Is Victor Bodden safe?

[Ingraham4]

We just got off our ship this past Sunday. We spent our day in Roatan with a private Victor Bodden driver. It was FANTASTIC! Our driver was "Ronald McDonald"... I would highly recommend him! In fact, our day in Roatan was the best day of the cruise. So much so that we would all like to go back and spend a week in Roatan and use VB's driver Ronald again. The day is YOURS! You are the boss of the day. Ronald was excellent at taking cues from us and interjecting suggestions. We never felt rushed, we always felt important.

Wonderful, wonderful experience! Incidentally, we met Victor at the start of our tour. He was very personable, and much younger than we expected.

DO NOT hesitate to book with Victor Bodden!

[pmoniz]

We just got off our ship this past Sunday. We spent our day in Roatan with a private Victor Bodden driver. It was FANTASTIC! Our driver was "Ronald McDonald"... I would highly recommend him! In fact, our day in Roatan was the best day of the cruise. So much so that we would all like to go back and spend a week in Roatan and use VB's driver Ronald again. The day is YOURS! You are the boss of the day. Ronald was excellent at taking cues from us and interjecting suggestions. We never felt rushed, we always felt important.

Wonderful, wonderful experience! Incidentally, we met Victor at the start of our tour. He was very personable, and much younger than we expected.

DO NOT hesitate to book with Victor Bodden!

 

 

What did you all do?

[Ingraham4]

What did you all do?

 

I think it's more like... what DIDN'T we do! First stop was a local grocery store to purchase our beer and sodas for the day, lol! Ronald didn't like that they didn't have a good sized cooler for us so while we were shopping he took off. After a couple of minutes he came back with... wahlaaahhh, a big cooler for us! He quickly got us all set up and comfortable and off we went. We enjoyed some sightseeing and he was wonderfully knowledgeable of the island. He has lived their all his life and we were very surprised at how good his English was! He answered every question we had about the economy, jobs, local crops, island food, crime, population... EVERYTHING! We went to Victor's house and did the monkey tour for $5... worth 5 times that much for the incredible experience! He got us right to the front of the line while all the other people had to wait. I'm assuming those were people who didn't book through Victor.

We spent some time at the "free" beach... Half Moon Bay. It was so beautiful! We chose the free beach because we didn't want to spend a lot of time there because we wanted to see more of the island. I suspect we spent a good hour or so enjoying the crystal clear water and enjoying a local cerveza to two before heading out.

Next up... we were HUNGRY! We talked to Ronald about the local delicacy, IGUANA! He asked if we would like to try it. Heck yea... when in Rome... So off to a (very) authentic restaurant in the middle of nowhere we went. From what he told us, there are only a couple of places that serve iguana. All six of us ordered it and only 4 of us liked it. Ronald wouldn't tell us ahead of time how it was prepared because he didn't want to spoil the experience for us. Well, um... it's interesting to say the least. Skin, bones, eggs and all... but the beans and rice were very good! He was so bummed out that only a couple of us liked it. If you aren't adventurous, don't even try it. Our bill for 4 was $73!!! I guess it's very expensive because it's so labor intensive. Ronald said next time we come to Roatan we go to his house for iguana dinner... lol!

After lunch we saw more of the island. He took us to a shop for authentic Cuban cigars... not the imitation ones they sell at the ports or the ones the peddlers try to sell you. One person in our group asked about buying a soccer jersey for her son who couldn't make the trip. Well, Ronald to the rescue again! He knew the exact place to go for the best deal on a jersey!

More sightseeing and more beers followed that.... then time was starting to get away from us so we headed back to port. It was sad to say goodbye to Ronald. Hugs all around... and he gave us his email so if we ever come back we can be guests at his home.

Perfect day!

Go, enjoy... and you, too, will fall in love with Roatan!

[jennski86]

Victor Bodden had by far the best reviews online, and this was our trip of a lifetime so didn't want to take any chances booking with anyone else. However the guide assigned to us was Ron Rivers, we had no idea he had his own company, but once we arrived we learned that when Ron doesn't have his own tours booked though his company(Roatan Adventure Tours), he works for Victor. So please everyone out there planning a trip to Roatan, skip the middleman (Victor Bodden) and go straight to Ron. I wish we had done this. Ron has some of the highest rated reviews among all of Victors tour guides and booking directly with him assures you that you will get a good guide instead of rolling the dice with Victor Boddens 20+ guides. Ron was the most personable native we met at any of our port stops, he was funny and extremely knowledgeable about the island. Our group of 8 had an amazing time, our favorite port stop of all!

 

Here is Ron's info:

www roatanadventuretours net

email: rer120 (at) yahoo.com

facebook: www facebook com / ronsroatanadventures

 

Also just a tip if you want to spend some time at a beach (we did for a few hours in the afternoon), the guides will try to take you to Banarama, but before entering & paying there is a public entrance to the beach right past the guard shack where you can just walk on. The guides will try their hardest to get you to stay at Banarama because they get a kickback, but if you insist on going past bananarama, there is a private hotel immediately to your left once you get on the beach. They have nicer chairs, a nice beach bar, is far less crowded and only charged $7pp to use all of their facilities, including a pool!

 

Just read the post above, glad other people are promoting Ron on here! Just FYI Ron Rivers is also known as Ronald / Ronald McDonald!

[pmoniz]

Ingraham4 - Thank you for sharing your experience!! Sounds like a fantastic time!! We are looking forward to our time in Roatan!!

 

jennski86 - Thank you again for the informaton on Ron's site!

[trouble1964]

We were there a week ago and had Rupert as our guide. He was great! I practically peppered him with questions about everything and he never seemed to lose patience with me.

 

DH was apprehensive because he only likes to do ship sponsored excursions, but Rupert assured us that if we missed the ship, Victor would fly us to the next stop. He also said they had never had to do that though. At one point we passed a tour that had a broken down vehicle. Rupert told us that if that was ever to happen, there would be another van there within minutes to get us.

 

He said the crime rate there is low. The people seem very respectful. We never had a minute's trouble or fear.

 

I loved the monkey farm and could have stayed there for hours. The guide at the farm is different from the driver, so be sure to tip him. Ours took lots of pictures for us. There are several different animals there...not just monkeys. This is at Victor's house and I also found a great mahogany bowl that I paid less for there than the ones in the shopping center we went to.

 

Rupert took us to probably every picturesque place on the island. We didn't get out and spend any time at any of the beaches but we stopped and took pics. He even found a street fruit vendor for me to buy fresh fruit from!

[texast518]

I have a reservation with Victor Bodden, but now I'm having second thoughts. For those of you that have done a tour with him did you feel safe? I'll have my kids and my husband with me. Did you see a lot of rough areas? Did you feel confident that your guide wouldn't take you anywhere unsafe? If we cancel the Victor Bodden tour we would book the Tabyana beach day through the ship. Maybe I'm worrying for nothing, but I'd like your comments...

 

Have done tour for 4 six times, felt safe, ask if Laura is available, she is GREAT.

[CRP2012TX]

Anyone that has gone to the elfrida brooks school... Did you have to make arrangements prior to going? Or did you just ask the guide to take you there and show up and they let you in with your supplies? I would love to visit and take some school supplies :)

[dnj1]

Anyone that has gone to the elfrida brooks school... Did you have to make arrangements prior to going? Or did you just ask the guide to take you there and show up and they let you in with your supplies? I would love to visit and take some school supplies :)

 

We are planning to go to a different school, but I am planning to tell him (our private tour guide) when we arrive. When we reserved him for the day, I mentioned that I would want to go visit and school and he responded to let the driver know when we arrive. I'm also taking school supplies. How are you packing it? Big items like folders and packs of paper or are you doing, glue, pencils and eraser, stuff?

 

If anyone has other adivce, I would love to hear it. THanks

[CRP2012TX]

I am just packing in a suitcase that I am checking on the boat and then will put in bags or backpacks for the kids to deliver! I am taking all sorts of school supplies :) I am going next month and so excited! I will let you know how it goes!

[shoppingfever]

We are planning to go to a different school, but I am planning to tell him (our private tour guide) when we arrive. When we reserved him for the day, I mentioned that I would want to go visit and school and he responded to let the driver know when we arrive. I'm also taking school supplies. How are you packing it? Big items like folders and packs of paper or are you doing, glue, pencils and eraser, stuff?

 

If anyone has other adivce, I would love to hear it. THanks

 

I am just packing in a suitcase that I am checking on the boat and then will put in bags or backpacks for the kids to deliver! I am taking all sorts of school supplies :) I am going next month and so excited! I will let you know how it goes!

 

 

I would love to hear about your visits to the schools when you return!

[edpat5911]

I would love to hear about your visits to the schools when you return!

 

I would also love to hear about it!

[dnj1]

I'll let you know.

[dnj1]

I would also love to hear about it![/quote

 

I know my kids will love it. I'll let you know.

[CRP2012TX]

I will let y'all know! I will be there in 13 days :) I can't wait!!!

[Haley87]

We just got confirmation from Victor Bodden that our travel guide is RONAL... is that the "Ronald McDonald" y'all are talking about? If not have any of y'all had any experience with this tour guide thanks. TEX was booked, any others you may recommend he said he'd be glad to change it for us but if this guy is good then we'll stick with him. Thanks again.

[Ingraham4]

We just got confirmation from Victor Bodden that our travel guide is RONAL... is that the "Ronald McDonald" y'all are talking about? If not have any of y'all had any experience with this tour guide thanks. TEX was booked, any others you may recommend he said he'd be glad to change it for us but if this guy is good then we'll stick with him. Thanks again.

 

YES!!! This has to be the one and only!! You will LOVE him! We hated to leave him that day to get back on the ship. After spending the day with him, all of decided that some day we will return to Roatan for a full week. This island and her people are just too beautiful for words.

Oh mannnn, wish I was going with you...

[Haley87]

YES!!! This has to be the one and only!! You will LOVE him! We hated to leave him that day to get back on the ship. After spending the day with him, all of decided that some day we will return to Roatan for a full week. This island and her people are just too beautiful for words.

Oh mannnn, wish I was going with you...

 

Okay, great!!! Thank you, now we are super excited! We really haven't heard anything bad about any tour guides with Victor but we wanted to make sure we had a good one just in case!! Thanks again. :)

[realtorlady42]

Has anyone recently done Victor's "Fun N Sun" tour?

This sounds like exactly what we want...but would like to know if anyone has done it recently. Also, how many PAX per tour? We like a small group want to make sure this won't be with 30 or 40 other people.

 

Thank you

Angela

[geauxgirlgeaux]

Hello! We did the private tour for our family so we would have a small group. Had a great time and did pretty much what the Fun in the Sun did except we took the whole day and got to stay at each stop as long as we wanted. Lots of fun- Francisco was our guide and we hope to go back!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[ultramax12]

We just used Victor Bodden tour service for a family of four, our driver for the day was Joann.

 

Information regarding meeting place was very informative and easy to find.

 

Joann was polite and friendly, very knowledgeable about the island and it's history.

 

Tour was very flexible and could do what ever we wanted to do.

 

A++++

[thescot123]

Has anyone recently done Victor's "Fun N Sun" tour?

This sounds like exactly what we want...but would like to know if anyone has done it recently. Also, how many PAX per tour? We like a small group want to make sure this won't be with 30 or 40 other people.

 

Thank you

Angela

 

I did this tour last year and we had about 8 to 10 people. You basically are sharing a mini van so you won't get 20 to 40 people. Have the same tour reserved for Oct cruise as being a solo traveler it is cheaper than having to rent a whole minivan. Have done the private tours with family and friends which was good.

 

We got a good tour of the island, a stop at the monkey farm and a two hour stay at Infinity Bay. It cost an extra $10 to visit Infinity Bay but the driver will ask what people want to do. The tour now mentions Bannarama resort which is also a nice place and is close to the reef.

[CRP2012TX]

Just got off my cruise today :( and was booked with bodden and had George as our driver and he was great! We toured the whole island, went swimming at fosters and west end and did zip lining at canopy tours they have awesome bridges to walk on... I took school supplies, candy, wash cloths, soap, toothbrushes, and little toys for about 40 kids just to a local neighborhood village area. I did this instead of the schools because they say schools are government funded. You could tell the kids were thankful they didn't speak English well but George translated for us. I put them in luggage to get on the boat and put them in bags like duffle type easy to carry bags to get off the boat because I heard customs has to search if you get off with luggage. Then I just have the suitcase to the room steward and he was so grateful as well.

[dnj1]

Just got back from Victor Tour. It was a great day for our family. We had requested to go to a school. So, our first stop was at a DayCare where we dropped off school supplies, most kids spoke english. They were very gradefrul for the supplies and the teachers were very welcoming. The conditions were very poor, which was very insightful for my kids; ages 7 and 13. Next we went to zipline. It was a small zip and not as high as some I have seen, but it was great for our family and for the money. My DD 7 had a great time. She was not afraid at all. The hike up was not too extreme, always be careful; but nothing that she could not handle. Next, we went to visit the monkies. So much fun and very entertaining. Then we asked our guide to take us somewhere for lunch and she took us to the peferct spot. Lunch and scenery was great. Ill check my pictures and find out the name of the resturant. Of course, she also gave us a tour around the island which was very informative. There were plenty of photo opportunities. She weighted while we went to all of these places....even lunch, when we walked out of the resturant within minutes she was pulling up. Good Job Victor. Any questions feel free to ask.

[lovebears]

What did you pay for the day and how much did you tip?