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Victor Bodden guide/driver recommendations? (MERGED THREADS)

RealDeal

By RealDeal,
in Roatan

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fcs659

fcs659

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I toured last week with Woody, a very personable young man. He was a bit quiet, but gracious, quite personable, and very informative. He drove us both east and west, and we enjoyed our lunch with him at a nice place in West Bay. I left with a very good impression of both Bodden Tours and the island of Roatan.

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2Canucks

2Canucks

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We just returned home from our B2B on the Equinox and we took a BEST OF ROATAN tour on Feb 2/10 ... with one of Victor Bodden's guides ... ANDREW.

 

About 20 minutes into our tour... Andrew said he was "out of gas"!! He asked us for $10 to buy some gas which we gave him and we stopped for the gas. The tour continued on and we saw the locations we had booked but at the end of the tour ... my DH just told him ... his tip ... was in the gas tank!

 

SO ... please check to see that "your Victor Bodden Guide" has ... Gas in his van...BEFORE you leave on your tour.

 

Pat :)

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lovevacadays

lovevacadays

Posted
Posted
We just returned home from our B2B on the Equinox and we took a BEST OF ROATAN tour on Feb 2/10 ... with one of Victor Bodden's guides ... ANDREW.

 

About 20 minutes into our tour... Andrew said he was "out of gas"!! He asked us for $10 to buy some gas which we gave him and we stopped for the gas. The tour continued on and we saw the locations we had booked but at the end of the tour ... my DH just told him ... his tip ... was in the gas tank!

 

SO ... please check to see that "your Victor Bodden Guide" has ... Gas in his van...BEFORE you leave on your tour.

 

Pat :)

 

You should have/or be receiving an email from Victor asking about your experience on your tour. I would be sure to let him know of this experience.

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lovevacadays

lovevacadays

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

 

My friend and I toured with Victor's guide Tex in November and didnt do the monkeys, beach or zipline. We had a wonderful tour. Tex drove us through the town of Coxen Hole (as Mahogany Bay wasnt open yet and we docked in Coxen Hole) He took us to a small church there and then we did an Island sightseeing tour. It was great. We saw the two shipwrecks, went to some beautiful outlook points, went by the resort where his brother worked. It was a dive resort and was so incredibly picturesque, we then went to Victor's house as he had to pick up something. In front of his house is a small pier that we walked out on and we could see from there the place where they take people to swim with the dolphins. So we watched that while Victor was in his house. It was an absolutely amazing view. Then he took us down some little streets and out on the beach and we actually drove down the beach (on the sand) in his van. From there we went to West End and had a wonderful lunch at the West Bay Resort. The patio is right over the water and we could feel little bits of water spray on our feet. It was an incredibly beautiful spot. We had a lobster lunch for $20. Also, the best Pina Coladas I have ever had. From there Victor took us to a residential area that he said was primarily people from the US. It was an upscale neighborhood with lots of beautiful homes, quite in contrast to what we saw in the neighborhoods of the locals. From there we went to the Cameo Factory ( my least favorite stop) and back to the ship. It was an amazing day

 

We didn't do this but there is also shopping in West Bay so you could go to lunch at one of the restaurants in West Bay and then look through some of the shops. It isn't your typical port shopping area. The shops are along a dirt road but have a pretty bay view.

Edited by chloedmom
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SF

SF

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chloedmom:

 

Thank you for sharing your tour experiences. I've copied down what you did as it sounds lovely and will share it with our guide. Can't wait, now all we have to do is hope the weather will cooperate.:)

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MDSue

MDSue

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My sister and I had Hanno for our first tour and liked him so much we requested him the next time. He is professional, polite, knows alot about the island and good places to see. I felt perfectly comfortable leaving our belongings under his care while we were swimming, snorkelling and hanging out with the monkees. He always made a point to ask us a few times throughout the day if he was on the right track as far as providing us with the activities and tour that we wanted.

 

Hanno:

 

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lovevacadays

lovevacadays

Posted
Posted
chloedmom:

 

Thank you for sharing your tour experiences. I've copied down what you did as it sounds lovely and will share it with our guide. Can't wait, now all we have to do is hope the weather will cooperate.:)

 

Hi there, just back on the boards. Can't edit my response but it was actually Tex our tour guide's house that we went to and not Victor's. We didn't actually go to Victor's house as we really didn't want to zipline or see the monkeys.

 

I can't see your original post: do you have Tex for your guide? If not, ask your guide to show you some areas that the locals go to like the grocery store, etc to get a feel for the island. It was so beautiful there. I hope to go back sometime.

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SF

SF

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No we do not have Tex as our guide. I think we have Hanno who I heard is also good. Like I mentioned I copied your itinerary as it is just what we wanted to do. Hope we have good weather and as nice a time as you seemed to have.

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MDSue

MDSue

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We have Ali for our tour in September but have seen little information on him. Anyone know Ali? :confused:

I have seen Ali's name recommended quite a few times' date=' so I think you will be happy. You probably need to scroll back a few pages [or more'] to find recommendations].

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lovevacadays

lovevacadays

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No we do not have Tex as our guide. I think we have Hanno who I heard is also good. Like I mentioned I copied your itinerary as it is just what we wanted to do. Hope we have good weather and as nice a time as you seemed to have.

 

I'm sure you will have a wonderful time. I just wanted to make sure you knew that in my original comments I kept putting "victor's house" when in fact we went to Tex's house because he needed to pick up something. I don't imagine Hanno will take you to Tex's house as Tex wouldn't be there but I'm sure he can create similar experiences for you.

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TheresaMarie

TheresaMarie

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We had Hanno as our guide on February 23. He was excellent. As requested, he took us on a tour of the island in his air conditioned van. We planned to snorkel at Half Moon Bay. He saved us chairs while we went on a short glass-bottom boat trip. On hind sight we should have snorkeled then also. He left while we spent some time at the beach. He was available to do anything we would have wanted to do that day. He returned at the assigned time and took us back to our ship.

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Now6

Now6

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We are going with Cardy since Tex and Ali only have smaller cars and we have 8 people. We want to do the glass bottom boat, but are worried because one person said there were no life jackets. Four of our passegners are children and two can't swim very well at all. For those who have done the glass bottom boat, are there life jackets? Does the boat seem seaworthy and safe? Are you glad you paid extra for this on your tour?

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SF

SF

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We are going with Cardy since Tex and Ali only have smaller cars and we have 8 people. We want to do the glass bottom boat, but are worried because one person said there were no life jackets. Four of our passegners are children and two can't swim very well at all. For those who have done the glass bottom boat, are there life jackets? Does the boat seem seaworthy and safe? Are you glad you paid extra for this on your tour?

 

I'd also be interested in finding out the answers to the above questions as we were thinking about the glass bottom boat as well.

 

Do you know how much extra it costs per person to add this to your tour?

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SF

SF

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We had Hanno as our guide on February 23. He was excellent. As requested, he took us on a tour of the island in his air conditioned van. We planned to snorkel at Half Moon Bay. He saved us chairs while we went on a short glass-bottom boat trip. On hind sight we should have snorkeled then also. He left while we spent some time at the beach. He was available to do anything we would have wanted to do that day. He returned at the assigned time and took us back to our ship.

 

We also wanted Hanno but was told he is now working in the US.

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Now6

Now6

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Adding the glass bottom to a Best of Roatan tour is an extra $15.00 per person. Don't remember how much it was if you only did the boat. Victor emailed me last night and said there were life jackets on the boat, but he didn't know how many (someone else runs the boat and Bodden tours just takes you there). Victor said we could bring our own life jackets, but I can't see packing them in our suitcases in addition to everything else we are bringing. We're already trying to squeeze all our clothes into carry-ons only to avoid the hefty checked baggage fees on American. If someone has done this tour before, I would like to know if the few life jackets the boat has are kid or adult sized. I am most worried about my two youngest being on a boat without a jacket, even if we stay close to shore. Also, let us know anything you can about the snorkeling like where you go, how deep is the water, did you have fun, etc.

 

By the way, Jorge was also mentioned as being a good tour guide. He has a car that fits 4. Here is the breakdown as I understand it:

 

Cardy - 8

Leonel - 8

Tex - 6

Ali - 6

Jorge -4

 

From reading all the previous reviews, Ann and Ben are a no because they were not the best tour guides.

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TigerStar

TigerStar

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Posted

Woot woot

 

Just got confirmation that we are booked with Ali in June! Tex was my first pick but apparently he was already booked.

 

Doing to Best of Roatan with monkey, iguana, and snorkling add ons.

 

Can't wait!

 

 

 

One question, since Ali has space for 6 and there are 3 of us, what are the chances we get stuck with other passengers? This wouldn't make me happy.

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