15 Nights Panama Canal

San Diego's magnificent coastline, ideal climate and Mediterranean facade make it the quintessential Southern California beach city. The best spot to experience the So-Cal beach scene is the 3-mile stretch from the southern tip of Mission Beach to the northern end of Pacific Beach.

The "Marlin Capital of the World" features exciting charters to the areas top sport fishing spots. Take a boat excursion to the landmark El Arco (The Arch), a dramatic rock formation right at the tip of the peninsula, where seals, sea lions and pelicans bask in the sun.

Both Nahua Indians and 1950's Hollywood jet setters have inhabited this splashy vacation Mecca. Constant sun, a sparkling half-moon bay and golden beaches have helped Acapulco maintain its ranking as one of the top honeymoon spots worldwide.

Puerto Quetzal is Guatemalas largest Pacific Ocean port. It is important for both cargo traffic and as a stop-off point for cruise liners. Puerto Quetzal is the ideal starting point to discover some of Guatemalas most iconic attractions. After a short ride outside of this port city, roam the Spanish Colonial streets of Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with the colossal Volcan de Agua in the background. Cruise to Puerto Quetzal and learn how to weave using the back-strap loom technique or how to grind coffee by hand from the Maya women of San Antonio Aguascalientes. Then, reach Guatemelas highlands, and get happily lost in the town of Panajachel, with its pastel-colored houses that face idyllic Lake Atitlan.

Costa Rica's major Pacific port sits on a long, narrow peninsula in the Gulf of Nicoya. The closest beach resort to San Jose, it features strikingly unusual black sand beaches. Tropical jungles near the city shelter macaws, toucans, parakeets and howler monkeys.

A diverse multicultural city of almost 1.3 million, Panama City offers a lot more than an up-close view of the Canal. Shantytowns slink up alongside shiny high-rise condos. The Old City is an atmospheric labyrinth of churches, plazas and palaces. Fifteen miles from downtown Panama City, Soberania National Park is an excellent destination for hiking and birding. For a fascinating look at the canal, take a taxi or local bus to Miraflores Locks Visitor Center and look down on the traffic below

This $387 million dollar, 51-mile-long canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Completed by the U.S. from 1904-1914 under teddy Roosevelt, it is considered one of the greatest engineering marvels of all time.

A beautiful, quaint fishing town on the Atlantic coast of Colombia, Cartagena is full of pastel-painted buildings, Spanish colonial architecture and magnificent cathedrals. Walls and fortresses, once constructed to protect the city from British soldiers and pirates, still stand.

This vast array of wonderful beaches offers you opportunities to swim with the dolphins in a tropical lagoon and come face-to-face with alligators during an Everglades airboat tour. Or stroll through a tropical rainforest while hundreds of butterflies flutter above you.