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Victor Bodden guide/driver recommendations? (MERGED THREADS)


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I got in touch with Victor but he was not available for the date that we needed. He said that his driver Ben would take care of us. Has anyone ever had this driver?? If so, how was he?

 

Should I go ahead & book???? Oh...the price is $90.00 for the day..not including admissions.

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Hi, We(2 adults, 2 girls9,15) booked with Victor and when we arrived last week we ended up with Ben. I had read positive things about him and sure enough he was great. His English is quite/very good and he is friendly, easy-going. If I would have know we were having him as a driver I would have brought along a couple of small gifts(for his girls-I think they are 8,12). We tipped an additional $5 for his girls!lol I think we also tipped him $15(maybe $20). We paid $25/pp, plus you pay $5/pp for the Iguana Farm.

We had a rainy day there unfortunately.First thing we did was Jungle Canopy(thought we were going to do South Shore which is only $35 ,not$45) and were the first customers of the day. It was FUN FUN FUN!!! (Had Corbin as our guide.)Looked from the car window at some sights as we drove there. After we went to Iguana Farm(had been raining/rained so they were up in the trees.) Did not stop to see the monkeys at Fant. Isl. due to the rain. Then we we went to Half Moon Bay and snorkeled. Then did a bit of shopping at one store and then it REALLY rained! So unfortunately we cut our time a bit short on the island.

Would definitely recommend Ben as your driver!!!! If you go soon, please say hi from us Canadians.

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We just finished a tour with Victor Bodden Tours(Jan. 3 Costa Magica) and had Wilson as our driver. Our tour was great. Wilson was young(21) and didn't know a lot about the island but was very helpful and polite. Victor met us just after we got off the docks(through the gate) and made sure we were looked after. The Iquana Farm($5 each) was fun for our 6 year old daughter and we had a tour of the island, before ending at Foster's($5 per party) on West Bay Beach. Beautiful, calm beach with some great snorkelling near the point, but pretty busy. There were no chairs left as we got there around noon. Overall, I'd recommend Bodden Tours...it's a LOT cheaper than the cruise ship and very personal, without the crowds. We had booked our tour for $80 for the three of us and Victor asked if a couple without reservations could join us and we agreed. The cost came down to $50 (each group) for an approx. 6 hour tour!!!:)

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I just returned from a New Years cruise with the Grand Princess. I wanted to book Victor because of all the recommendations on cruisecritic.com, but he was unavailable and gave us Wilson instead. Like you, I was unsure, but it turned out to be one of the most memorable days of my life. Upon Victor's recommendation, Wilson took us to a ziplining place ($45 each) that does 22 ziplines and bridges -- much better than the 7 ziplines offered by the cruise ship. We also went to the iguana farm ($5 each) and it was worth more than that. Then we went to Half Moon Bay to eat lobster and snorkel (good for beginner snorkelers). Equipment rental $7. We paid $150 for an airconditioned van for the day -- yes that ended up be a pricey day. But given the extra space (there were four of us and one of us is bigger than the average joe), the air conditioning, the fact that the driver spoke English and that he took us where ever we wanted to go, well, you just can't put a price on that kind of flexibility. I mean, Wilson waited for us whenever we stopped somewhere for a drink and guarded our belongings in the van. We felt safe and looked after. I know if you look at www.boddentours.com, you will find several letters of recommendation regarding Ben. If you're not sure about using Victor's services, just "google" his name and see HOW MANY people have asked the same questions as yourself (and myself, before my trip!). Roatan is a great place if you want to get back to nature, away from all the commercialism and shopping and crowding you find in other ports.

FYI- this was my first cruise and first time to Honduras.

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  • 10 months later...

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?

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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?

Don't know about asking for a particular guide, but, I would request it when you book through his web site. We had Leonell and loved his attention to detail. This was the best excursion we had ever taken in that we could tailor it to our likes and wants and not have to follow the crowd.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm going to second Leonell. Very nice and informative. We basically wanted a beach day, but on the way to the Mayan Princess, the guys decided they'd like to go fishing. He had it set up and a boat waiting as soon as we got there.

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We just returned from our cruise aboard the Carnival Glory. We used Victor Bodden tours and Wilson was our tour guide. We had a blast. First we went by the shipwrecks and then went to the zipline. I was scared to death at the beginning, but by the third line, was relaxing due to the guides. Wilson was waiting for us at the bottom. Next he took us to the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses as we had requested to visit it. We then went to the cameo factory, and then he took us to the beach at Bananarama's. While it was a little crowded and someone was trying to sell us something every 60 seconds we enjoyed ourselves. (When in another country you have to remember their culture) We only had about an hour at the beach as our ship was leaving at 6pm. We arrived safely back to the pier and had a very enjoyable day. I would recommend Victor Bodden to anyone and everyone.:)

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  • 2 weeks later...
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 were there on Nov. 28th with Carnival Valor. Our tour guide was Roland and he was outstanding. Roland had lived in the US for awhile, so he spoke excellent english. He was very accomodating and extremely patient.

 

I say patient because we spent three hours at the beach and Roland stayed with us the entire time. He was always within sight and keeping a protective eye on us. At one point, a beach vendor came up to us and was "hard-selling" his wares. Roland came over and gave him a talking to and off he went.

 

We never felt unsafe or concerned on tour with Roland.

 

We were worried that we were trying to squeeze too much into one excursion, but we ended up having plenty of time.

 

For $25 pp we did:

 

Iguana Farm (+$5pp)

Victor's house with monkeys (+$2pp)

Sightseeing/photo ops along the way

Beach time (We actually rented a boat ($10pp) and went snorkelling for awhile here too.)

Orphanage

Shopping

 

Like I said, we thought we were asking too much, but we had plenty of time to do all this. As we were driving around the island, Roland would point things out and if we seemed interested, he would offer to stop. There was some shopping, which was no where near the ship, and Roland offered to stop while we got out and looked around.

 

I don't know if you can request a particular guide, but it can't hurt to ask. Victor's email is on his site, so send him an email and ask. I'm sure he'll accomodate you.

 

Here are some photos for you:

 

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/nixnutz/DSC_0060.jpg

My kids feeding the Iguanas.

 

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/nixnutz/DSC_0125.jpg

The family at victor's house with the monkeys. Roland is in the back and the picture was taken by one of Victor's friendly realatives.

 

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/nixnutz/DSC_0116.jpg

Me with the monkeys.

 

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/nixnutz/DSC_0138.jpg

West Bay beach in Roatan.

 

If I had one negative for Roland, it would be that he's not a great photographer :rolleyes: ...LOL. Here's a picture of us with the kids, at the orphanage, that Roland took:

 

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/nixnutz/DSC_0144.jpg

 

Sorry if this was more than you asked for, but we REALLY enjoyed our tour with Roland. Hope that helps!!

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What resort were you by when on the beach?

 

There was no resort. This was a public beach. There was a place directly behind us called "Island Pearl", but I don't think it was a resort.

 

Roland dropped us off about a 30yd walk from the main road. He parked the van while we set up on the beach and met us there after about 10 minutes (while he parked).

 

We were within walking distance to the Carnival beach area (Beach break at $40pp). We walked about 50 yards, through the Carnival area, to a pier where we hired the guy with the boat to take us snorkelling. Gustavo was his name....another positive in Roatan!

 

HTH...

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There was no resort. This was a public beach. There was a place directly behind us called "Island Pearl", but I don't think it was a resort.

 

Roland dropped us off about a 30yd walk from the main road. He parked the van while we set up on the beach and met us there after about 10 minutes (while he parked).

 

We were within walking distance to the Carnival beach area (Beach break at $40pp). We walked about 50 yards, through the Carnival area, to a pier where we hired the guy with the boat to take us snorkelling. Gustavo was his name....another positive in Roatan!

Thanks for the reply. We've decided to go to the Mayan Princess on West Bay, just so we have use of their facilities. We're using Victor to get there.

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Thanks for the reply. We've decided to go to the Mayan Princess on West Bay, just so we have use of their facilities. We're using Victor to get there.

 

I don't think you'll be disspointed. There are several "beaches" along a stretch, which are essentially one big beach. It's not like there are fences between them or anything.

 

Victor's people are really great. At least they were really great to us....

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Rahn,

Thanks for the great review & pics. I LOVE the monkey pictures. I think that's one of the things I'm looking most forward to on the cruise. Well, that & the ziplining. I know you can't please everyone, but from what I've read, Victor has a 90% or greater success rate. Did they let you pet/hold the anteater? I know I read one thread about a guy holding the anteater & getting nibbled on a little, but he didn't seem to mind too much.

Debbie

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Rahn,

Thanks for the great review & pics. I LOVE the monkey pictures. I think that's one of the things I'm looking most forward to on the cruise. Well, that & the ziplining. I know you can't please everyone, but from what I've read, Victor has a 90% or greater success rate. Did they let you pet/hold the anteater? I know I read one thread about a guy holding the anteater & getting nibbled on a little, but he didn't seem to mind too much.

Debbie

 

No we didn't hold or pet the anteater. The kids were so facinated by the monkeys that we stayed with them. the ant eater was on the other side of the house. We could see him over there pacing around, but we didn't go over.

 

As we were leaving, another group arrived, so we wanted to keep moving.

 

My kids were most excited about the monkeys too. We planned to snorkel on the barrier reef in Belize, which I thought would interest them, but the monkeys were definately the highlight.

 

Enjoy!!

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