Victor Bodden "Best of Roatan Private Tour"

[ano]

Just be very careful, and read the State Department warning. Also, there is nothing terrible about just staying within the guarded area of the port, or even not getting off the ship. We've done that at several ports with high crime problems. Just do something more at another port. Roatan is a pretty country but not a whole lot different than most other Caribbean ports. :eek:

[That guy from Tampa]

I am going to agree with 99 percent of the folks who were delighted with Victor Bodden and will also recommend them for a tour of Roatan. Really can't say anything more that hasn't been said above except that i will book them again the next time I am there.. Thanks for a great time!

 

Postscript: As far as what others have said about crime problems on some of the Ports and when traveling out of country, I was concerned enough to take a look and came to the conclusion that the most dangerous place we visited on our travels this spring was in Tampa, FL. Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya, and Cozumel all have lessor crime problems and I have found the people there are friendly, helpful and kind to travelers. While there are problems everywhere - most of these ports make their living from tourism and it is common to find people who are proud of their country and eager to show it off to travelers and tourists and to help them when they stray from the beaten path. If you are wanting to really "see" a place, get out of the Cruise Ship Shopping area as soon as possible and grab a cab and talk to the people you meet. If you are running low on Tanzanite or diamonds and want to stock up - well, you might find the Cruise ship shopping area a better choice. :)

Edited April 6, 2015 by That guy from Tampa

[abbysam1]

We just returned from our cruise and used Victor Bodden for our Roatan tour. We were very pleased with the driver and all the services provided. We felt very safe and well taken care of.

[portlandpete]

This thread have been so helpful so thank you! I have been emailing back and forth with Victor this week and he has been replying right back the same day. We requested several names from suggestions here and we have Frankie for the day so we happy! Can't wait to get there on April 28th!

Edited April 10, 2015 by portlandpete

[Momomommy]

We just returned from Carnival Magic cruise. We are family of 3, two adults and one 5-year-old. We booked the "Best of Roatan Tour" and were assigned George as our guide. I communicated to Victor prior to the arrival what we wanted to do, and George was aware of everything. We planned to catch a $2pp cab when we exited the Mahogany Bay area, because we had a heavy backpack with us and were afraid of the "hill" we heard about. But we ended up following other people walking, and thought the walk was short. We have no health issues and the walk was not a problem. George was holding up the Victor Bodden Tour sign and waiting for us. He took us to the minivan and asked what time the ship was scheduled to leave. The boarding time was 5:30 pm, but I told him we wanted to be back by 4:30 to be on the safe side. He made sure of that and took us back at 4:20!

We wanted to go to the beach first thing in the morning. We told George we wanted to go to West Bay beach, particularly Tabyana beach for snorkeling. He also knew we wanted chairs and access to restroom/shower, so he took us to Paradise Beach Resort, where only charges us $10pp for all those things.

ParadiseBeach by PeachAnnie, on Flickr

We had to walk a little, passing the fishing boats area to get to the better snorkeling area, but George assured us our belongings would be safe left on the chair. Tabyana beach was awesome...fish everywhere. My daughter's snorkeling mask kept loosened up and bothered her, but even without the mask she could just float and enjoy swimming with fish.

FishAtTabyana by PeachAnnie, on Flickr

The resort also had a beautiful pool, but we did not use it. There was only 1 changing room...wish they had more.

 

After spending as much time as we wanted on the beach, George suggested to take us to a restaurant that serves great shrimp and lobster. He took us to Half Moon Bay resort, where we had a late lunch. George helped us communicate about our daughter's food allergies, and they prepared fresh rice for us with nothing mixed in. The food was fresh and tasted great..coconut shrimp was probably the best food we had during the trip...they were much bigger than the tiger shrimp they serve on the ship. :D We asked George to join us for lunch, but he said he had already eaten. I am not sure if the company policy allows the guide to eat with the guests? But he really must have eaten earlier, as we spent long time on the beach.

 

Then he took us to Victor's office/Monkey business, where we paid. There was no one else at the Monkey Business, so we had the place to all ourselves! Oscar was our guide there. He was a great guide too. In some cages we are not allowed to go inside, but he would take our camera and take photos inside for us.

Monkeys by PeachAnnie, on Flickr

I had my hair down after the beach...big mistake. The monkeys would pull my hair as they tried to hang on to me. I should have had my hair tied AND wear a hat! I did wise up and borrowed my hubby's hat when we went to see macaws.

Macaws by PeachAnnie, on Flickr

There were various animals, and the last animals we saw were deer. Oscar informed us they are the national animal of Honduras. There was a cashew tree there at the deer cage, and Oscar got them for us to taste. It tasted like peach, but my daughter did not like it and gave it to a deer. They were the only animals we were allowed to feed.

FeedingDeer by PeachAnnie, on Flickr

Then we got back to the minivan and George took us to an orphanage. He asked if we wanted to go to a school or orphanage, and I specified orphanage. He took us to Sandy Bay Lighthouse Ministries. We saw some kids and gave them the gift we brought (the heavy backpack hubby had to carry...). A lady offered a tour but George informed them we did not have enough time. That was okay, our main purpose was to deliver the gift. George told us there is another orphanage on the island, but he would not trust the organization. Someone became overnight millionaire after setting up the charity...well isn't it too obvious...

 

On the way back I asked George if we had time to stop by to get some coffee. We are not big on shopping, but I am a coffee junkie and one thing I really wanted to buy was coffee from Honduras...thanks to the tips I found on the CC boards. We stopped a store, and bought a huge bag for $35.

I wanted to do some sightseeing if we had time, but we did not. We spent so much time on the beach, and that was okay because the beach was our main focus of the day, and we had such a great time.

 

We felt safe at all the places we went to. We are so glad that we did the private tour.

 

I am very thankful to this board for letting us know about Victor Bodden Tour. The day at Roatan was definitely the highlight of our trip!

[pghsteelerfan]

 

I had my hair down after the beach...big mistake. The monkeys would pull my hair as they tried to hang on to me. I should have had my hair tied AND wear a hat! I did wise up and borrowed my hubby's hat when we went to see macaws.

 

I enjoyed your review, we did the "Best of Roatan Private Tour" through Victor Bodden last year and enjoyed it. It was a short port day for us, we had to be back on board by 2:30 for 3PM sailaway. Why I'm commenting is you may not have made a mistake with not having your hair tied up to see the monkeys. I had mine tied up and in a tight ponytail. The little rascal still got the tie out and had fun messing up my hair. My hubby had a baseball hat and they got his hat too, with one even running off with it. Enclosed area...he got it back. LOL!!! I don't think you can win either way. :D

[Momomommy]

I enjoyed your review, we did the "Best of Roatan Private Tour" through Victor Bodden last year and enjoyed it. It was a short port day for us, we had to be back on board by 2:30 for 3PM sailaway. Why I'm commenting is you may not have made a mistake with not having your hair tied up to see the monkeys. I had mine tied up and in a tight ponytail. The little rascal still got the tie out and had fun messing up my hair. My hubby had a baseball hat and they got his hat too, with one even running off with it. Enclosed area...he got it back. LOL!!! I don't think you can win either way. :D

 

That sounds really fun! Our monkeys were more into eating than playing, they were happy to stay on our heads or shoulders as long as the handler/guide would feed them. They were trying to stay on us, and ended up pulling and tangled up with our hair. I guess the only winners would be bold heads ;)

Still a lot of fun! When the monkey was on DD's shoulder, the long tail naturally curled up around her neck. She thought it was like having a monkey scarf!

[Goodlistener57]

We just got back from our cruise and we took the Best of Roatan Tour with Bodden Tours. They are very organized, professional land informative. We zip-lined, visited the monkeys and snorkeled. All were awesome experiences. You should NOT be hesitant to venture outside of the cruise ship compound and book with this private tour company. There are several tour operators outside of the compound. The road is clean and well maintained. Several Bodden tour guides were there waiting for us, one of which had a clipboard with our name on it so I knew we were at the right place. In addition, all the guides had on Bodden Tour polo shirts. Our guide, Cliff was excellent. I would highly recommend them.

[Landsharks]

A few years back we decided to try booking our own excursion and I found Bodden tours on the web. Our driver and guide did a fantastic job of showing us the Island. If you look at their reviews you will see almost all to be outstanding.