Panama Canal

A ship sailed through the Panama Canal going from west to east. When it exited the canal, it entered the Pacific Ocean. (The ship did not double back.) How can this be so? Click below to see the answer.

Normally when we think about the American continents, we think of the Pacific Ocean being to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, but that isn't strictly the case. Panama is an isthmus that curves, and the Panama Canal was constructed so that it runs from the Caribbean Sea on the northwest end to the Pacific Ocean on the southeast. In the age of instant access to world maps, this "puzzle" is probably a lot easier to verify now than when the canal was originally built.