Bodden tours - which guide?

[housepeepers]

Tex has already been reserved. :(

 

Any other recommendations everyone??

 

 

We had Hanno Ebanks last week and he was fabulous; took us wherever we wanted to go and gave us a great overview of the Island. I have his email if you would like it. Not sure I can post it here.

[bklsmom]

We've used Bodden tours 2x's in Roatan. First time we had Lani, and we requested him for our 2nd trip and we very happy to get him again!! In fact we now have his email address and keep in touch with him frequently. He is very nice and knowledgable of his home. He took us to a beautiful resort, the Mayan Princess on West End and for $10 to use the facility for the day which included a beautiful pool (largest pool we've ever seen) and the beach was beautiful and we also had a nice chair on the beach. Lani stayed with us, and made sure we were not hounded on the beach, and even watched over our things while we went swimming and snorkeling. As a previous poster suggested, yes you can just take a cab to the beach, but with Victors service, $20 round trip pp to the beach, it's worth it to have your personal guide stay with you at the beach, and you can even ask him to stop anywhere along the way, and there is no extra charge. Lani ended us stopping 3x's for us last trip on the way back to the ship so we could shop. We told him we wanted to go to a "local" grocery and not a tourist booth to pick up some soda and coffee to take home and he was happy to do this. Most guides will only take you to tourist stores, (usually they are their friends)...You won't be sorry choosing Lani, if he is available. Lani has a couple small children, and we take him small trinkets for his kids, and it really made his day. We also took extra small boxes of cereal off the ship, (froot loops etc) and gave them to him for his kids. In our first email exchange with him, after we returned, he said how much his children LOVED the "snack" boxes. Anyway, you can tell who we will always reserve in Roatan...

[queenerin]

We've used Bodden tours 2x's in Roatan. First time we had Lani, and we requested him for our 2nd trip and we very happy to get him again!! In fact we now have his email address and keep in touch with him frequently. He is very nice and knowledgable of his home. He took us to a beautiful resort, the Mayan Princess on West End and for $10 to use the facility for the day which included a beautiful pool (largest pool we've ever seen) and the beach was beautiful and we also had a nice chair on the beach. Lani stayed with us, and made sure we were not hounded on the beach, and even watched over our things while we went swimming and snorkeling. As a previous poster suggested, yes you can just take a cab to the beach, but with Victors service, $20 round trip pp to the beach, it's worth it to have your personal guide stay with you at the beach, and you can even ask him to stop anywhere along the way, and there is no extra charge. Lani ended us stopping 3x's for us last trip on the way back to the ship so we could shop. We told him we wanted to go to a "local" grocery and not a tourist booth to pick up some soda and coffee to take home and he was happy to do this. Most guides will only take you to tourist stores, (usually they are their friends)...You won't be sorry choosing Lani, if he is available. Lani has a couple small children, and we take him small trinkets for his kids, and it really made his day. We also took extra small boxes of cereal off the ship, (froot loops etc) and gave them to him for his kids. In our first email exchange with him, after we returned, he said how much his children LOVED the "snack" boxes. Anyway, you can tell who we will always reserve in Roatan...

 

 

I just booked a tour with Bodden -- In the reply he spelled his name as "Lanny" -- do you think this is a different guide or just different spelling? I wasn't overly thrilled with my last Bodden guide, so I'm switching it up and requesting one that has great reviews. I'm hoping it's the same guy --- you made him sound great :)

[bklsmom]

I think Lanny is a different guy. Lani (pronounced Lonni) is spelled like this...You can send a request for Lani and as long as he hasn't been booked by someone else, Victor will give him to you. Victor is awesome at trying to satisfy requests....Just ask for Lani.

[GeorgiaMomof4]

I think Lanny is a different guy. Lani (pronounced Lonni) is spelled like this...You can send a request for Lani and as long as he hasn't been booked by someone else, Victor will give him to you. Victor is awesome at trying to satisfy requests....Just ask for Lani.

 

 

We have a group of 9 booked with Victor Bodden and I don't know who to request. We need someone who will have a vehicle big enough for all 9 of us. Do any of you have any suggestions because I would like to request someone specific that some of you may have already used and had a good experience with. Thanks a lot!

[toolaidback]

Does anyone know if Frankie is still with Bodden Tours, we had him 2 years ago and the kids really liked him. He took us all over and stayed with us the whole time. He wasn't right by our side, but if you looked around, you could tell he never let us out of his sight. Made the wife and daughters feel more safe in a strange place. Plus I knew we wouldn't be late back to the ship.

[Haysiedaze]

We just got off the Glory and used Victor Bodden while in Roatan. We had Marty Wood. What a great guide. Born and raised on the island and you can see his love for it.

 

Our family of 4 found this tour to be the highlight of the 4 ports. We loved the Iguana Farm and Victor's Monkey Business. My kids are 12 and 11 and loved interacting with the Igunas and the animals. Both places were very clean.

 

Thanks Marty.

[NitaBcruising]

We used Bodden tours in Dec. 2009 and Jan. of this year. Both times we got Derrick (sp?) and he was great! We saw the island and monkeys first time. This year we went to Carambola Botanical Gardens. Not much blooming in Jan., but we took the hike up to the viewpoint. It was only a bit difficult for a non-hiker (my fella!) but easy enough for me. Derrick joined us on the hike, which was very nice! We also went to the Garifuna Village, as we wanted to see how the locals lived. It was interesting to see the thatched huts, kids playing along the water, men fishing! Plus we shopped for sodas and snacks at the little grocery store there. Very nice people!

There were 6 in our group and we had a privte van/tour. Loved the tour and Derrick was easy to hear and understand. Knowledgeable about the island, also. Highly recommend Bodden Tours and Derrick!

[estoyer]

On our first trip on RCCL Voyager of the Seas to Roatan we booked a tour with Victor Bodden. Our tour guide Anthony Hamilton was OUTSTANDING! We started out at COCO View Resort snorkeling for about 2 hours. On the way to the resort he explained the history of the island's history, government and people. Our second stop was at a resturant for lunch. I cannot remember it's name but by this time we all agreed to ask Anthony to join us for lunch. Our lunch consisted of the following dinner's; 2 lobster, 2 coconut shrimp, 1 chicken and 1 coconut chicken for an appetizer. The food was very good and the bill was about 1/4 of what the cost would be in the US. The vanilla we bought at a local market cost $1.50 and on Cozumel it was $5.00 US. Anthony then took us to the cameo shop at our request. Our last stop was at a group

of roadside shops just out side Coxen Hole. Anthony guided us through the traffic and also bargained with vendors to get us a very good price on some wooden bowls. We asked him all sorts of questions and he

was exceptionally informative. A real delight to hold hours of conversation with. There were four of us on our custom tour. My wife, mother, father and myself. Everyone of us were overwhelmed by this young man's explanation of local customs and his professional composure. The snorkeling was outstanding! We felt by the end of the day that Anthony was a friend, and that he made our visit to Roatan so much more complete than if we had just wandered around.

Thank you Victor Bodden!

[media vince]

Hello and Good Morning Everyone,

 

Just got back from the Celebrity Century and one of the stops was in Roatan.

We got in touch with Victor Bodden for a tour and when we arrived we were introduced to Ollie who would be our tour guide. One phrase would describe him and that would be "totally professional and very informative" in terms of his knowledge of this beautiful island. Above all, he does not go through the motions of being there, he is full of energy and the time went by all too fast

with him as our guide.

 

Mediavince

 

 

tt

[nixietink]

Wow, thanks everyone for all the info!

 

I just e-mailed Victor and he said he put us with Laura for the day.

[Zelda911]

we had an anthony back in feb and he was great. so i bet most of them are. Have fun we had a great day and would use Bodden tours again

[ondebyou]

Thanks for the recommendation. We booked our tour of 10 people with Lionel.

 

 

He will not disappoint! :D

[ondebyou]

Wow, thanks everyone for all the info!

 

I just e-mailed Victor and he said he put us with Laura for the day.

 

 

Jealous!! :D wishing we were going back to Roatan soon. Loved it there.