Independent tour guide recommendations

We are looking for the best independent tour operators for our stop in Roatan, suggestions please.

Victor Bodden.

Victor Bodden has lots of great tour guides. He owns the company, but his guides/drivers are top notch. Victor won't be your tour guide, but we did have his brother, Paco, one time.

I agree, Victor Bodden 100%

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Does he have a website?

Hands down Victor Bodden. Google Bodden tours. You'll find him

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WE booked Rony's Tours after reading some great recommendations. We will be using them for the first time in June and will let you know!

We just did a tour with Rony's. It was easily the best day I've ever had in a cruise ship port. Arnold, our guide, was amazing. He took the list of "OK, maybe we want to do this ... " and turned it into the perfect day for us. We ended up at the sloth sanctuary, going to a scenic area for photos, ziplining, delicious lunch by the beach and enough time for a quick dip before heading back to the ship. He answered every question we had (and there were a lot, seeing as we're both journalists) about the island and what life on Roatan is like. I'll specifically be looking for Caribbean iteneraries that include Roatan so we can request him as our guide.

We just did a tour with Rony's last week and it was amazing. There were three of us ($30/person) and had nothing we really wanted to do, so we just planned on doing some shopping and getting lunch.

Our guide was Hector and once he found out we had no real plans, he told us he would drive us around for the day and show us the island, which we LOVE. We got tons of interesting information, stopped a few places, drove on the beach, got drinks and then lunch. We did do a bit of shopping, but our day was spent with Hector learning about Roatan.

I love tours like this -- no real destinations, just seeing the place we are visiting. This is the third place we've toured like this and Rony and Hector did not disappoint. If we ever end up in Roatan again, I will book with Rony without hesitation.

We just did a tour with Rony's last week and it was amazing. There were three of us ($30/person) and had nothing we really wanted to do, so we just planned on doing some shopping and getting lunch.

 

Our guide was Hector and once he found out we had no real plans, he told us he would drive us around for the day and show us the island, which we LOVE. We got tons of interesting information, stopped a few places, drove on the beach, got drinks and then lunch. We did do a bit of shopping, but our day was spent with Hector learning about Roatan.

 

I love tours like this -- no real destinations, just seeing the place we are visiting. This is the third place we've toured like this and Rony and Hector did not disappoint. If we ever end up in Roatan again, I will book with Rony without hesitation.

Awesome to hear! We are so looking forward to exploring. This will be our third visit to Roatan. 1st time we did a cat snorkel tour which was great. 2nd time it rained so we we just walked around town a bit and headed back to the ship. This time we want to make sure to get to West Bay and wander around.

Victor Bodden. The best!

For others interested in a private guide, we've used Dixon tours twice and highly recommend them. Great driver that cares for you all day and will tailor the day to what you want. We usually have the driver drop us in West End and meet us in West Bay later (we take the water taxi to WB). Very good service and good prices.

http://www.therisroatantours.com/TTours.htm

Has anyone used Clearwater Adventures in Roatan? We are looking into them for the All Day Tour.

Has anyone used Clearwater Adventures in Roatan? We are looking into them for the All Day Tour.

Did you end up booking with Clearwater Adventures? We have them booked for September, but have not read any reviews on Cruise Critic. They seem to have great reviews on TripAdvisor.

It's safe to book an excursion once we arrive at the port?

It's safe to book an excursion once we arrive at the port?

I have read and heard from other people on our September cruise who knew people that had an excursion in Roatan that had a driver/guide that did not speak English very well and they were scared. I am not sure if they just picked up an excursion from the pier or had prearranged it. One couple was concerned when they drove into "the jungle" (their words) with someone who spoke very little English. Another family went snorkeling with a guide that kept saying "trust me", but could not explain what they were going to do or see. It worked out okay for them, but who wants to be worried during the entire excursion if you are truly safe? We went with Clearwater Adventures and the guide and driver spoke perfect English and we never felt unsafe. It was the best snorkeling I have ever done and we got a free drive-by dolphin show as we went by the Dolphin Encounter. I guess it all depends on how adventurous you are. I usually check out Trip Advisor, as well as Cruise Critic, for recommendations and have never been disappointed with my choices.

If you do pick up an excursion at the pier, please report back here. I would be interested in knowing if you were satisfied with doing that.

We just spent the day in Roatan doing snorkeling and then going to Daniel Johnson’s Sloth hangout. We snorkeled through Roatan Ocean Adventures with Herbert and his team. Then since the Daniel Johnson’s Monkey and Sloth hangout is literally a few houses down the beach, we went there. Herbert then drove us back to port. We had a wonderful experience.

I’m not sure all the offerings through Herbert and ROA but if you plan to snorkel, consider reaching out. We were so impressed with him on our visit!

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