is a life sized statue of the Nazarene of Portobelo and is the pride of Portobelo.  The Black Christ Festival is celebrated on October 21st every year when thousands of pilgrims come from all over Panama to worship and praise him.  The “Patron Saint of Criminals”, those looking for penance for their sins make the journey from as far away as 200km, the last few kilometers typically on their knees.  There are several different stories about the origin of the Nazarena de Portobelo, and although all conflicting, they all agree on the importance of worshiping the statue.   Again, will not spoil this one for the guides and honestly the tradition is so interesting we could write a whole other blog on Panama’s Black Christ alone.

Once we left the church, we had some time to roam the square briefly and take photos, buy a souvenir, or get a cup of coffee to warm up from the weather.  We were not in a rush because we had gotten word from the canopy tour operator that due to the rains the past few days, the road conditions going to the canopy tour were too dangerous to attempt.   Honestly, since I have been on a few other zipline tours in my day, this was not a huge disappointment.  But to make this a complete account of how the tour would run, I will quote my co-worker who had gone previously and given us a short review.   She basically summed it up like this:

“Back to the basics canopy tour in Panama. No frills, just awesome ziplines in very dense rainforest.   Guides were actual locals who lived in the area which was hard to reach even in our 4×4 vehicle.  They were always smiling and friendly and made you feel safe but you could tell they were shy and humble as well which was refreshing from some of the guides at larger canopy operations I  have visited where they are always flirting with the girls ridiculously.  This was much more authentic.  One note, it had rained just before we arrived, so the zipline cables were wet.  This also makes the grease in the breaking system kind of fly back at you like a bike does when you are riding in mud.  So bring something you don’t mind getting really dirty.  Overall very fun canopy tour in Panama.”

So there you have it, my Panama Caribbean Snorkel & Zipline Adventure in a nutshell.  The day did not go as perfectly pictured due to the weather, but my first Caribbean experience in Panama was definitely a memorable one and overall highly recommended.  Just think, my day was awesome with horrible weather, so if you go on an optimal day you should have an amazing time!!!

Hope you enjoy!