Gamboa Wildlife and Sloth Sanctuary Tour with Pickup
Panama City, Panama
- 6 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
Explore our promoted experiences
Overview
Panama’s location connecting Central and South America makes it a wonderful place for unique wildlife viewing. Spend a day outside of Panama City and explore the country’s natural landscape with this day trip. Your bi-lingual guide will take you to the Gamboa rainforest region where you’ll get up close and personal with wildlife. You’ll also pay a visit to a sloth sanctuary to learn about these rescued animals.
- Receive round-trip transportation from your Panama City hotel
- Visit the Butterfly House to view enedemic frogs and insects
- Take a boat ride to a wildlife rescue preserve
- Pass by the popular Panama Canal
What's Included
- Pick-up and drop off at your Panama City lodging
- Well-maintained, air-conditioned car
- Bi-lingual guides (English/Spanish)
- Tour to Monkey Island, Sloth Sanctuary, Butterfly house and Orchid & Frog exhibition
- Boat Tour
- Monkey Island entrance fees
- Entrance to the Sloth Sanctuary, Butterfly House and, Orchids and Frog exhibitions.
- Water Bottles
- Lunch
- PICK UP AND DROP OFF OUTSIDE OF PANAMA CITY: SUCH AS COSTA DEL ESTE, PLAYA BONITA, AMADOR CAUSEWAY$12.50 per person
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Pickup details
For guests scheduled for the 7:00 AM pick-up: We pick up all guests at their lodging in Panama City between 6:30am and 7:00am. We strive to make this the best experience possible. In order to encounter as many monkeys as possible we elected to start our tour earlier than most others. Please ensure to wait in the lobby of your lodging until the driver arrives. For guests scheduled for the 1:00 PM pick-up: . Please ensure to wait in the lobby of your lodging until the driver arrives. THERE IS A SURCHARGE FOR PICK UP AND DROP OFF AT HOTELS OUTSIDE OF PANAMA CITY, SUCH AS TOCUMEN, COSTA DEL ESTE, PLAYA BONITA, AMADOR CAUSEWAY AND OTHERS. Please kindly send us a message for more information.
Itinerary
1
Gamboa
2 hours • Admission Ticket Free
2
Primate Refuge and Sanctuary of Panama
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
Panama Canal (Pass By)
3
Gamboa
1 hour • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- THERE IS A SURCHARGE FOR PICK UP AND DROP OFF AT HOTELS OUTSIDE OF PANAMA CITY, SUCH AS TOCUMEN, COSTA DEL ESTE, PLAYA BONITA AND OTHERS. Please select the relevant booking option or kindly send us a message.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 12 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.4
based on 127 reviews
Alyssa_J, Apr 2026
We had a fantastic day with Mario! We were so thrilled to see a sloth in the wild, being up close with the monkeys, alllll the beautiful butterflies, and I could go on! Mario was a great guide. Highly recommend this tour!
GAYOUNG_M, Apr 2026
Tour guide explain about the history of Panama Canal during the driving time. He worked hard to find the monkeys and sloths and saw a lot of them. And got picked-up and off in the location where I wanted to. It was a nice experience!!
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Great to hear your guide put in the effort to both explain the Panama Canal and make sure you saw plenty of wildlife.
Spotting monkeys and sloths in their natural habitat always makes the experience more special. Also nice that the pickup and drop-off were convenient for you, it really makes the day smoother.
Soma_C, Mar 2026
Our guide Richard George was great 👍🏼
Trip was fantastic - we saw cayman, howler monkeys , capuchins and also turtles, toucan etc - weather was fantastic - enjoyed the trip thoroughly- trip to butterfly garden and sloth rescue center was extreme nice - everything was on time - I strongly recommend it to others :)
Alys_S, Feb 2026
Really enjoyed the time on the boat trip and at the sloth sanctuary. Richard, our guide, was very friendly & knowledgable; we learnt a great deal about the country and he repeated all the info in Spanish & English. Saw plenty of wildlfe and got very close to the sloths in the sanctuary, plus he spotted one climbing along a fence - bonus!
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Thank you so much for your review, Alys! 😊 We're glad you enjoyed the boat trip and the visit to the Sloth Sanctuary. Richard always makes sure to share clear information in both Spanish and English, so we’re happy you noticed. Seeing a sloth climbing along the fence was a nice bonus! We hope you have many more amazing wildlife experiences in Panama. 🌿🚤
Hemant_M, Jan 2026
Alex, our guide is a true professional, focused to provide all the important information, history, cultural background about the local region and all. He is conscientious to make sure everyone’s curiosity, questions and fully reaolved, takes his time patiently to fulfill his duties.
He is trained well to spot and invite the little beautiful creatures close enough to feel being really in the rainforest.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Thank you so much for your wonderful review!
We’re very happy to hear that you had such a great experience in Gamboa and that Alex made the tour so enriching. He truly is a passionate and knowledgeable guide, and it’s great to know his attention to detail, patience, and ability to spot wildlife helped you feel fully immersed in the rainforest.
Thank you for choosing Tao Travel 365. We hope to welcome you again for another unforgettable wildlife experience in Panama!
kreg, Dec 2025
First our guide was Richard. He was professional and full of knowledge. Richard grew up in Gamboa and was extremely proud of Panama and it's history. The boat tour of Monkey Island was the highlight . I would highly recommend this tour. Richard and our boat captain found us numerous types of monkeys, bats ,even a sloth in the wild plus iguanas and birds. Next we went to the Slot sanctuary and saw and learned about these amazing creatures. Definitely would go again on this excursion. Richard was an awesome guide.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Hi Kreg. Thank you so much for your wonderful review! 😊 We’re delighted to hear you enjoyed the Monkey Island boat tour and the Sloth Sanctuary. Richard truly loves sharing his knowledge and passion for Panama, and we’re thrilled it made your experience so memorable. It’s great that you spotted so many amazing animals in the wild! We can’t wait to welcome you on another adventure soon!
Jessica_D, Sep 2025
We had a blast, our tour guide, Danny, was fun and he really knew his stuff!! Would definitely recommend to anyone!
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Hi Jessica. Thank you for sharing! 🎉 We’re so glad you had a blast with Danny—his fun personality and knowledge always make the experience special. We truly appreciate your recommendation!
James_S, Jun 2025
Our guide, Oscar, made this a really great experience. He filled us in on so much information about the history of the canal and Panama in general. My wife was ecstatic to get to interact with the white face monkeys and also to see the sloths at the sanctuary. Overall, a truly great experience.
Response from Host, Jun 2025
Hi James. Thanks so much for the great review! It’s awesome to hear that Oscar helped make the day so memorable — he really knows his stuff and loves sharing Panama’s history.
We’re especially glad your wife got to have that moment with the white-faced monkeys — and seeing sloths up close is always a treat! Sounds like a solid mix of wildlife and culture.
Really appreciate you joining us, and we’d love to have you back anytime you're up for another adventure!
raginiverma, Apr 2025
This was a trip to Gamboa to see the Massive Gatun lake and see the monkeys. Oscar picked me up promptly, was communicative throughout and we had a very chatty ride to the boat. The boat ride was amazing, with monkeys coming to the boat, Oscar and Julio were very experienced. And knew how to attract monkeys. It was such an amazing experience. Then we went to see butterflies, and the superstars of the trip, the sloths! So adorable. Such an action packed 4-5 hrs.
Response from Host, Apr 2025
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! We're so happy to hear you enjoyed the tour to Gamboa and Gatun Lake—it really is a special place. Oscar and Julio will be thrilled to know you appreciated their knowledge and company (they do have a knack for finding those monkeys!). And yes, the sloths truly steal the show every time 🦥✨
We’re glad you had such a fun and memorable time—hope to see you again on your next Panama adventure!
Christine_D, Apr 2025
Daniel, our guide, was the best! Punctual, knowledgeable and fun!! His English was great and he made everything a very smooth and easy experience.
Response from Host, Apr 2025
Thank you so much for your kind words! We're thrilled to hear that you had such a smooth and enjoyable experience with Daniel—he truly is one of a kind!
We’ll be sure to pass along your compliments to him—it’ll mean a lot! We hope to welcome you on another adventure with us soon.
Cheryl_O, Mar 2025
Communication was excellent with our pickup at the hotel! And the tour was amazing…we saw 3 different kinds of monkeys, and were able to get close and feed 2 of them. We also saw a sloth at one of the monkey islands! The sloth sanctuary and butterfly exhibit was incredible as well. All in all…I would definitely recommend this tour.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Hi Cheryl. Thank you for your fantastic review! We're so happy to hear that you had an amazing experience and enjoyed seeing the monkeys, sloth, and butterfly exhibit. It sounds like a truly unforgettable adventure! We appreciate your recommendation and hope to welcome you back for another tour soon. 😊🐒🦥🦋✨
Sue_G, Mar 2025
The monkey islands part was great(except where the guide said there were Tigers in Panama 🤦♀️). We arrived at lobby of Rainforest hotel...was not told how long we had(we could have actually sat down for coffee and something to eat if we had of known). Then the sanctuary, frogs etc. Guide stayed at hotel while we were trucked down and put in a group of at least 30 people!! I was not happy! There were 5 in our group. The reason I book through Viator is i know group size ahead of time. Definitely would NOT book this particular tour again.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Hi Sue,
Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear that the tour did not meet your expectations. Our guides often use humor to make the experience more engaging, and we apologize if the joke about tigers was misunderstood.
Regarding the tour details, we strive to provide clear and transparent information in our listing, including group sizes and schedules. We always encourage guests to review the itinerary beforehand to ensure it aligns with their preferences. That said, we appreciate your perspective and will take your comments into account as we continue improving our tours.
We hope you still had a memorable time in Panama and appreciate you sharing your thoughts.
Connor_O, Feb 2025
Tour went very well. Guide was very friendly and professional. Good communication and on time. Got to see so much wild life, the canal and see sloths up close. Would recommend.
Response from Host, Feb 2025
Thank you for your great review! We’re so happy to hear that you had a wonderful experience on the tour and enjoyed seeing all the wildlife, the Panama Canal, and even sloths up close! 🦥🌿
Our team works hard to ensure everything runs smoothly, so it's great to know that the communication and timing were on point. We truly appreciate your recommendation and hope to welcome you again soon!
Summer_S, Feb 2025
This was a really cool experience. The fact that we could give the monkies snacks and see other wildlife on the river was super cool. The sloth sanctuary and butterfly reserve was also really awesome. Didn't know that I was going to actually see some poison dart frogs, but there you go! Since I'm a nerd, our tour guide Richard was very knowledgeable in regards to the history of Panama as well as The reserve and the various species that reside there. He was a plethora of knowledge. And on the way back into Panama City, he took us through the neighborhoods on top of some pretty high heels and got a sweet view of the city. I hope you get Richard as a tour guide because you will not be disappointed. What I appreciated most about him is that he said "don't take my word for it I hope this information makes you more curious. And you can learn some more information"
I highly recommend this tour. And please tip your tour guides!
Response from Host, Feb 2025
Thank you for your wonderful and detailed review! We’re thrilled to hear you had such a cool experience and enjoyed interacting with the monkeys, wildlife, and visiting the sloth sanctuary and butterfly reserve. 🐒🦥🦋
We truly appreciate your recommendation and your thoughtful tip about tipping the guides—they truly work hard to make these tours memorable. We hope to welcome you again soon for another adventure!
Dominic_B, Jan 2025
Great tour! Communication was great and pickup was exactly the time the driver told us. The boat trip was really fun, we saw lots of monkeys in the wild. Afterwards at the sanctuary, we got to see up close the sloths which was great fun. All in all would recommend.
Response from Host, Jan 2025
Thank you for your lovely review! We’re so happy to hear you had a great time and that everything from the communication to the pickup went smoothly. It sounds like you had an amazing experience spotting monkeys in the wild and meeting the sloths up close—that’s what makes this tour so special! 😊 We truly appreciate your recommendation and hope to see you again for another adventure.
MILTON_F, Jan 2025
It was an amazing tour. It started sharp at 1:30 PM. Daniel picked us up at our hotel and took us for the boat tour which was a lovely encounter with different monkeys. After that tour he took us for a ecotour. Everything was excelent. Daniel was extremely gentle. I do recomend the tour.
Response from Host, Jan 2025
Thank you so much for your wonderful review! We're happy to hear that you had an amazing experience and that everything went smoothly, starting right on time. It’s great to know that you enjoyed the boat tour, the encounter with the monkeys, and the ecotour.
We’re especially glad to hear that Daniel made such a positive impression—he truly is an exceptional guide, and we’re lucky to have him on our team. Your kind words mean a lot to us, and we’ll be sure to pass along your compliments to him.
Thank you for recommending the tour, and we hope to welcome you back for another adventure in the future!
Kevin_K, Nov 2024
This was a really awesome excursion. Enjoyed the monkeys and the sloths and the Gamboa hotel. Being on a small boat on the Panama Canal was a cool experience. Oscar was THE BEST tour guide - would most definitely recommend him as your guide, and would most definitely recommend this excursion.
Response from Host, Nov 2024
Thank you for the great feedback! We're thrilled you enjoyed the excursion, especially Oscar's guiding. Your recommendation means a lot to us, and we hope to welcome you back for more adventures soon!
Elina_S, Nov 2024
The tour was decent, but the tour guide did not speak English despite us booking an English speaking tour because several people in our group didn't speak Spanish. That was a little frustrating. Also, she kept saying we were running late and kept rushing us despite us seemingly arriving early to everything on schedule. I would recommend the morning tour of lover the afternoon tour because we were also told many times that we didn't get as many animal interactions because they were already full from the morning.
Response from Host, Nov 2024
We're sorry to hear about your experience. For the language issue and timing concerns, we apologize for your inconvenience. We did follow up with the guide and the other guests and it seems that your tour guide tried to accommodate to everyone's wishes and preferences which, according to her, had been unanimously agreed upon by the small tour group. It seems there may have been a misunderstanding and again we apologize if our tour did not meet your expectations.
Thank you for your recommendation on the morning tour—it helps us improve.
We wish you a beautiful remainder of your Panama vacation.
Maria_A, Aug 2024
This was a fantastic 1/2 day tour. Our guide Daniel went over and above to make sure we enjoyed ourselves and saw many different animals including all 3 species of monkey. We started early which was great as we beat the heat of the day. Ended up being a small group (only 3 of us) so a great experience. I’d recommend this - Gatun Lake is the highlight but I also loved seeing the 4 sloths in the sanctuary. Beautiful animals.
Response from Host, Aug 2024
Thank you for your wonderful feedback! We're delighted to hear you enjoyed the tour and had an amazing time with Daniel. Gatun Lake and the sloths are indeed highlights. Your recommendation is greatly appreciated!
Susan_B, Aug 2024
Great trip, would highly recommend. We were lucky to see a lot of wildlife on our boat trip. Daniel was a great guide, funny and extremely knowledgeable. We were a small group which also made a difference to the experience.
Response from Host, Aug 2024
Thank you for your kind words! We're thrilled to hear you enjoyed the wildlife and Daniel's guidance. Small groups do indeed make a difference. We hope to see you on another adventure soon!
John_Z, Apr 2024
We were excited to see the four sloths in residence and loved watching the butterflies housed in the sactuary.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
We're happy you enjoyed the sloths and butterflies! We strive to provide an engaging experience for all our visitors. Thank you for your kind words.
Yasmin_K, Apr 2024
An excellent experience for the cost. Remember to tip the boat driver as well as the tour guide if you appreciate the great adventure.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
We're thrilled you had an excellent experience and appreciate your reminder to tip our dedicated staff. Thank you for recommending us. Enjoy your next adventure!
Lindsay_A, Apr 2024
We enjoyed this tour! Our group was my husband and our kids, 7 and 4 years old. The tour operator was very professional and communicated well ahead of time. The pickup time was very early, 6:30 am, but it’s for good reason to beat the mid-day heat. We drove from the financial district to Casco Viejo to pick up another couple on the tour and then another 40 minutes or so to Lake Gatun, so around 1 hour total in the car. Then we immediately got into a very small boat for a tour around the lake, which took at least 2 hours or so. There were no bathroom breaks from the time we were picked up until the conclusion of the boat ride which made me nervous with small children, but they were fine—just make sure you go before you are picked up! The boat ride was riding around looking for monkeys and other animals, and offering to feed them when we saw them. Our tour guide was very nice and only held out a hand to offer food; the animals were never forced to come close or touched in any way. After that, we drove to Gamboa resort and did their butterfly and sloth tour, which took around 1 hour and were very good too, especially the sloths. Then we arrived back at the hotel by 12 pm. Overall I’d definitely recommend for families and anyone looking to get out of the city for a nice day trip!
Response from Host, Apr 2024
Hi Lindsay, thank you for the detailed review! We're glad to know your family enjoyed the tour and appreciated our professionalism. Your recommendation means a lot to us. Look forward to welcoming you again on tour!
gzgr9rbtrq, Apr 2024
Great tour! We had up close and personal experience with lots of monkeys and we saw birds and crocodiles too! The sloth sanctuary was neat and seeing the frog and butterfly exhibits was fun.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
We're happy you enjoyed your tour and got to experience the wildlife up close! We hope the sloth sanctuary, frog and butterfly exhibits made your visit memorable. Thank you for your support!
Patricia_M, Apr 2024
It was a nice trip of 3 persons and a Guide. We saw 4 different types of Monkeys and were able to feed two of them. We saw a Baby Crocodile, some bats on the boat tour. The Slot Sanctuary was the highlight they had 4 and given information and we could do pictures from far and that’s perfect you should not have to touch the animals. The giftshop is also nice and you can support the sanctuary. The Tour to the frogs and butterflies was short but nice. The Guide could answer us all our questions and made the trip special and individual. It was just perfect from the ride to the program and back.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
We're glad to hear you enjoyed your trip, the wildlife sightings, and the guide's knowledge and assistance. Your support for the sanctuary and our gift shop is greatly appreciated. We look forward to welcoming you again.
Stacey_H, Mar 2024
This tour was broken up into 2 activities: monkey island and the butterfly/sloth sanctuary. The first part of this tour was unbelievable! We absolutely loved the boat ride, the driver and our tour guide were amazing and so knowledgeable about this area. We were able to see many monkeys up close and took some amazing pictures. Definitely a highlight of our time in Panama.
The second part of the tour was very much a let down. We took a short walk with a guide who talked about the different flora and we saw some turtles and frogs. The butterfly house was a let down and overall I felt like we could have walked through this without a guide. We were really looking forward to seeing the sloths and that is why we booked this tour. This was a huge disappointment. There were 3 sloths and we saw them from a distance and did not get to interact, hold them or even get up close pictures. The employees of the sloth sanctuary talked a little, but I was expecting a much more interactive experience.
Overall I would look for a tour with the Monkey Island experience and skip the sloth sanctuary.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
Dear Stacey,
thank you for your feedback about our tour. We are happy that you enjoyed the first portion of the tour with the monkeys and the boat ride in the Panama Canal. We are sorry to hear that you did not enjoy the second portion of the tour. most people really appreciate this part, but we understand that different people have different expectations. The butterfly house is actually amazing in our opinion and houses hundreds of butterflies flying around, as well as plants with butterfly larvae.
The sloth sanctuary is a sanctuary. Which means that we rescue endangered sloths from the wild and nurture them back to health. They are not here to be touched or petted by hundreds of daily visitors. These are delicate animals who also have a very sensitive sense of smell. Visitors wearing perfume or sunscreen may greatly harm them.
We thank you for your understanding and hope you were able to enjoy the remainder of your Panama vacation.
Heather_P, Mar 2024
Wonderful animal interactions, thanks to well prepared guide and boat . So informative and kind! Our needs were always put first. We even “rescued “ another group whose boat engine had died.
Response from Host, Mar 2024
We're happy you enjoyed the animal interactions and found our guide informative and kind. We're also proud to having been able to provide a great experience for you and glad we could assist another group :)
BEV_K, Mar 2024
Daniel, our guide, was extremely knowledgeable and entertaining. He’s definitely a 5 star rating.
Most memorable moments was the crocodile coming of the bank towards the boat and the money coming down the tree and into our boat.
Response from Host, Mar 2024
We're thrilled to hear you enjoyed your tour with Daniel and the memorable wildlife encounters! Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Come tour with us again soon!
Henry_M, Mar 2024
Best part of the Day was seeing the monkeys. The whole day was enjoyable. The visit to Gamboa wildlife reserve was very informative. Our guide Aura was very friendly knowledgeable and professional. Our pickup from the hotel was timely. A surprise stop for coffee at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort was a real treat.
Response from Host, Mar 2024
We're delighted you enjoyed your day during our tour. Aura loves to treat her guests and often goes above and beyond. We are truly grateful for having her on our team. Thanks for sharing your positive feedback!
Judy_M, Mar 2024
So it was early pickup but worth the not sleeping in. I got to see monkeys, the rescued sloths, butterflies, frogs, turtles, and even a crocodile. In a heartbeat would do it again !
Response from Host, Mar 2024
We're happy you enjoyed the experience, especially meeting our rescued wildlife! Nothing beats an early start for an adventure. We'd love to welcome you back any time.
From $151.99
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