Before embarking, enjoy a Vacation Stretcher in San José or see Costa Rica’s magnificent biodiversity with a tour to Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve—where orchids and ancient trees form a spectacular backdrop to quetzals, tapirs, and sloths—or Tortuguero National Park, where endangered turtles nest.

The former banana-exporting town of Quepos is your base camp for a day of rainforest adventure. Take a walk along trails that weave up to waterfalls, or ride horseback to a beautiful jungle pool. A float trip through a mangrove swamp populated by monkeys, crocodiles, egrets, and herons is also available. Or you may choose a nature walk through Manuel Antonio National Park, with its lovely beaches, easy trails, and abundant animal life.

Golfo Dulce is one of Costa Rica’s most biodiverse areas: picture Jurassic foliage growing down steep hillsides to the water’s edge, the hoots of monkeys echoing through trees choked by orchids. Explore the canals by kayak in search of javelinas, butterflies, and more bird species than in all of North America.

Located within a nature preserve of 50 islands, lovely Isla Parida boasts magnificent white-sand beaches and crystal-clear waters that stay at 82 degrees year-round and are filled with marine life. Here you will be treated to a delicious barbecue hosted by Windstar on a secluded beach that faces the Pacific Ocean.

One of the entrances to the Panama Canal on the Pacific side, Balboa/Fuerte Amador was founded in 1519 and is a short distance from Panama City. Its highlights include colonial homes, the Administration Building, the Goethais Memorial, the Prado, and the local markets of traditional Panamanian crafts.

At nearly 48 miles long, the transit through the Panama Canal includes three sets of locks that will raise and lower our vessel 85 feet between the calm Pacific Ocean and the shimmering waters of the Atlantic. Our voyage features a daylight hours transit with numerous vantage points for in- and outdoor viewing.

Today we end our luxurious cruise in Colón, Panama—but you can extend your sense of wonder with either a 1- or 2-night Post-Cruise Vacation Stretcher!