Victor Bodden guide/driver recommendations? (MERGED THREADS)

[MDSue]

Maybe I'll try sending it from work. Surely booking this tour is more important than working. :D

 

Agreed:)

[dotsonga]

I booked with them around September 14th and got a response in less than a day. Our cruise is next week and also got an email with some followup data this week. You might try Victor Bodden's direct email: victorbodden@yahoo.com. Overall, I got relatively quick responses in this same timeperiod.

We booked with Victor and just took his tour last Friday. He was always speedy with his responses to me, usually 2 days. We even met him at his Monkey Farm and we had a wonderful guide by the name of Antoni, I would highly recommend this young man and Victors Tours. We did the best of Roatan and it made our whole cruise. We visited an iguana farm, the monkey farm, the shipwrecks, toured the island, and snorkeled in West End. We will definitely be using them again when we return to Roatan.

[joetop2467]

We too were in Roatan last Friday, October 2. Alex Bodden was our tour guide. He was great. We did the Best of Roatan tour. We toured the island and went to Victor's house. We thoroughly enjoyed visiting with the birds and monkeys. We will never forget the look on my two year old grandson's face when the spider monkey reached out of the cage and pulled his hair. It was a classic moment. We then went in the cages with the birds and white faced monkeys. Truly a unique experience. Alex then took us to Infinity Bay Resort next to Tabyana Beach. This is the most wonderful beach we have experienced. It is so beautiful. It is the perfect blend of peace, beauty, nature, and culture. We had our own personal waiter from the bar and Alex watched all our stuff so we could go in the water or walk the beach. We can't wait to return to Roatan and would always use Bodden Tours. Just a note that I almost cancelled and went with Rony's after some of the comments I read here. Stick with Bodden, you'll be glad you did.

[Seattlecruisers98021]

Planning on booking with Victor for our upcoming cruise in Nov. We are a party of 8, and some want to do the zipline, and others want to just go to the beach to snorkel, jet ski, and get massages. Those that have done the zip and dip, how much time did you actually get at the beach? Those that did a private tour, and did zip and beach, how much time did you get at the beach. I really do not want to separate, but want to make sure everyone stays happy doing what they want to do. Thanks!:confused:

I had a party of 6 we did the private tour because we wanted to go to Southshore Zip and still wanted to see the monkeys at Victor's and have shopping time on the way back...which means we automatically got the island tour. Doing it this way we could do what everybody wanted.

 

In the end...everyone wished we would have just gone to the zipline and straight to the beach. It was the most beautiful beach we saw the whole cruise and we were only there about a half hour! Infinity Bay was where we accessed the beach and we may go back there for a one week stay!

[Fourseventeen]

Just did a private tour with them this past week. Great tour guide, awesome place to visit. The monkeys and snorkeling was awesome! We did snorkeling off of a free beach Half Moon Bay...snorkeling there was killer!!! Monkeys are a must see! People in Roatan drive crazy though! :D

[grooveynurse]

Just an FYI:

 

I booked a tour with Victor Bodden this time last year. There were two other ladies in my group who backed out. I was crushed. I was able to negotiate a reasonable price with Victor so that I could do a tour alone. It was the MOST amazing day of my trip! The tour guide that I had was fabulous..he took me to Victors house and all over the island. We stopped at lots of places to take pictures...a great beachside restaurant for lunch/beers...and he let me do some shopping on my own. He was nice, professional, and very upbeat and as a 20 something single female, I never felt unsafe or threatened.

 

Roatan is a BEAUTIFUL island...exactly what you imagine an "island" to be like. I can't wait to go again.

 

The port area is a little sketchy. Once the tour was over I was in the shopping area right off of the port...it looks like a poor alley...a small child approached me and tried to be like my escort...someone explained this is how those children make money...and though I don't agree with it.....it was an interesting afternoon. Roatan is poor...we so often take simple things for granted here.

 

I would recommend Victor Bodden tours to anyone! They were great! As was Roatan!

[Dbedros]

Do they pick you up at the ship? What I have read has been confusing as some report leaving the pier area to meet the guide, while a few report pick up at the ship. Also, do they drop you back at the pier? Thanks!

[watchdiva]

Your guide will be waiting for you with a sign that has your name on it - you will exit the port area and you will see your guide. The guide will return you back to the port when you're ready. VB has the best guides on the island and I personally recommend Tex!

[lovevacadays]

watchdiva we are booked with Victor and have Tex as our guide for November 14th. So, it sounds like you walk through a port area and out to a street and look for your guide with a sign? Is that correct? We are really looking forward to this port and sightseeing with Tex. Was there anything you did that you particularly liked on your tour?

[watchdiva]

You're going to love Tex - he really took great care of us......we toured the island for "general sightseeing" with some stops for picture taking but to be honest, for us there were two highlights of our day. The time that we spent at Victor's house with the monkeys is something that we will always remember. We also met some of his children and spent some time just walking around his property which is just lovely. We then left to spend the afternoon at Mayan Princess, only to find that they had sold out of day passes. Tex then drove us to the beach at Infinity Bay (public beach) where we spread our towels on the ground, walked into the water and snorkeled right from shore. Absolutely the most beautiful beach and some of the best snorkeling we've ever done. After walking up and down West Bay Beach, we had drinks at the bar at Infinity Bay which were quite reasonable. They serve lunch also but we weren't hungry.......

 

We loved the time we spent on West Bay Beach so much that we went back in September for 8 days and are going again in January for 10 days and hope to buy a house there in the future.

 

Just let Tex know what you're interested in and he'll do whatever you want to do. Make sure you try one of the local fruit drinks (it's like carbonated fruit juice) and if you want a great lunch, ask Tex to stop at Mangiamo's Deli for sandwich or their great caesar salad.

 

Have a great time.....tell Tex that John and Lin said hi (he should remember us I'm the lady who spilled a Pepsi all over his car:eek:) and that we met his cousin Carlos when we were there in September.

[GayleR]

Victor Bodden seems like the way to go on Roatan. Some of you may think I'm silly but I really get upset to see lots of stray animals. If we use Victor for snokeling, the iguanas and monkeys are we going to see a lot of stray animals along the way? That would totally ruin my day there.....

[MDSue]

Victor Bodden seems like the way to go on Roatan. Some of you may think I'm silly but I really get upset to see lots of stray animals. If we use Victor for snokeling, the iguanas and monkeys are we going to see a lot of stray animals along the way? That would totally ruin my day there.....

Unfortunately, you may see a few. I don't remember a lot though. I hate to see strays also, I've noticed some on other islands also.

I still love Roatan though, I just recognize that they don't have the wealth that most Americans do.

[platinumfl]

Nov 6th 2009

 

Thank You Victor for a great time on your beautiful island.

You have very experienced,safety minded and well mannered guides

for our Zip and Dip.

Cheaper AND Much better than the ships excursion.

We All had fun and Will tell everyone about your tours

Glad the Monkeys came back after the tropical storm IDA !

 

Thanks

Frank Swobodzien

Apopka, FL

[cruisingChell]

how far in advance do we need to book? I only recently found this site and after reading all the reviews it seems like it would be the best way experience Roatan. The cruise ship doesn't offer as much variety for this island. Our cruise is on Nov. 21st. Would it be too late to book?

[MDSue]

how far in advance do we need to book? I only recently found this site and after reading all the reviews it seems like it would be the best way experience Roatan. The cruise ship doesn't offer as much variety for this island. Our cruise is on Nov. 21st. Would it be too late to book?

Just email him as soon as possible. He'll let you know if he has a guide available. We requested Hanno and had a great time on both of our trips.

Edited November 10, 2009 by MDSue

[myalliby]

My family of 4 is booked with Victor for Dec 23. We have booked the Best of Roatan knowing DH and oldest daughter want to go on the zipline, my youngest (12) is unsure. Victor has said she can stay with his wife at the store and visit the monkeys with our guide if she decides not to go. I'm a little unsure about this solution - anyone have any thoughts having met Victor and his family? Also need an idea of appropriate tip to give our guide at the end of the day.

[MDSue]

My family of 4 is booked with Victor for Dec 23. We have booked the Best of Roatan knowing DH and oldest daughter want to go on the zipline, my youngest (12) is unsure. Victor has said she can stay with his wife at the store and visit the monkeys with our guide if she decides not to go. I'm a little unsure about this solution - anyone have any thoughts having met Victor and his family? Also need an idea of appropriate tip to give our guide at the end of the day.

The zipline area is right by the little store where his wife and daughter usually work. Their beautiful and simple home and property with the animals are also on the property.

The youngest daughter will probably enjoy talking with his daughter. My sister and I had a nice long conversation with her. She is very freindly and nice. His wife speaks limited English, but is also very friendly. Once you meet them, I think your fears will be gone. She will love seeing and interacting with the animals also.

You will have a great time.

[Mack2]

My family of 4 is booked with Victor for Dec 23. We have booked the Best of Roatan knowing DH and oldest daughter want to go on the zipline, my youngest (12) is unsure. Victor has said she can stay with his wife at the store and visit the monkeys with our guide if she decides not to go. I'm a little unsure about this solution - anyone have any thoughts having met Victor and his family? Also need an idea of appropriate tip to give our guide at the end of the day.

 

We were just with Victor the first week of November. Hurricane Ida was south of us, but we managed to stay dry most of the day.

We did the Zipline tour and I believe that William Bodden was our tour guide.

 

I'll also provide a few pictures.

 

So.. the island tour was great. William offered to stop where ever we wanted to take pictures... gave us an overview of the island, and some of it's history.

The highlight of the tour for us (and the kids) was the zipline. From my mom (age 63) to my youngest kid (age 5) happily donned the harnesses with double pulleys and double carabiners and ziplined the day away.

 

We lucked out, as it started to rain as we were on our last zipline station... spent some wet time with the monkeys... had to calm the kids down before letting them in though... little screaming/laughing humans bearing their teeth and chasing monkeys around would have been a bad idea with wild animals, I figured.

 

especially monkeys who are wet

 

 

All in all, though... it was a great time.

[MDSue]

Great shots!

[dkb363]

Just a quick question - the zip line at Victor's looks really tame? Is it too tame for two 17 year old boys who have zip lined before? Or was it just that the picture made it look tame?

[SF]

Any suggestions what to do for our tour if we don't want to see the monkeys, go to the beach or zip line?

[elmirarocks]

We're contemplating the zip line with Bodden tours. I have a digital SLR camera that I want to take with me for the day. What will I do with this camera while I & my family are on the zipline? I most likely cannot take this camera ziplining??

[MDSue]

We're contemplating the zip line with Bodden tours. I have a digital SLR camera that I want to take with me for the day. What will I do with this camera while I & my family are on the zipline? I most likely cannot take this camera ziplining??

Your tour guide will be happy to watch your camera. You can either lock it in the car or just ask them to hold it. We left some of our belonging in our guides car even while we were out on a boat snorkelling. they will not let your stuff disappear.

[elmirarocks]

Can 2 60-yr-olds manage the Bodden zip line?

[tropicgirl3]

Just returned from a stop in Roatan while on Voyager of the Seas. We had Kenny as our tour guide and he was very nice and informative. He answered a variety of questions that we had about the island. We were celebrating an anniversary and he made the tour very special for the couple that we were with. Kenny is very dedicated to his job and has a great attitude. He is funny, helpful, and responsible. We would strongly reccomend Victor Bodden Tours and our great guide Kenny!