There is nothing about the canal, that I know of, to be overly concerned about. There is typically a fair amount of traffic during the day. Just treat this as you would any strange port. For the first time be sure to arrive during daylight hours, review the charts, follow another sailboat and do as they do and all should be just fine. If you get a chance, chat with a local to get a warm feeling about the area and then just do it. It has been years sense I made this trip so things may have changed...
I know Navionics usually has really accurate charts so out of curiosity I looked this up on the Navionics web app (Navionics Webapp). Definitely be cautious.