Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
EATING AND DRINKING
For safety reasons you're often best off eating in or near your hotel, especially in the evening.
If you do decide to go out, take a taxi for all but the shortest journeys.
IN COLÓN
Arrecifes
C 3 Paseo Gorgas, behind Colon 2000 441 9308.
Nice terrace overlooking the
sea slightly away from the cruise ship crowds, and with a/c tables too. Offers a superior
menú
del día
for $6 and plenty of seafood dishes.
Mon-Sat 11.30am-10pm, Sun 11.30am-8pm.
Nuevo Dos Mares
C 5, between Av Central and Arosemena 445 4558.
Specializing in
Caribbean cuisine, this restaurant offers a wide range of tasty fish and seafood dishes (from
$9), served with coconut rice, fried yuca or
patacones
. Take a taxi there and organize a pick-
up time.
Mon-Sat noon-7.30pm.
Restaurante Las Esclusas
C 11 & Av Balboa 445 0904.
Security guard and CCTV make
this first-floor venue a reliable evening dining option outside your hotel. Despite an atmo-
sphere on a par with a motorway service station, the service is professional and the food
decent; alongside appetizing seafood mains ($9-12) there's a variety of salads, sandwiches,
chicken and pork dishes.
Daily 9am-9.30pm.
OUTSIDE THE CITY
Shelter Bay Marina
Fort Sherman 433 0471,
shelterbaymarina.com
.
Lovely bayside
setting for sipping a cocktail or enjoying a leisurely lunch on your way back from
San
burgers ($7-9) and a few flame-grilled options ($11-14) - but the location provides adequate
compensation.
Daily 7.30am-9.30pm.
Around Colón
Southwest of Colón, a road runs through to the enormous
Gatún Locks
, where you can get
up close to gigantic container ships being raised and lowered between sea level and Lago
Gatún. Once across the canal, the road divides: to the right it meanders 22km through dense
forest to the evocative ruins of the colonial
Fuerte San Lorenzo
, standing guard at the mouth
of the Río Chagres; to the left, it rises above the shoreline of Lago Gatún, offering splendid
views across the water and its sprinkling of tree-topped islands before undulating through
agricultural land to the rarely visited coastal communities of the
Costa Abajo
. Those inter-
ested in marine ecology should consider heading to the coast northeast of the city to visit
Isla
Galeta
, where the Smithsonian has a research centre.
