Victor Bodden Fun n Sun Tour - AWESOME!

[mickeychicky]

Originally posted this to the wrong place.

 

Victor Bodden's Sun-n-Fun tour was up there as one of the best island tours I have done. Our guide for the day was Francisco, Victor's brother. He was awesome, very knowledgeable, answered all of our questions that we had, and there many. I love learning about the culture and history of the islands we visit since I am interested in retiring outside of the United States when my time comes, which hopefully will be sooner than later. Francisco asked us what we would like for lunch and we all agreed we wanted something local and authentic and somewhere he would eat. He took us to a women's house where she has a patio outside with tables and chairs and cooks right there. No sign out front so you definitely need to know where you are going. This meal was by far the best food of our entire 7-day cruise! Beans and rice, with your choice of chicken, shrimp or fish, fried plantains but not greasy at all, and the best potato salad I have ever had. The grilled shrimp, which I had, was delicious and the chicken my son had, he also said is was really good. Still can't get that lunch out of my head. We ended up on the West End at Banarama Dive and Beach Resort for almost 2 hours which was a relaxing end to our day.

 

I would definitely do this tour again and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun day away from the ship that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Very reasonably priced tour and well worth it.

 

Go see Victor and his crew, they will take good care of you.

[Sooner-Cruisers]

Thanks for the review! We are considering this tour, we will have our 4 year old with us, was it a good tour for a young child? We also will bring her car seat, what kind of vehicle was it, seatbelts available?

 

I don't see mention of lunch on his webpage, was it something your group requested or is it included in the price?

 

Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

Ps. How was the snorkeling/swimming at bananarama?

[mickeychicky]

Thanks for the review! We are considering this tour, we will have our 4 year old with us, was it a good tour for a young child? We also will bring her car seat, what kind of vehicle was it, seatbelts available?

 

I don't see mention of lunch on his webpage, was it something your group requested or is it included in the price?

 

Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

Ps. How was the snorkeling/swimming at bananarama?

 

We were in the van most of the time which included a lot of narration, so a 4-year old might get a little "antsy". We made a few stops, an outdoor market overlooking the harbor/port which is also the place where the men found a bush to relieve themselves while the ladies shopped, a local convenience store so the ladies could take their own break and the men could buy beer and soft drinks for lunch.

 

We had a van because there was 6 of us and I'm pretty sure there were seatbelts, we did not use them though. The lunch was a "by vote" kinda thing. Francisco asked US what WE wanted to do as far as eating and if we even wanted to eat. You do pay for your own lunch, but the cost of the lunch we had was only $15 for two adults and it was PLENTY OF FOOD.

 

We did not snorkel at Bananarama but there were people there that were snorkeling and loved it. Water was warm and clear (which is the only water I will go in). Beach chairs were included if you were on the tour. Lots of folks walking up and down the beach selling their goodies so be prepared to say "No, thank you" a lot, unless you actually want to buy things. There are two bars there, a little store that sells souvenirs which were actually quite cute and even a place to get your feet cleaned by the "cleaner fish" (don't ask).

 

I forgot to mention that we did stop halfway thru the tour, at Victor's Monkey Business, which is the monkey farm where Victor is and where you actually pay for your tour. It also happens to be where Victor lives, very nice house! There are also a variety of birds, deer, rabbits, some kind of rats that are the size of a large overfed Chihuahua, and apparently and good eatin'.

 

You can talk to your individual guide and get with the rest of the people in your group and pick what YOU want to see or do pretty much. I read on someone's review where they actually stopped at a local school and had supplies they donated to the children. You can bring supplies with you on your tour and do this. I thought that was nice.

[Sooner-Cruisers]

Thank you for such a detailed response, I sure appreciate it!

[spidybabe]

Thank you so much for this. We are taking the same tour in January for the first time. We were thinking we would eat at the beach. Never thought of stopping anywhere. Did you take any other tours on other islands?

Safe sailing

[rhcpchika1]

1. Thank you for sharing.... we are trying to figure out what to do at Roatan this time. There will be eight of us - 43 -->6 yrs old. Do you know if there are any "ruins" here we could visit?
   

[Mom2B&Z]

Thank you for such a detailed response, I sure appreciate it!

 

 

About using a car seat, we've booked Bodden tours twice, first time the vehicle had seatbelts as promised, though no top tether. Second tour isn't until Feb, 2016. I used to be certified as a child restraint technician in Canada and honestly I'm not sure if they have top tethers in any vehicles in the country. I installed with a 3 point seatbelt knowing the seat I had performs ok without using the top tether. Our guide didn't mind waiting while I installed two seats, though I'm pretty quick :) Keep in mind they also don't have LATCH, so be familiar with a seatbelt install and bring a locking clip if your seat doesn't have built in lock offs. You can avoid the top tether issue by installing rear facing if your child still meets rf criteria.

We have always booked the private tour, so we can stop and move around if needed while touring the island. It also means other people aren't waiting for me to install seats, buckle children etc.

HTH, I always love hearing people talking about using proper child restraints!

 

 

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