Zipline, Monkeys and Beach

Trying to figure out our day in Mahogany Bay. We know we want to zip line for sure. My daughter would like to see the monkeys (but we don't need a long tour to do this) and we always love some beach time.

We've never been to Roatan before, so may book an excursion through the ship this time. There are two to decide between:

Canopy and Gumbalimba Park or Canopy and Tabyana Beach. If we do the beach one, is there an opportunity during the canopy tour or on the beach to see/hold a monkey?

I know there have been people bitten by monkeys and it may not be safe to hold one that just walks up on the beach. Just trying to figure out how to fit it all in.

Has anyone been on either of these tours through Carnival?

I don't want to discourage you from a Carnival excursion, but we've been to Roatan at least 8 times. We always book a "freestyle tour" with Ronystours.com. It is really nice to have a driver all to yourself. It is much less expensive than the ship tours. It is very convenient to be able to stop for photos if you see something interesting. We like to come and go at sights at the pace we choose. Sometimes our DD9 may want to play with the monkeys a long time, other times a quick visit is enough. We don't like to be rushed and be on a group schedule. Also, last time it rained extremely hard. Because we had a driver, we had the flexibility of going to a local restaurant and grabbing a local snack for 30 minutes then went to the zipline. We saw ship tours just sitting in vans and buses doing nothing.

Rony is an awesome guy - he will make sure you have a great day! Just to clarify - there are 2 monkey parks. The one has monkeys in a cage that you enter to play with them. Yes, they do bite - not flesh-tearing, but definitely pinches. They haven't bitten every time we've been there - but it can happen. At the other monkey park, their is a butterfly garden and lots of neat animals, but the monkeys just run around and play. You may get a chance to hold one or not - it depends on their mood.

One final thought - the beaches are spectacular - just amazingly clear water. With a private tour - you get to stay longer.

Don't be afraid to go on a private tour! We have been to Roatan before on a cruise so we were familiar with the island. We found Channin Bodden on Trip Advisor and contacted him about planning a day for us. He was easy to reach via email - and very responsive! He gave some suggestions and told us that they would be flexible and waiting for us at the Mahogany Bay dock - whenever we arrived. After getting off the ship we walked a short distance and found him waiting for us with a sign - very easy to find! His wife Kimberly was taking us out for the day and she had cold water for us and a nice air conditioned car. She gave a very informative tour of the island - much better than we experienced the first time we were there - and she took us to a nice private spot on the beach where we didn't have to hang with the rest of the cruise ship passengers. She was very, very easy to talk to and took great care with us to make sure we were comfortable and had everything we needed. They made our safety a priority - although we never felt afraid...some of the reports you hear about safety issues are exaggerated - if you go with a reputable tour company like Channin - they will make sure that you are safe, taken care of and back to the ship on time - without issue! The price was reasonable for 4 adults and the day was very enjoyable. We were going to do zip line but decided we wanted to just relax on the beach as we ziplined the last time we were here. Kimberly has done most of the ziplines on the island - so she can take you to the best ones based on her own personal experience. We met up with Channin at the beach in the afternoon and he had been out with a group on their boat - snorkeling. I would enjoy doing that if we get back to Roatan. The water is absolutely beautiful and the beach has nice white sand! They are both very sweet people and I whole-heartedly recommend them if you want to have someone take you around the island - give you great history - take you to beaches or ziplining or out on their boat - whatever you want to do - they will make it easy and enjoyable for you. We could have gone to the monkeys but did that the first time we were here and it wasn't much to see or do! We have been on 14 cruises and visited many islands - the cruise ships tell you to be afraid to take these private tours...don't be afraid, this is their business, and they will make sure that you are happy, safe and returned to the ship on time! Do some research on cruisecritic and trip advisor - contact ChanninBoddenTours or a couple of tour companies and go Have FUN!!

We are doing the zip and dip through Victor Bodden. We used his company for the private island tour the last time we went but now the kids are old enough to zip line without me having to go (no thank you, I prefer to keep my feet planted firmly on the ground).

I like the fact that they have a skip the zip price. I paid $95 in St. Kitts to stand on the ground because I didn't want my kids roaming St. Kitts without me.

"Zip-N-Dip" Group Excursion ...with others from your ship:

Depart Roatan's dock 1 Hour after your ship's scheduled time of arrival at our port (for example, if you are scheduled to arrive at 8AM, we leave at 9AM!.)

25-minute scenic drive to the Mayan Jungle Canopy Zipline/Victor's Monkey Business.

Zipline/Monkey Interaction time varies by tour group (approximately 1 hour to 1½ hours)

10-minute drive to beautiful West Bay Beach

Visit West Bay Beach for lots of swimming, snorkeling or relaxing! Beach Chair, Restroom & Fresh Water Shower access included at Bananarama Resort on West Bay Beach!

Return to your arrival dock TWO hours before your ship is scheduled to leave.

++If your ship arrives late: Your Fun-n-Sun tour will STILL leave one hour after your ship originally scheduled arrival time, so be prompt!

"Zip-n-Dip" Cost: $65 per person

"Skip-the-Zip" pricing for those in your group that choose NOT to zipline: $30 per person

There is no prepayment or deposit for your tour (payment will be in US CASH ONLY once you get to the island)

Confirmed Reservations are Required

There's really no need to have to do a ship excursion. There's plenty of people that do it on their own with a reputable private company on the island.

We did the zip and dip with Victor Bodden a few years back (when our daughter was 3 years old then) and she was able to even zipline by herself. The day was perfectly mapped out for plenty of time for ziping, the animals and then the rest of the day at West Bay. :) I do have a review with pictures listed in my signature line if you are interested. Yes, the monkeys can bite (and did) no matter if they are being held by someone walking down the beach or if you're in the cage with them at Boddens. They are wild animals after all. :)

We rented a taxi driver for the day who was able to take us to Maya Eden (much like Gumbalimba but more recommended by locals and cheaper) and Tabyana beach. It cost $30pp to rent a taxi driver for the whole day, $10 admittance to the park ($45pp for zip lining and park) and $7pp entry to Tabyana beach complete with chair rentals and access to facilities. Maya Eden has three types of monkeys which could be held, a butterfly and hummingbird garden and other animals. They also had ziplining available, which we did not do but was highly recommended. Then at Tabyana we relaxed in the water, and did some snorkeling (you don't even need snorkeling gear, you can see the fish right through the water). They did have monkeys on the beach, however some were on a leash, and it is just not the same as in the park.

We are doing the zip and dip through Victor Bodden. We used his company for the private island tour the last time we went but now the kids are old enough to zip line without me having to go (no thank you, I prefer to keep my feet planted firmly on the ground).

 

I like the fact that they have a skip the zip price. I paid $95 in St. Kitts to stand on the ground because I didn't want my kids roaming St. Kitts without me.

 

"Zip-N-Dip" Group Excursion ...with others from your ship:

 

Depart Roatan's dock 1 Hour after your ship's scheduled time of arrival at our port (for example, if you are scheduled to arrive at 8AM, we leave at 9AM!.)

25-minute scenic drive to the Mayan Jungle Canopy Zipline/Victor's Monkey Business.

Zipline/Monkey Interaction time varies by tour group (approximately 1 hour to 1½ hours)

10-minute drive to beautiful West Bay Beach

Visit West Bay Beach for lots of swimming, snorkeling or relaxing! Beach Chair, Restroom & Fresh Water Shower access included at Bananarama Resort on West Bay Beach!

Return to your arrival dock TWO hours before your ship is scheduled to leave.

 

++If your ship arrives late: Your Fun-n-Sun tour will STILL leave one hour after your ship originally scheduled arrival time, so be prompt!

 

"Zip-n-Dip" Cost: $65 per person

"Skip-the-Zip" pricing for those in your group that choose NOT to zipline: $30 per person

 

 

There is no prepayment or deposit for your tour (payment will be in US CASH ONLY once you get to the island)

Confirmed Reservations are Required

We did this exact tour in March and it was a BLAST! We got to hold their monkey's too, so we checked that off our list for the day. Only wish we had gotten the beach sooner as it was kind of crowded

We did the ship tour Canopy and Gumbalimba Park which included the monkeys which was fantastic. We had many monkeys walking around us that came out of the trees when we arrived. The handlers where there the whole time and helped us with photos and coaxing the monkeys to sit on our shoulders .. There were 9 zip lines included and the beach is right there which we did not stay for but looked very nice. There is all a pool. We took a walk through the gardens. We had a tour guide the whole time we were there. This was our favorite excursion on the trip..:)

I know we definitely will be going to Gumbalimba to see the monkeys and other animals. I'm just trying to decide which beach we should do after the park. We are all interested in snorkeling and swimming. Would we be better off staying at the park and using their beach or heading down to Tabyana Beach? :confused::confused:

I know we definitely will be going to Gumbalimba to see the monkeys and other animals. I'm just trying to decide which beach we should do after the park. We are all interested in snorkeling and swimming. Would we be better off staying at the park and using their beach or heading down to Tabyana Beach? :confused::confused:

The reef for snorkeling is much closer to shore at Tabyana which will makes access far easier.

If you have a driver the ride may take 7 mins. Or you would walk down the shore line and have him meet you somewhere on West Bay beach.

The reef for snorkeling is much closer to shore at Tabyana which will makes access far easier.

If you have a driver the ride may take 7 mins. Or you would walk down the shore line and have him meet you somewhere on West Bay beach.

If we take the #11 From Ronys Tours does that include the beach at the park or at Tabyana? It doesn't really specifiy?

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If we take the #11 From Ronys Tours does that include the beach at the park or at Tabyana? It doesn't really specifiy?

 

 

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My guess is they are talking about the beach at Gumbalimba. If they were taking the group to West Bay they would have said so. You might want to double check with them.

I would not consider Gumbalimba a nice swimming/snorkel spot. It is very shallow with much sea grass between the shore line and a fair distance out.

It may be worth your while to compare private tour prices with the group plan if a wanna snorkel West Bay.

If we take the #11 From Ronys Tours does that include the beach at the park or at Tabyana? It doesn't really specifiy?

 

 

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Just email him and ask...we are doing Ronys custom tour...we choose what to do and where to go.....

He has answered many ????? For me!

Just email him and ask...we are doing Ronys custom tour...we choose what to do and where to go.....

 

He has answered many ????? For me!

I emailed him this morning and he said the guide could take us over to West Bay after we did the park!

I'm still going back and forth about hiring a private guide for the whole day or just picking one of his excursions. We are a family of 5 so things add up quickly! I know we def want to see the monkeys and go to the beach. My husband wants to check out some of the local stores etc. Now that I write all this out we might be better off with a private guild :p

Yes go with Ronys...gas is expensive and taxis are pricey....have fun....

I highly recommend the freestyle tour. We've done it with Rony many times. It's so nice to come and go all day as you please. Rony is an awesome guy - I'm sure you'll have a great day!!!