Victor Bodden guide/driver recommendations? (MERGED THREADS)

[bluejaygirl]

nixnutz, your photos are great! i cant believe I will be there in a week or so! I am twice as excited now!

[lemandluap]

We did Victor Bodden's tour and it was so much fun! Franklin was our guide and he was wonderful, knowledgeable and friendly. He took us where we wanted to go and made sure we did things in the best order so that we would have to wait the shortest amount of time. First we went to the iguana reserve, which was awesome. We were one of the first there and that in itself was a pleasure. This is not to be missed - thousands of iguanas EVERYWHERE. Monkeys and fish too. After, we were taken on a tour of parts of Roatan - the shipwrecks, landmarks etc. Franklin then took us to Victor Bodden's estate (we were the only ones there) and it was raining. The vehicle could not make it into the driveway so we had to walk through the mud and I normally would have been miserable; but at the end of it all, Franklin told us to wait a second and then got us monkeys that we were allowed to hold and pet. This was a definite high point of the entire trip. Franklin then took us around town and to the Cameo factory and shopping. We had a ball in Roatan and would go back!

[treasurespast]

We used Victor Bodden's tours when in Roatan a couple weeks ago. Our tour guide was Jorge (Pilo) who was born and raised there. He was very knowedgable, and took us anywhere we asked to go. I never met Victor or his family, but got several emails from him. A very professional tour!

[nixnutz]

We used Victor Bodden's tours when in Roatan a couple weeks ago. Our tour guide was Jorge (Pilo) who was born and raised there. He was very knowedgable, and took us anywhere we asked to go. I never met Victor or his family, but got several emails from him. A very professional tour!

 

 

Hey! We were on the same cruise!!! :D

[nixnutz]

nixnutz, your photos are great! i cant believe I will be there in a week or so! I am twice as excited now!

 

It's a beautiful place. I can't wait to go back!

 

Enjoy~~

[chinaplus]

My husband and I took the Dec. 1 NCL Sun cruise and loved it - especially Roatan and Belize. For folks searching for ideas, Victor Bodden can deliver on any requests or special interests. Our guide Ali showed us most of the island, drove us on the beach, stopped with us at the iguana farm, took us on a short boat trip around Fantasy Island, brought us to an excellent spot for lunch, and was anxious to share his knowledge of the island with us. We are not zip line people or beach bums, but Ali and Victor Bodden know and can advise on the best the island has to offer in these areas also. They can also recommend a zip line that meets the needs/abilities of the visitors. Ali knew that we were essentially interested in understanding a bit about the character of the island and delivered more than we could hope for. He was a perfect guide for my husband and myself. We learned about them through this forum and are pleased to have such a resource to plan our trips!:)

[chinaplus]

Different strrokes for different folks. Our guide was Ali. He was great. Roatan is not Manhattan. Life is simple. I loved visiting Victor's hoime, seeing his children, and having a "slice of life" to remember. It wasn't about the monkeys. Ali made suggestions, but he wasn't overbearing. He was quite concerned with creating an opportunity which we would enjoy.My husband and I had our guide all to ourselves and spent the day learning about Roatan from him. We consider ourselves quite fortunate for having had this experience.

[samtig]

Ali was also our guide. He was a great guy & we saw a lot of the island. Definitely a do-again.

[letsgocruz1]

Are the monkeys at Victor's home safe? I mean, I worry about getting scratched by one and getting sick. Is this possible? I don't mean for that to sound bad, its just something that would worry me. We *MAY* take a cruise there in June instead of doing the 4 nighter we have planned right now, and our kids (age 10 and 7) would be with us, so I'm checking out possible ports to visit. Wanting something they would enjoy. Thanks

[bridkid]

We just returned from the Valor 12/23 and used Boddentours in Roatan. Ali was our guide and he was excellent - he has lived there all his life and gave a great tour of the island. We chose to do zip-lining, visit Victor's house and do some snorkelling. We had a fantastic day and highly recommend boddentours

[MamaParrotHead]

I'm curious as to whether there is somewhere to find decent snorkeling off any of the beaches he does/can take you to? DH and I are snorkel freaks, but we are all ready dragging everyone else cruising with us on a snorkeling trip at another port and we're looking for something for EVERYONE.

 

Thanks!

[TanIslandGirl]

:) Hi MamaPH,

DH, DS & most of our cruise group are snorkel crazed also. They dont just want to see fish in cloudy water they want to see bright beautiful different fish & coral, like we see in Grand Cayman. We will be in Roatan next month (Feb) for the first time and are searching for a spot to snorkel. I am thinking the first time we will probably go to either Tabyana or Coral beach since we have not been there yet & don't know too much about the island. From what I have read there is snorkeling at both these beaches but just how good will remain to be seen.

I noticed in your signature you vacationed at the Jersey Shore in '06. Are you originaly from this area or did you travel just to see the shore? I spend lots of time at the Jersey Shore every summer (Ocean County) while it is not the beaches of the Caribbean I do love the surf at the Jersey Shore.

[MamaParrotHead]

:) Hi MamaPH,

DH, DS & most of our cruise group are snorkel crazed also. They dont just want to see fish in cloudy water they want to see bright beautiful different fish & coral, like we see in Grand Cayman. We will be in Roatan next month (Feb) for the first time and are searching for a spot to snorkel. I am thinking the first time we will probably go to either Tabyana or Coral beach since we have not been there yet & don't know too much about the island. From what I have read there is snorkeling at both these beaches but just how good will remain to be seen.

I noticed in your signature you vacationed at the Jersey Shore in '06. Are you originaly from this area or did you travel just to see the shore? I spend lots of time at the Jersey Shore every summer (Ocean County) while it is not the beaches of the Caribbean I do love the surf at the Jersey Shore.

 

My dad is from NJ (Bergen County) and we SO enjoyed our vacation there (we stayed in Wildwood Crest a block from the beach for a week of the 10 days we were out east) with the kids, and discovered that our kids enjoy the sand and surf just as much as we do! The other days there we did NYC a few days (hit Ground Zero, rode the Staten Island Ferry and took a really cool tour of Yankee Stadium, drove through Times Square, etc.). We had an awesome time in Wildwood...took a dolphin watching boat, ate some good food, had fun nights on the boardwalk, they also have a really neat mini-golf/pizza place there, too. I'd go back in a HEARTBEAT.

 

I'm trying to do inexpensive beach days on the majority of our stops, but we SO love the small, independant tours that give us a taste of the island. Especially with the kids, I'd like the trip to have some educational value as well as the super duper fun in the sun aspect. I'm not real sure how well they're going to take to snorkeling, so I'd like to have a few other options for us if they shouldn't :). Plus, we'll have my 80 year old grandmother and 4 YO nephew with us at that time, so I think the tour would be a happy medium. :) Phil Lafayette in Ocho Rios and Godfrey in St. Thomas are our top two favorite excursions thus far. Hoping to get lucky yet again in Roatan!

 

Thanks for the input!

[janrj7]

We took my Dad (91) to Roatan last spring, and booked with Victor Bodden. Our guide was Albert, and he was fantastic! Drove us all around the island, and to two beaches. He also told us a great deal about the history and culture of the country. When he learned that Dad had been a pilot, he took us up to the airport control tower to see the view. He was very patient and careful with my Dad, which we really appreciated.

 

We enjoyed our day in Roatan so much that we have again booked with Albert through Victor, for next week's cruise with two other couples.

Jan

[In the Pink]

DH and I were just in Roatan 3 days ago and Victor arranged for Ali to be our tour guide. Ali was wonderful; he drove us all over the island, from one end to the other, pointed out all the highlights along the way and stopped for photo ops whenever we wanted. We completely personalized our tour, asking to see things that aren't even listed on Victor's website (like a tour through the mangroves and a visit with the Garifuna Indians), and it was way cool. We then snorkeled at Half Moon Bay. That was a beautiful place, but I didn't snorkel long because it was so shallow that it really took a lot of work to not touch the coral. DH actually did get a scratch on his belly. I don't know if the tide was out or not, but I definitely prefer to have at least five or six feet of water to snorkel in. Ali was very informative, though, and answered any questions we had about the culture and the land, etc. We highly recommend both Victor Bodden and his tour guide, Ali.

[TXMary]

We were in Roatan last week on the Voyager and booked a tour with Victor. Our guide was Ismael. I'm sure I am slaughtering the spelling, but anyway he was absolutely wonderful! We loved Roatan and hope to go back again someday. Our group of four agreed it was by far the prettiest Caribbean port we had ever been to. Absolutely stunning! Ismael was very knowledgeable about the area and obviously had much pride in the island. He was very happy and eager to answer any questions that we had. He took us around town a bit and even let us visit the grocery store. Very interesting! We went to the Iguana Farm, checked out some beaches and he took us to the South Shore Zipline. I wasn't sure that I wanted to do it, but we did. It was amazing! Not as easy as people say, but a very neat adventure anyway. The whole day was just perfect!! We all agreed that was probably our best Caribbean port ever and one of the best excursions we have ever done also. We stopped after the zip line for some local beers and light snacks. I earned it after doing the zip line! :D

 

It was a great day! We would highly recommend Victor and Ismael!

[jkjmt]

Where is the Iguana Farm???

 

We'll be in Roatan in March and taking a zipline/forgot the name of the park excursion through Carnival.

 

The pictures of the kids at the Iguana Farm look fun.....

[MikeinSA]

I have booked Victor for our cruise in March. We're planning on doing the ziplines, touring the area, and going to his house to see the animals. Though most posts on this board RAVE about Victor and his guides, I have read one post saying they did not like the tour guide they had.

 

If you used Victor, did you love the guide? If so, who did you have? & finally, does anyone know if you can ask for a particular person?

 

We just returned from a Voyager of the Seas cruise and used Victor for our tour and were very pleased. Victor's folks pretty much let you decide what you want to see and then help you to enjoy what you want to see and do. Our tour guide was a young man named Kem and he did a very good job of showing us the island from one end to the other. We did not zip line so I can not speak to that part of any tour. Be aware that there is an extra charge for the iguana farm and to visit Victors monkey (yes there is only one you can hold, but he is a real cutie). I'm sure there are others as good as Victor but without doubt the price was right ($25) for a five hour tour. If you want any further info you can contact me at mrulaatsatxdotrrdotcom.

[darjensil]

We are scheduled to be in Roatan the end of March and we found out that our time in port is 2 hours less than originally planned. We would like to do the extreme zip line but don't port till 3:00. Has anyone done this thought Victor and what was the experience-was it rushed?

[redlum23]

Did you know that your picture of you and the monkeys is in Victor's website? Just thought you would like to know that. Thanks for the info.

[Oz9591]

Did you know that your picture of you and the monkeys is in Victor's website? Just thought you would like to know that. Thanks for the info.

 

It looks like nixnutz also submitted a great review along with her photos -- http://www.boddentours.com/reviews.htm

 

I think it's nice to see the actual people who write the reviews -- puts a face behind the words!

[Ehpride]

Sorry...I didn't realize I was logged in as my daughter! This is actually Gjules, ehpride's mom.

 

We were in Roatan last October and loved it! We had Tex From Bodden Tours as our tour guide and he was great. There were 4 of us; my 80 year old mother, 77 year old uncle, 23 year old daughter and myself, 48. Basically we wanted a tour of the island, take some pictures, do a little shopping (Cameo Factory) and have lunch. It was a rainy day, but it was warm, so we didn't care. As Victor's website says, "A rainy day in Roatan is better than a sunny day in your office!"

We didn't have any interest in the Monkeys (I don't really like Monkeys!) and Zipline was out due to my elderly mom and uncle. Tex was talkative and spoke very good english and told us a lot about the island and the people. He took us to a couple small shops and the cameo factory so we could do some shopping. We stopped for lunch at a beautiful restaurant which was right on the ocean.

 

I would highly recommend Bodden tours and especially Tex.

[Bouchal]

My husband and I booked Victor Bodden after reading the reviews on this site. Our wonderful guide,Hanno, took us to all the places we requested. We went zip-lining at the Pirates and took the extreme lines. It was our first time and I was very frightened. :( After 3 of the lines were finished my stomach finally settled down and I could enjoy the rest of the lines.:D Hanno tooke us to places so my husband could get some wonderful photos of the island and finally to a lovely spot to eat right on the water. We did not want to go to the Iguana Farm and he did not push this. We would most definetely recommend the tour and guide.

Bouchal

[nixnutz]

Did you know that your picture of you and the monkeys is in Victor's website? Just thought you would like to know that. Thanks for the info.

 

Yep, I sent him a review with the pics. We LOVED this tour! The kids are still talking about it 2 months later. We took about 30 minutes of video from the tour and the kids watch it constantly. It has been the best excursion we've had of all our cruises...

 

As for some of the snorkelling questions....there is some beautiful snorkelling about 20 yards off of the beach at West Bay. Lots of sea fans and brain corals. Tons of colorful fish swimming in schools. While we were snorkelling off the beach, a guy named Gustavo offered to take us to a better reef by boat. He charged us $10 pp and actually got in the water and guided us through the reef. It was a 5 minute boat ride from the beach with about 1 hour of snorkelling at the reef. GORGEOUS!!! It was some some sort of marine reserve, so it was pristine.

 

If you go to West Bay beach, look for some small boats in the water near Island Pearl Hotel (local hotel, not a resort). Ask for Gustavo and see if he'll take you to the reef. I was a little nervous, but he was a complete gentleman and spoke perfect English. My DS15, DD14, DS's girlfriend 15 and I went snorkelling with Gustavo while my wife lounged on the beach. If you have a big group and some want to stay at the beach while others snorkel, this could be the solution for you!

 

HTH...

[Darkhorse16]

Wow just got back from tour with Bodden's driver ALI. what a great time seeing the island, swimming, seeing and touching Mokeys, Iguanas and an Anteater!! My most favorite shore excursion yet.

 

Seriously after talking to guests using pierside services , or RCCL tours the Victor Boden tour wins on all counts, beat the crowds and see what others never will see.

 

Thanks Cruise Critic for the info, I wanna go back!! :) :)