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Victor Bodden guide/driver recommendations? (MERGED THREADS)

RealDeal

By RealDeal,
in Roatan

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jaxcruiser66

jaxcruiser66

Posted
Posted

We visited the beginning of December on the Carnival Liberty. The weather was AMAZING during our trip!

 

 

We went on the Fun-n-Sun Tour. We spent $30 a person (there were 4 adults in our group). The van we all went on as a group had about 14 people on it... so it was very enjoyable. I *HATE* large crowds. We had a driver (I do not remember his name) and our tour guide, Leona. Leona knew the island very well, and you can tell she enjoyed telling the story of the people and culture.

 

Our first stop was on the east end of the island for a photo stop. This was the only thing I would say they probably could eliminate from this tour. I would have rather spent more time at the beach.

 

We then went to the Victor Bodden's "Monkey Business". This is where you paid for your tour, and received a wrist band for the beach facilities later.

 

Monkey Business was AMAZING!!! One of the best parts of our whole trip! We had three separate "in cage" interactions with monkeys, parrots, and macaws. And there was ample time in each to really get to see and hold the animals. There was an areas with native deer, and one came over an licked my fingers... so surreal!

 

We had a personal guide at Monkey Business who took us through the facility. I do not remember her name, but she was really nice, and very informative about each animal.

 

We then go on the van a had about a 30 minute scenic drive through the west side of the island and went to Bananarama Beach Resort. The resort itself is very nice, and would even consider staying here if I was to ever come back to Roatan on a land trip. BUT... the beach was STUNNING!!! Crystal clear water that was to die for. We had lunch (a little pricey) at the resort. Leona stayed behind to watch over everyone's belongings as they swan. There are many vendors on the beach (be forewarned). I did by a hammock for $20. I thought it was an amazing deal. And you can haggle. There are people there trying to sell personal snorkeling trips that were pretty reasonably priced. We chose not to do this.

 

From there we go back to the ship with some time to spare for some shopping in the tourism village in Mahogany Bay.

 

I HIGHLY recommend this trip. Our ship (the Liberty) had a shorter time in this port, so this tour was perfect for our itinerary. And the value ($30 per person) is a steal! We did tip our driver and Leona, and the person from the zoo.

 

 

 

 

Visited December 2013

 

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meliss35

meliss35

Posted
Posted (edited)

What are the must sees on Victor Bodden Private tour? We are going to do the monkey stop but is it worth going to the Iguana Farm? We have seen a lot of Iguana's in Costa Rica. We are not going to do the ziplining because we have done it twice other places. Has anyone go to Carambola Botanical Gardens and Nature Trails? Was it worth going there? There is a trail to the top with views that looks nice. Also I saw someone post that they went to an orphange. Can someone tell me what the orphange was like? Also, I am into photography so any scenic places would be great to stop at.

Edited by meliss35
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VAkrf

VAkrf

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Posted
I would love to know how your day was. We are there at the end of January and would like to request someone who has been recommended. I am sure all the guides are great, but I am also sure that different guides are better for different groups, so I like to hear a little about the group, their interests (i.e. beachy people or city people), and what they thought about their guide.

 

Would love a report on how this day went or any other recommended guides.

 

We did the Fun - n - Sun tour last week!!!! IT WAS FABULOUS!!!!!! Our driver was Lionel we had another family in the van with us. The weather was beautiful. Our port day was short but I still felt that the tour was an amazing value. I would have paid $30 for the monkey farm alone, the beach was beautiful, a little crowded, I paid $10 to rent a snorkel and mask right on the beach, and the snorkeling was ok (it was pretty rough the day we there so that might have affected the snorkeling some). At the beach they have security guards that help keep the kids selling shells and cheap jewelry from bothering you, you can still purchase the stuff they just keep them from coming up to your chairs and hasseling you. From the minute I first contacted Victor he was wonderful with providing information! I truly can't say enough great things about this tour.

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Heartfruit

Heartfruit

Posted
Posted
What are the must sees on Victor Bodden Private tour? We are going to do the monkey stop but is it worth going to the Iguana Farm? We have seen a lot of Iguana's in Costa Rica. We are not going to do the ziplining because we have done it twice other places. Has anyone go to Carambola Botanical Gardens and Nature Trails? Was it worth going there? There is a trail to the top with views that looks nice. Also I saw someone post that they went to an orphange. Can someone tell me what the orphange was like? Also, I am into photography so any scenic places would be great to stop at.

 

I'm also wondering about Carambola Gardens. I'd love to hear if anyone has been there.

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LetTheGoodTimesCruise

LetTheGoodTimesCruise

Posted
Posted (edited)

We recently returned from the Oceania Riviera and would like to recommend our guide “KENNY”. Prior to contacting Victor Bodden, I read through numerous reviews here and on Trip Adviser and wrote down a list of names of guides who had provided others with good tour experiences. In the event none of the ones on my list were available and we would have to be assigned a guide of their choosing, I also provided a list of guides that we did not want due to a poor review. This worked out well for us and fortunately we did not need to be assigned a guide as Kenny was available from our list.

 

We knew about the hill we would need to walk but had to look for it at first. When we got out of the terminal building, we didn’t immediately see the hill, we had to turn left and make a short walk through a parking lot and the hill is on the side of that parking lot. There were folks we ran into on the way that were able to confirm we were on the right track. It was just me and my husband and our immediate reaction was that we were pleased to have a nice clean, roomy, air-conditioned van in good condition for our tour. We found Kenny to be a likable and polite young man; friendly, easy-going, cordial. He is around 23 or 24 but has been training to be a tour guide since the age of 9. He is not a loud person, not too talkative or too quiet (just right), or the type of tour guide that seems to tell the same jokes to every tourist. He is unpretentious and just comes across as a nice person who wants to do what he can so that you will enjoy your day. We had already had some active port stops so just wanted a relaxing tour day in Roatan seeing different parts of the island by vehicle. We requested stops at scenic lookouts for photos. We enjoyed a stop of the Mayan Eden. He did not make any stops at vendors of any kind where it looked like he may have gotten any kind of kickback. We wanted him to stop at a local store so that we could buy some pure vanilla and it was cheap at $1.50 a bottle. We told Kenny that we wanted a lunch stop at a place that a local would choose, nothing fancy as we got lots of that on the ship, not expensive, didn’t have to have a great view, just good local food. He delivered and we were very pleased with his selection. We hadn’t planned to ask our guide to join us for lunch but thought we would make that decision based on our interaction with him whilst on tour. We liked Kenny so much that we did ask him to have lunch with us and he was very grateful. Kenny was also an excellent and careful driver as it certainly did not look easy manoeuvering through some of those narrow roads and at times tight spaces. We wanted a guide that would provide us with plenty of culture and history about the island. Throughout the tour we continually asked questions and Kenny was always able to provide a good answer. We had a very simple tour but he will take you anywhere you want to go and anything you want to do. We would have liked to have done more but the time goes by amazingly fast. If we ever find ourselves back in Roatan, we will not hesitate to ask for KENNY again.

Edited by LetTheGoodTimesCruise
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toliver922

toliver922

Posted
Posted

Hi, all.. We have booked a 25+ passenger vehicle with Victor and have our driver set, but am looking for info on the following guides, who Victor tells me are available. Anyone know anything about Liona, Annie or Dallia? Any info would be greatly appreciated!!

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  • 2 weeks later...
pandarider123

pandarider123

Posted
Posted
Awesome -- I plan to arrive with a list of what we "think" we want to do but I am hoping Tex will have some great suggestions too!

http://tourismroatan.com/things-to-do

 

Most people snorkel.that and diving arr what roatan is famous for. Most bodden guides will have plenty of recommendations and will stop if you see something interesting while driving. If you ask to see what life is like for locals. Tex will take you to his home and show you his dog and family. To me bodden tours is a great way to see roatan in a non touristy way. But for tourism heres a good website where you will learn all you need about raotans.

 

my bad websitr posted at top

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prairies

prairies

Posted
Posted

We have used Victor's services before and felt very comfortable with our driver and our day. We had him take us by Clinica Esperanza, where we dropped off donations. Which was not a typical stop, but he knew the location well and was thrilled to take us there. We also customized our trip to include an island drive, lunch and swimming / snorkeling off a location our guide recommended. Very nice.

 

This time we are interested in simply accessing a lovely beach, snorkeling swimming and Parasailing - where we are NOT going to be incessantly asked to purchase collectibles.

 

Any thoughts? We have heard Roatan is a great place to parasail.

 

Thanks much. - cruise is fast approaching :)

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libno

libno

Posted
Posted
We recently returned from the Oceania Riviera and would like to recommend our guide “KENNY”. Prior to contacting Victor Bodden, I read through numerous reviews here and on Trip Adviser and wrote down a list of names of guides who had provided others with good tour experiences. In the event none of the ones on my list were available and we would have to be assigned a guide of their choosing, I also provided a list of guides that we did not want due to a poor review. This worked out well for us and fortunately we did not need to be assigned a guide as Kenny was available from our list.

 

We knew about the hill we would need to walk but had to look for it at first. When we got out of the terminal building, we didn’t immediately see the hill, we had to turn left and make a short walk through a parking lot and the hill is on the side of that parking lot. There were folks we ran into on the way that were able to confirm we were on the right track. It was just me and my husband and our immediate reaction was that we were pleased to have a nice clean, roomy, air-conditioned van in good condition for our tour. We found Kenny to be a likable and polite young man; friendly, easy-going, cordial. He is around 23 or 24 but has been training to be a tour guide since the age of 9. He is not a loud person, not too talkative or too quiet (just right), or the type of tour guide that seems to tell the same jokes to every tourist. He is unpretentious and just comes across as a nice person who wants to do what he can so that you will enjoy your day. We had already had some active port stops so just wanted a relaxing tour day in Roatan seeing different parts of the island by vehicle. We requested stops at scenic lookouts for photos. We enjoyed a stop of the Mayan Eden. He did not make any stops at vendors of any kind where it looked like he may have gotten any kind of kickback. We wanted him to stop at a local store so that we could buy some pure vanilla and it was cheap at $1.50 a bottle. We told Kenny that we wanted a lunch stop at a place that a local would choose, nothing fancy as we got lots of that on the ship, not expensive, didn’t have to have a great view, just good local food. He delivered and we were very pleased with his selection. We hadn’t planned to ask our guide to join us for lunch but thought we would make that decision based on our interaction with him whilst on tour. We liked Kenny so much that we did ask him to have lunch with us and he was very grateful. Kenny was also an excellent and careful driver as it certainly did not look easy manoeuvering through some of those narrow roads and at times tight spaces. We wanted a guide that would provide us with plenty of culture and history about the island. Throughout the tour we continually asked questions and Kenny was always able to provide a good answer. We had a very simple tour but he will take you anywhere you want to go and anything you want to do. We would have liked to have done more but the time goes by amazingly fast. If we ever find ourselves back in Roatan, we will not hesitate to ask for KENNY again.

 

Hi , thank you for your very nice review of your tour. Could you please tell me, what "Mayan Eden" is? Also, you mentioned stopping at a restaurant for lunch which was 'local' and inexpensive ..... what did you eat there and what was the name of the restaurant?

\thanks again for the information ... I believe it is exactly what we plan to do.

 

marise

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