Victor Bodden guide/driver recommendations? (MERGED THREADS)

[Want2BASeagul]

Just back from a fantastic cruise. There were 11 of us in our group, ranging from teens, 20's, 40's and 60's. I had reserved with Bodden Tours a month or so before the trip and was excited about meeting our guide and having a great tour. Victor met us at the booth and said he was our guide for the day! :D He is an impressive young man in his 30's and we felt right a home with him. We went ziplining, visited his lovely home and family, went by shipwrecks for photo ops. One in our group asked how real vine ripened bananas taste, "are they better than store bought?", well Victor took us to a small roadside stand and we got 11 bananas! They were wonderful. Victor spoke proudly of the Roatan culture and we found it all fascinating. We said we were getting hungry for lunch and he took us to a beautiful spot on the water were we ordered lunch, it was fun to sit around the table and share stories with him. From the same location, we put on our snorkel gear and headed out in the water for some time to see the fish. Time was running out, but we also managed to go to the beautiful beaches by Tabyana and walked along there for a bit. Then the scenic ride back to the ship. It was sad to leave the island, as it is beautiful. Thank you Victor for a fabulous day.

It did rain a bit in the morning while we were there:cool: , but like Victor says, "a rainy day in Roatan, is better than any sunny day at work"!:) We are glad we stuck to our plans and the weather did clear up and was sunny in the afternoon. We had a wonderful day! Thank you again!:p

[robtx100]

We just returned from our cruise and had Onan for our guide. He was great. We did the east end of the island and then to Victor's house, then to the Blue Bahia Resort for lunch, and went to Foster's Beach before returning to the ship. It was a very relaxing day.

[mwsrccl]

Thanks to everyone for the Victor reviews. Please keep them coming. It kills time till our Sept cruise! :)

[justcruzin2]

We just returned and used Victor for our day in Roatan. Anthony was our driver and did a great job. Our lunch stop was at the Half Moon and when we got there there were several large groups filling the tables. Next thing we knew, Anthony and Victor were carrying a table which they set right in front of the water view for us. Now that is service.

 

While at lunch we were able to talk with Victor for about 10 minutes. What I found interesting was he was totally unaware of the positive comments about him on this website. I told him that was the basis of our choice, and he really needed to look for himself.

 

We can only give Victor our compliments. I do not believe you will be dissapointed.

 

Justcruzin2 :)

[saileraway]

We were on the Jan. 27th Voyager and booked Victor as our guide. There were 14 of us in a comfortable, air conditioned van. Victor's wife doesn't speak English. She's extremely gracious with a warm friendly smile. His two girls were most impressive and sweet (the baby is darling!) We visited with his brother-in-law, too. I, too, am shocked and dismayed at the personal comments about his lovely home and grounds which were spotless and immaculately groomed. (Victor, if you read this, please don't take those comments personally. It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round.) Your tour was one of the best we've ever taken and the highlight of our cruise vacation.

[cruisrmom]

I just booked my family of 4 with Victor Bodden tours, the cost is not worth haggling with a taxi driver when you get off the ship and we are traveling with two kids and my DH and I feel more comfortable knowing where to go as soon as we get to Roatan.

? I filled out the online request form, does Bodden tours put together your tour based on what you filled in to do, we want to zipline, have lunch and see the monkey's and maybe the inquana farm if there is time. just wondering how that works, thanks for any info.

 

cruisrmom

[witchywoman007]

We just got back from the Sun, (26/1 - 2/2) and for Roatan, decided on a Bodden Tour. I had booked it about 3 weeks earlier and was very happy with the professional and prompt response to my emails. There were only two of us and we wanted a tour of the island, a zip-line experience, lunch and some snorkeling/beach time. I did not want to see the iguana farm, a tethered ant-eater or a monkey at Victor's house. It was a little hectic getting off the ship and out of the port area but once we did, Victor greeted us and assigned a driver/guide to us for the day. Our guide was Enry, and our vehicle for the day was a Honda van. Enry was a great guide, very informative and very personable. He took us zip-lining and waited with the other guides until we were done. He then took us all around the island and we ended up at Half Moon Resort for lunch and some beach time. We offered to buy him lunch but he declined and chatted with some of his buddies while we ate and snorkeled. Later on, he showed us around a bit more of the island and had us back at the ship by 3:00ish. Our tour guide was great and I highly recommend him.

[cruisrmom]

Thank you for all the info, we are so excited to go on this cruise!!

 

Cruisrmom

[wsantelope]

Anyone who books with anyone other than Bodden Tours is CRAZY!!!!

We just returned from the Voyager Cruise and were in Roatan last Wednesday.

I agree it was a little hectic getting off the ship and across the street to meet Victor but he met us promptly and we lucked out having him personally as our guide for 13 of us.

We went to the Jungle Canopy Zipline (Reviewed under 'Zipline Question' on this forum....to Victor's House....to Lunch @ Mavis and Dixies in West Bay where Dixie waited on us herself (VERY Slow but good food and great atmosphere!) and then Victor arranged for some of us to Snorkel (Got us out on a boat) and some to Dive in the same area as well as some to horseback ride. (West Bay Beach)

The riders said their ride was the best commercial ride ever....they got to ride in town, woods and beach as well as getting to trot or run the whole time....they had a BLAST!

The dive shop did not rent good gear to my brothers but Victor was not aware they were sub-par equipment wise (He is now)....just take your own equipment if you go..... they also didn't have enough equipment for the kids so, again, take their own.

Victor was such a trooper with our jam packed schedule....

One of the mom's forgot her swimsuit on the ship so Victor went out on the boat with us....in his clothes....and got soaked in the dive boat on the way to the reef.....to watch her 7 and 9 year old kids snorkel.

Now THAT's a guide!!!! :)

We got to see a 1 hour old baby deer at his house....got to hold two monkeys...the little black one is SUCH a snuggler! One of us did get "Swiped" by the anteater.....Really cute...but don't get too close!

Also the "Mean" monkey in the cage is a hoot! He really likes to play and is very agile! Man that tail is strong!

This was my favorite port EVER and Victor my favorite guide!

I would say though in the interest of time - only do Jungle / Victor's House / Food or Food / Victor's House / Snorkel - Dive or Ride. To do it all about killed all of us!

Oh, also....if you're on the Voyager....It leaves port @ 5:30 but for some reason the local port authority tells Victor 5pm. It made him nervous to get us back at 5pm but we showed him our schedule and promised them that if Royal Caribbean left us we wouldn't come home with him! (Not sure he believed us!!! :eek:)

As it turned out we left two in port when we pulled away at 6 pm....not sure I blame them.

Poor island for sure but wow....it is really mostly unspoiled. It won't be that way for long I feel....

[Gosap]

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 had the same itinerary in mind as you and did everything we wanted with plenty of time. I would suggest ziplining first to avoid crowds like we did (we were the first to arrive to the Jungle Canopy Tour).

 

ALI was our tour guide in the summer of 2006 and we had a terrific time. Ali was an awesome tour guide, an island native, and very happy to talk about the people and culture of the island. He tailored our time on the island to what we wanted to do. The whole Bodden company is exceptional. We would definitely book again.

[Gosap]

The Iguana farm and the orphanage are on opposite sides of the island. Not sure what else you crammed into your $25 tour, but it already seems to me that you were probably asking alot. If all you wanted to do was go to the orphanage/school, your friends wanted to see the iguanas, and the monkeys at Victor's house were part of your request, then that's a whopping 2 hour tour. What did you ask them to do for the other 3 hours??

 

 

 

Didn't your friends have to wait in the heat while you were at the orphanage? You say they weren't interested in the orphanage, so it seems to me that you should have found someone with the same itinerary/interests as you, with whom to book your tour.

 

 

 

That's just mean. Victor's house is humble....very humble and probably lacks all the necessities you've got back home. You know, air-conditioning, hot tub, in-ground pool, washer and dryer...necessities. He's poor and so is Honduras. Don't be so mean-spirited....

 

When we were there (Nov. '07), there were 4 monkeys...

 

My dog bites and I tell guests all the time to be careful around him....

 

 

 

The one woman only speaks 10 words of english. It was either Victor's wife or his mother, but either way, she doesn't deserve to be called "unfriendly" when she doesn't speak your language (or when she doesn't speak it well). "When in Rome..."?? Both of them were perfectly friendly with me, when I spoke to them in Spanish...;) By the way, the $2 part was right on the booking form....

 

 

 

That's unfortunate, because I would HIGHLY reccomend Victor's tour. See my next post for why and a reccomendation for our guide, Roland....

 

I couldn't have said it better! You are 100% right.

[przyk]

I was also very impressed with our Victor Bodden tour last week. Onan was our guide. His English was difficult to understand, but he did the best he could.

 

There were four of us and we had a van to ourselves.

 

We did the jungle canopy zipline and thoroughly enjoyed it. We were not interested in the iguana farm and it took a little back and forth exchange to make Onan understand that we really did not want to go there. Once he understood he took us to Victor's House to see the monkeys and we had a great time there. From there he took us to West End and to the high point of the island to take pictures.

 

We would have had plenty of time to do more, but we were exhausted, so just had him take us back to the ship.

 

We felt comfortable and really enjoyed the day. We were about 1/2 hour late getting off the ship, but Onan was still waiting.

 

I highly recommend Victor Bodden Tours.

[nixnutz]

I couldn't have said it better! You are 100% right.

 

;)

 

Can't wait to go back...

[nybumpkin]

I was also very impressed with our Victor Bodden tour last week. Onan was our guide. His English was difficult to understand, but he did the best he could.

 

There were four of us and we had a van to ourselves.

 

We did the jungle canopy zipline and thoroughly enjoyed it. We were not interested in the iguana farm and it took a little back and forth exchange to make Onan understand that we really did not want to go there. Once he understood he took us to Victor's House to see the monkeys and we had a great time there. From there he took us to West End and to the high point of the island to take pictures.

 

We would have had plenty of time to do more, but we were exhausted, so just had him take us back to the ship.

 

We felt comfortable and really enjoyed the day. We were about 1/2 hour late getting off the ship, but Onan was still waiting.

 

I highly recommend Victor Bodden Tours.

We had Onan as well last week - he was very good. We asked him for a lunch recommendation and he took us to "Blue Bahia," a small resort/restaurant in Sandy Bay run by an American couple originally from California. It was a great recommendation!

[wonlife64]

My son and I will be in Roatan on our NCL Sun cruise in Mach and based on what I have read here and elsewhere will be booking with Victor. I requested information from his website and already heard back from him. The biggest problem is trying to decide what to do with all the great possibilites posted here. I have two questions, being there is only two of us does Victor combine us with another group? And what do people tip the tour guide (in addition to the set fee)? Just curious so I am fair to the guide.

 

Thnaks!

[Csondra]

My son and I will be in Roatan on our NCL Sun cruise in Mach and based on what I have read here and elsewhere will be booking with Victor. I requested information from his website and already heard back from him. The biggest problem is trying to decide what to do with all the great possibilites posted here. I have two questions, being there is only two of us does Victor combine us with another group? And what do people tip the tour guide (in addition to the set fee)? Just curious so I am fair to the guide.

 

Thnaks!

 

I second your whole post. :D

 

We're going to be a group of 3- I assume we'll get our own guide (since the pricing is for groups of 2, 3 and 4+). Still trying to figure out what we want to do- thinking ziplines (Jungle Canopy), lunch and maybe Victor's house?

 

I was really curious about tipping too? Not sure what's customary.

[przyk]

My son and I will be in Roatan on our NCL Sun cruise in Mach and based on what I have read here and elsewhere will be booking with Victor. I requested information from his website and already heard back from him. The biggest problem is trying to decide what to do with all the great possibilites posted here. I have two questions, being there is only two of us does Victor combine us with another group? And what do people tip the tour guide (in addition to the set fee)? Just curious so I am fair to the guide.

 

Thnaks!

 

I know Victor lists prices for two passengers, so I am sure the two of you can get a private tour. Are you interested in joining a group to save money on the per person price, or would you prefer paying the higher price to get a personal tour?

 

If you want the personal tour I think that is what you will get. If you want to join a group I suggest looking at the roll call section of this board. If there is a thread going for your cruise you might find another couple who would be willing to share the tour.

 

I don't know what is customary for tipping, but I tipped $20.00 for the four of us. I also tipped the zipline guide $20.00.

[AngelinaM]

We had a wonderful time in Roatan last week! Tex was our guide for our day booked with Victor Bodden Tours. We went ziplining at Pirates (I think), which was really wonderful. Tex then took us by his house where we sat on his private dock watching the dolphins perform for another excursion. The dolphins were probably only 150 feet or so from us. This was really neat and free. After this we went to see Victor's monkeys and other animals and then over to Half Moon Bay for lunch and snorkeling. This resort is beautiful and very accomodating. We had a waiter that took care of us from the time we showed up until we left.

Tex was a wonderful guide! His father lived in Texas for a while and Tex is his given name. He is laid back, very easy to understand and has a great sense of humor. He told us alot about the island without having to be prompted and went out of the way to show us beautiful sites for photos.

Victor lets you request a certain guide and you would not be sorry if you requested Tex as yours. This was our favorite port because of this tour!

[bellybutton]

We had a wonderful time in Roatan last week! Tex was our guide for our day booked with Victor Bodden Tours. We went ziplining at Pirates (I think), which was really wonderful. Tex then took us by his house where we sat on his private dock watching the dolphins perform for another excursion. The dolphins were probably only 150 feet or so from us. This was really neat and free. After this we went to see Victor's monkeys and other animals and then over to Half Moon Bay for lunch and snorkeling. This resort is beautiful and very accomodating. We had a waiter that took care of us from the time we showed up until we left.

Tex was a wonderful guide! His father lived in Texas for a while and Tex is his given name. He is laid back, very easy to understand and has a great sense of humor. He told us alot about the island without having to be prompted and went out of the way to show us beautiful sites for photos.

Victor lets you request a certain guide and you would not be sorry if you requested Tex as yours. This was our favorite port because of this tour!

 

Sounds like you had a great time! Was there a charge for Half Moon? What did beers,drinks and lunch run? How was the snorkeling?

[AngelinaM]

Half Moon Bay was free and not very crowded. We did not buy any alcohol but sandwiches were about $6 and full plates around $10 or more. Snorkeling was free because we had our own equipment but the snorkeling was just okay. I found a star fish and there were several different types of fish but nothing very colorful.

[nasvhillecruise]

Hi nasvhillecruise, I booked with Victor Bodden in Oct. I was very specific in what I wanted to do and that I wanted an air-conditioned van. The Van was booked for 4 people and another couple joined us at the last min. Unfortunately my husband and I got stuck in the back of the bus where the air- conditioning had a very hard time reaching and it was very,very hot and uncomfortable.My husband and I wanted to visit a school and an orphanage while our friends visited the Iguana farm. Both of us had no interest in the Iguana's.Our friends had no interest in either the school or the orphanage. Our guide drove us all to the farm and we had no choice but to wait in the heat while our friends spent some time touring the farm and then there wasn't enough time for us to visit both the school and orphanage so we ended up just dropping some things off at the orphanage .I was not happy with this tour. I unfortunately can't remember the guide's name but he ignored the requests on the sheet Victor gave him and he was not paying any attention to what I was trying to tell him. Victors home isn't worth visiting and I can't stress that enough .There is nothing there but a monkey and an ant-eater that is tied up and we were told not to touch as he bites .We were told to pay $2. each to a women sitting on the porch . She was very unfriendly and never spoke to any of us. I did a lot of research before I left home and I had read a lot of good reviews about Victors tours and his home . The island itself is beautiful but I have to say I was very disappointed in the tour and would not recommend it to anyone. B.L.T. :(

 

I hate to hear you didn't enjoy. We REALLY loved going to Victor's house & playing with the monkeys. That was a highlight for my son. The young monkeys must not have been around when you were there. Victor's pre-teen daughter was there to greet us & was super friendly. I told her I was from Nashville & she asked about the recent tornadoes, so she was definitely well-versed in English & US current events. Victor was sick but still took time to come out & see us. I guess we were lucky in that it was only the 3 of us & we wanted to zipline, see the shipwrecks, see sunset at the beach, & go to Victor's. It was HOT that day, but the van we were in was air conditioned. I'm sure it was miserable if yours wasn't.

Debbie

[seaturtle5]

We are leaving on the Legend on Sunday and will be in Honduras next Friday, March 21. Due to all the positive feed back we have booked with Victor and took the tip to ask for Tex. I'll post results upon return! ;)

[tidecruiser]

We visited Roatan on the NCL Spirit on March 18th. The Spirit has an engine problem, so the arrival time was scheduled for 3:00pm, we actually didn't start debarking until about 3:30.

We had hired a driver through Victor Bodden and our driver was Cardi. Cardi, provided us an incredible afternoon.

There were 3 adults and 4 children. 2 adults and 3 kids wanted to Zipline so we did the Palmetto Jungle Canopy. We loved the zipling, the kids still say that was the highlight of the cruise. (knowing what we know now, I would probably have skipped it based on the tragedy that happen elsewhere on the island while we were ziplining). Those that did not zipline, went to the Iguana farm.

After we ziplined, Cardi took us to Victors to see the monkeys (this was a must do for the kids, they wouldn't hear of skipping the monkeys). They loved having the monkeys around their neck and on top of their head.

After this, our day was pretty much gone and the it was already very dark. Cardi took us back over to town near the ship. We had planned to shop (we only had about 30 minutes before we had to be back at the ship) but there was a power outage. We asked Cardi if he could take us to a Grocery Store to let the kids stock up on soft drinks/Gatorade's and we also wanted to get some local food items for the kids to try.

He took us and we really stocked up....

We made it back to the pier about 10 minutes before we had to be on board. This is where I really messed up. In the rush to settle up with money and to get back on the ship, I wasn't thinking clearly. I wasn't adding correctly in my head and didn't realize until we got on the ship, that I really had tipped Cardi only about 1/3 of what I meant to tip. I felt terrible, but knew that there was no way to get off the ship and find him. So, if anyone ever has Cardi in the future, give him a couple of bucks and say it is to make up for that cheapskate on March 19th :-)

Anyway, we had very little time in port, but we made the best of it, Victor provided us a great driver and all I can say is... Thanks and on our next visit I will have to request Cardi as our driver so I can make it up to him.

[seaturtle5]

We were in Roatan last Friday, March 21 and booked a tour with Victor's company based on reviews from this website. I'm so glad we did as Roatan ended up being the highlight of our trip. We had originally asked for Tex based on his positive reviews from previous posts. When we got off the boat Friday morning it was raining and a bit chilly so when we got to Victor's booth we really weren't picky about our driver we just wanted out of the weather. Lanny ended up being our guide and I cannot say enough positive things about him. He was absolutely wonderful. At first he drove us around and told us about the island, the different areas and the history. We stopped and saw the shipwrecks (which I thought were cool, especially after hearing the stories about them). We then went to the Iguana farm. Unfortunately (for the kids) the iguanas were all up in the trees due to the weather because when it's sunny out they're aparently everywhere and you can play with them and feed them. After that it was off to see the monkeys at Victor's. Definitely the highlight of the cruise for the kids. They were all over us...but be careful with the white faced monkey as it will bite (but not hard). Lanny then showed us where the "foreigners" (Americans) are building homes on the island and then to West End. The water was too rough for swimming, so we just did some shopping. There is a very cool art gallery across from The Purple Turtle and the shop owner is very friendly...highly recommend stopping in.

After the shopping we asked Lanny to take us to a good lunch spot. He drove us over to West Bay Resort and we sat on the deck and had a great lunch (which we asked Lanny to join us for). We spent the rest of our time chatting with Lanny about the culture which was probably the highlight of the trip for my DH and me. After that it was back to port for some quick shopping and we were off, sadly.

Roatan was definitely the highlight of our trip which was surprising for us all as we were a little concerned we wouldn't enjoy it.

[tigercat]

My sister (63) and I (52) will be going to Roatan in April and were wondering about booking Victor. Would it be safe enough for the 2 of us? My sister has never traveled and I don't want any problems. I really would like to see some of the Island and feel this is the best way. I e-mailed Victor and he said that he could do a tour for the 2 of us for $40.00 per person. Is that a lot of right amount of money and do you think we would be okay? My husband is worried that we won't make the ship and we will be stranded. I am excited about it.

tigercat