Central America: A cruising guide

Visitors to Central America by ship may be enjoying a rather special Caribbean cruise option, the opportunity to snorkel on Belize's barrier reef, an exciting transit through the Panama Canal, or an in-depth exploration of the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. There are also opportunities to extend a trip with a Costa Rica land programme.

For many, a transit of the Panama Canal is a bucket list experience, and with reason. This extraordinary engineering project began work in 1881, but faced numerous challenges with high worker mortality and technical challenges. Eventually it was opened in 1914, owned first by the Americans who finally completed the project, and then under American Panamanian control. In 1999 it was taken over by the Panamanian government.

A huge and fascinating lock system at either end of the canal lifts ships to the level of the Gatun Lake, an artificial lake created by flooding the valley between. Ships up to 120,000 DWT (Neo-Panamax vessels) are able to transit the canal, where huge cruise ships and cargo ships sail alongside much smaller vessels in a magical experience, particularly for shipping nerds. Make sure your scheduled transit is during daylight hours for full enjoyment. As well as spotting other shipping, you will see amazing flora and fauna through the day including the opportunity to see monkeys, sloths and toucans.

The lush landscapes and beautiful shores of Honduras, Guatemala and Belize create a Caribbean itinerary with a difference, including national parks and maritime reserves. In Honduras, explore such gems as the Jeannette Kawas National Park, a formidable panorama of the biodiversity in Honduras; Les Cayos Cochinos, a small archipelago classified as a marine reserve and located on the world's second-largest coral reef; the green jungle of the Cuero y Salado National Park at the confluence of several rivers; and cays where you can explore the treasures of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System. Home to volcanoes, rainforests and ancient Mayan sites, find the heart of Garifuna country in Guatemala, the Mayan site of Quiriguá, colourful, laidback Livingston, and the famous ruins at Tikal.

In neighbouring Belize, avoid the capital and use it instead as a jumping-off point to explore the fascinating Mayan ruins of Xunantunich, Lamanai and Altun Ha, or take a snorkelling trip to the beautiful Barrier Reef, including the famous Blue Hole, and Calabash Caye, home to several species including Hawksbill sea turtles, crocodiles and Antillean manatees.

Costa Rica is a highlight for Central American cruises, home to just 0.03% of the Earth's surface, but accounting for an amazing 5% of its biodiversity, where volcanoes, savannas, mountains, beaches and of course lush rainforests lie side by side, as well as those iconic cloud forests; its jungles are home to more than 850 species of bird, including hummingbirds, toucans and macaws. You may also see capuchin monkeys, spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys and howler monkeys; tapirs, racoons and agoutis; giant anteaters, coatimundis and peccaries; three toed sloths and long-nosed bats; dolphins; an extraordinary 600 species of butterflies; basilisk lizards, green vine snakes and red-eyed tree frogs.

Costa Rica's many national parks, biological reserves and wildlife refuges are home to a vast array of flora and fauna, and many itineraries also include the Panama Canal. You can choose between solely Costa Rica or a Costa Rica to Colón cruise, including the Panama Canal, both of which are generally seven days' duration - your choice will be guided largely by what else you plan to do whilst in Central America. A sevenday expedition cruise is fantastic, but having flown all this way, we would always recommend taking the time to explore the rest of Costa Rica.

A Costa Rica cruise can be combined with an exciting land tour in with lovely hotels, good roads, stunning scenery and some very exciting activities including hiking, white water rafting, ziplining and more. Our favourite Central America cruises include Windstar's itineraries to Costa Rica and the Panama Canal, and Ponant's in-depth explorations out of Belize City.