Victor Bodden Tours

[Bellfree Bat]

I am loving hearing all these great reviews about Victor!! =) We are booked with him for next week.

I have a question - he told me via email about everything to do... and they will take us to a beach for us to relax and eat and what not... well my question is - what does your driver do while you are on the beach? Does he come with you or just wait for you in the car..? I am curious because I don't want it to be an awkward situation for us or for him.

Thanks everybody! :)

When we were at Half Moon Resort for snorkleing and kunch, our driver hung around the restaurant and chatted wuth other drivers and staff. Was not uncomfortable at all.

[janisutx]

I am loving hearing all these great reviews about Victor!! =) We are booked with him for next week.

I have a question - he told me via email about everything to do... and they will take us to a beach for us to relax and eat and what not... well my question is - what does your driver do while you are on the beach? Does he come with you or just wait for you in the car..? I am curious because I don't want it to be an awkward situation for us or for him.

Thanks everybody! :)

 

Victor's cousin Chanin received a free lunch for bringing us to the restaurant. I know because I offered to pay. He also said Victor told his guides to stay with their clients even at lunch. We loved visting with him during lunch and hearing more about his family.

[Panelope Barnabus]

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone for the responses! Sounds wonderful, can't wait!! :)

[pstjacqu]

The tour was great. Overall we are very happy. The only thing I might do next time is get to the beach a bit earlier in the day to spend more quiet time. We did the driving tour, iguana farm, monkey business, butterfly garden and a few stops on the way. Our driver, Andrew, was great. I had absolutely no worries while we were there and would recommend the tour to anyone going to Roatan. :)

[DandyTwister]

Could you please tell me about the zip line in terms of walking/climbing. Other zip lining excursions in other ports often say you have to be able to climb so many stairs or something...but not this one. I would love to go zip lining but I have bad knees...when looking at pictures it doesn't seem like a strenuous climb but I would like to hear from someone who has done it. I would be terribly disappointed to get there and find I couldn't do it. (Are you always with a group or could I climb at my own pace?)

[conniejb]

Please do not take this advice. Although Victor does not take the payment in advance, it is a business and he will have a guide waiting for you whether the weather is nice or not. If you book a tour and choose later not to take it, please be courteous and give 24 hr notice for cancellation. It's only fair...

 

We just came back from our June 5th cruise on the Triumph. My family of 4 had the most wonderful time with Victor Bodden's Zip n Dip tour. It was the best part of our cruise! First you are taken to zipline, then play with the monkeys, then taken to the beach. You stay as long as you want so getting back to the ship on time is up to you. The tour guide will sit and watch your stuff while you enjoy the beach and will take you back when you are ready. We left in time to have some shopping time. This is a beautiful place and soooooo much fun. My husband and kids (17 and 7) thanked me a million times for picking this excursion.

[conniejb]

Could you please tell me about the zip line in terms of walking/climbing. Other zip lining excursions in other ports often say you have to be able to climb so many stairs or something...but not this one. I would love to go zip lining but I have bad knees...when looking at pictures it doesn't seem like a strenuous climb but I would like to hear from someone who has done it. I would be terribly disappointed to get there and find I couldn't do it. (Are you always with a group or could I climb at my own pace?)

 

The steps are a little steep but it is not that many. I have one bad knee and I was fine.

[conniejb]

I am loving hearing all these great reviews about Victor!! =) We are booked with him for next week.

I have a question - he told me via email about everything to do... and they will take us to a beach for us to relax and eat and what not... well my question is - what does your driver do while you are on the beach? Does he come with you or just wait for you in the car..? I am curious because I don't want it to be an awkward situation for us or for him.

Thanks everybody! :)

 

The tour guide will hang around and watch your stuff for you. Your guide and driver have a cellphone and when you are ready to leave your guide will call the driver. But you kind of give them an idea of how long you want to stay. Kimberly was our guide and she was wonderful. You will never feel awkward.

[hjpurcell]

We just came back from cruising on the Solstice and used Bodden tours in Roatan. I had booked it ahead of time and got lots of info from Victor. The zipline was great--our first time ziplining. You do have to walk up a flight of stairs and also walk across a "swinging" bridge twice. I have back problems but had no difficulty. The guides were wonderful about "catching" me when I came in backward a number of times. The guide took us all over the island and sat with us at lunch. She took us wherever we wanted to go and was very patient as we often stopped to take photographs. I would definitely go with Bodden tours again. We did the "best of Roatan" plus zipline. It was worth the money. :D

Judi

[billnye97]

I just booked a tour with Victor in September. What is an appropriate amount to tip the driver at the end of the day? It will be my fiancee and myself on the tour.

 

Also do they bunch people together? Will we be put with other cruisers?? Any info would be much appreciated.

[LaurieCM]

You will not be with other people. The price is per person, a lower cost if there are a bunch. There was just the 2 of us, so $40 a person and we tipped an extra $20. We had a great time and felt safe.:)

[slick1100]

We used Victor Bodden last month and I have only good things to report. I'm sad to say I can't remember our driver's name but he was wonderful. He showed us the entire island and gave us a wealth of information. We did the monkeys, a butterfly farm, and West End Beach. He showed us his neighborhood, the poorest areas of town and the wealthiest. It truly was a great day. I have no qualms about recommending them as they were wonderful. We did a private tour just the two of us so it was $40 for each of us and we tipped our driver an additional $25 at the end of the day. Well worth the money.

[DandyTwister]

The steps are a little steep but it is not that many. I have one bad knee and I was fine.

Thanks...appreciate the reply!! I'm going to give it a go!! Woo hoo!!!:)

[catzcrazy]

Please do not take this advice. Although Victor does not take the payment in advance, it is a business and he will have a guide waiting for you whether the weather is nice or not. If you book a tour and choose later not to take it, please be courteous and give 24 hr notice for cancellation. It's only fair...

 

Not only is it fair but it is the right thing to do!!

[catzcrazy]

The tour guide will hang around and watch your stuff for you. Your guide and driver have a cellphone and when you are ready to leave your guide will call the driver. But you kind of give them an idea of how long you want to stay. Kimberly was our guide and she was wonderful. You will never feel awkward.

 

Driver and guide - I thought there was just one person - could you please explain further - I want to make certain that I have enough money with me for tipping.

 

Thanks,

[lovevacadays]

Driver and guide - I thought there was just one person - could you please explain further - I want to make certain that I have enough money with me for tipping.

 

Thanks,

 

When we booked and toured with VB Tours it was just one person - who acted as drive and guide. From what I saw, all the vehicles lined up had just a driver who also was the guide. This is because these are private tours and don't typically take alot of people like other excursions. Maybe if it was an extra large party there might be two? But, in general, I would plan on just your driver/guide being the same person

 

Enjoy!

[jtdlmc]

Has anyone ever done a trek into jungle/rainforest with their guide? I know the Botanical Gardens has a jungle tour but it would be nice to go into the real jungle instead of a manicured trail.

[conniejb]

Driver and guide - I thought there was just one person - could you please explain further - I want to make certain that I have enough money with me for tipping.

 

Thanks,

 

We had both. I am not sure if it has anything to do with how many in your party or the excursion you book. I would shoot Victor an E-mail and ask. We did the zip n dip and it was wonderful.

[gfsf]

Do not take their West Bay Beach Bus excursion. We were told we would go straight to West Bay Beach from the ship but were taken to a zip line location first and had to wait over 2 hours in the scorching heat for the folks on the bus that signed up for the zip line/beach combo. When we finally got to the beach which was beautiful we only had 2 hours there before heading back to the ship. We were so upset that they lied to us and when we complained after waiting the first hour all of a sudden the guide didn't speak english anymore. They could have easily taken the beach goers to the beach after dropping off the zip liners but made us wait instead. Ruined our short visit to Roatan!

[amistad]

Is it possible to just go to Victors place to see the monkey's and then go to the beach and maybe do some shopping before heading back? How long is the drive? Thanks in advance.

[Electricflyer]

One of Victors drivers will take you to do whatever you want to do and in any order you want to do it. He is your privite driver for the day.

[lovevacadays]

If you book a tour through Victor - book a private tour. It is very reasonable and you, then, wouldn't have the problems some have discussed in group tours with the zipline, etc. Not sure if you can actually book the zipline as a private tour but I would ask. We loved our private tour last November. Paid $40 a piece - me and a friend - and had our tour guide all day to do just what we wanted to do when we wanted to do it

[mamapoopa]

We recently returned from the Celebrity Solstice Western Caribbean sailing that stopped in Roatan and had a wonderful experience with Bodden's tours and our guide Andrew. We heard about Bodden's tours through the Cruise Critics Message Boards and the Trip Advisor sight, so we decided to book a private tour for 4. When we got off the ship in Roatan, the Bodden's tours kiosk was very close and easy to find and within 15 minutes of getting off the ship we were in our air-conditioned van beginning our tour of Roatan. Our guide, Andrew, was very knowledgeable as we toured the island and took us anywhere we wanted-- including, local shopping spots for beautiful mahogany hand made jewelry and infinity bay for snorkeling and beach time. Also, we added the "Monkey Business" add-on to our tour and THIS IS NOT TO BE MISSED (for ONLY $5 a person, this was the BEST DEAL on our entire vacation). During our "monkey business" excursion we were introduced to numerous local animals including- toucans, parrots, different species of monkeys and more! We got time to hold the monkeys, feed them peanuts, and take a lot of pictures (see pictures attached!). We also got time to hold the parrots, feed them, and take pictures. We also Recommend Infinity Bay...beautiful beaches with walk-in snorkeling and infinity pools!

 

The locals were all very friendly and welcoming and I encourage you to visit Roatan and support their economy as much as we can-- This is definitely our favorite port out of the 7 we visited on both the Eastern and Western Caribbean and we will definitely be back.

 

Thank you Andrew for making our trip so fabulous!

[MrsElizabeth]

Eeep! We'll be visiting Victor's monkeys as part of our Zip-N-Dip tour when we visit in a couple weeks. Your pictures just got me excited all over again, I can't wait!

[krowek]

I have heard many good things about Victors tours, I going to book him for our trip this fall. I was not going to do the monkey business but after reading your post I am going to add it for sure.

Kevin