Victor Bodden "Best of Roatan Private Tour"

[lovevacadays]

I'm sorry to hear of those that might not have enjoyed their VB tour. In all my cruises it ranked either #1 or #2 can't decide. I would suggest that people request either Tex or Ali. We had Tex and he was so flexible. He said that he and Ali were the most requested. It really was amazing. We met his brother at the dive resort his brother worked at, we went to Tex's home as he needed to pick up something (he asked if we minded and of course we didn't) we drove right on the beach, etc.

 

I guess for those that might not get the more experienced tour guides, I would ask your tour guide at the start to suggest some places besides the resorts, etc that they might take you to to get a feel of the island

[suzysew]

Do you have to book Victor Bodden Tours on line or can you wait till your in port at the dock?

[trish1c]

We booked with Victor Bodden based on the recommendations here. What a mess. We all have great senses of humor but this was awful.

 

I had e-mail confirmations from him but he had no reservations for us. They took us anyway. Our guide, Wilson, said he was Victor's cousin & that everybody is a relative. He knew absolutely nothing. He kept asking where we wanted to go. We kept saying that we paid for the Best of Roatan tour & we wanted that. He asked a couple of times if we wanted to pay extra to go to the monkeys & iguans. He did not talk to us about the island & didn't have answers when we asked Qs. He took us to a scenic view where a child tried to sell us pot under the guise of selling beads. He drove the wrong way on a busy road. He only stopped when somebody said "what's that?" Most of the time he didn't know. He also drove the van into a ditch where we got stuck in the mud! The van was on about a 45 degree angle & we worried that it would flip over. The tow truck was literally a guy with a rope. I'm not kidding.

 

It was too cold & overcast to go swimming / snorkeling but he took us somewhere for lunch. It was an overpriced tourist trap that was about as authentic as Taco Bell.

 

There were 6 of us on the tour, Victor's minimum to get the $25 pp price. That means we collectively paid $150 for a tour that wasn't worth $1.50 plus gas. Nobody apologized or offered us even a discount for our inconvneince.

[MDSue]

Sorry you had a bad day. Yours is one of the few bad reviews that I've read out of hundreds of outstanding ones. It sounds like they erred on your reservations and tried to accomodate you anyway with an unexperienced guide. Have you emailed or spoken with Victor about your experience?

[webprinter]

We booked with Victor Bodden based on the recommendations here. What a mess. We all have great senses of humor but this was awful.

 

I had e-mail confirmations from him but he had no reservations for us. They took us anyway. Our guide, Wilson, said he was Victor's cousin & that everybody is a relative. He knew absolutely nothing. He kept asking where we wanted to go. We kept saying that we paid for the Best of Roatan tour & we wanted that. He asked a couple of times if we wanted to pay extra to go to the monkeys & iguans. He did not talk to us about the island & didn't have answers when we asked Qs. He took us to a scenic view where a child tried to sell us pot under the guise of selling beads. He drove the wrong way on a busy road. He only stopped when somebody said "what's that?" Most of the time he didn't know. He also drove the van into a ditch where we got stuck in the mud! The van was on about a 45 degree angle & we worried that it would flip over. The tow truck was literally a guy with a rope. I'm not kidding.

 

It was too cold & overcast to go swimming / snorkeling but he took us somewhere for lunch. It was an overpriced tourist trap that was about as authentic as Taco Bell.

 

There were 6 of us on the tour, Victor's minimum to get the $25 pp price. That means we collectively paid $150 for a tour that wasn't worth $1.50 plus gas. Nobody apologized or offered us even a discount for our inconvneince.

 

 

Do you know the name of your guide? We are thinking of booking with VB and don't want that guide.

[MDSue]

Do you know the name of your guide? We are thinking of booking with VB and don't want that guide.

We have used Hanno twice. He is very knowledgeable about the island and places to go. We had a great day each time. We requested hime for our second visit because of our experience with him the first time.

[Cruisindad]

There were 6 of us on the tour, Victor's minimum to get the $25 pp price. .

 

Can you elaborate on this? It states on the web site that it is $25 pp for 4 or more. Are you saying when you booked you were told it was not $25 pp unless you had a party of 6?

[IAMGPW]

Just book this tour. Victor was very helpful and quick to response! WTG Victor:)

[legalwife]

I'm sorry to hear of those that might not have enjoyed their VB tour. In all my cruises it ranked either #1 or #2 can't decide. I would suggest that people request either Tex or Ali. We had Tex and he was so flexible. He said that he and Ali were the most requested. It really was amazing. We met his brother at the dive resort his brother worked at, we went to Tex's home as he needed to pick up something (he asked if we minded and of course we didn't) we drove right on the beach, etc.

 

I guess for those that might not get the more experienced tour guides, I would ask your tour guide at the start to suggest some places besides the resorts, etc that they might take you to to get a feel of the island

 

 

All set and booked. Requested Tex! Received confirmation. Now we just have to wait till October... :(

 

If the tour is half as good as the great communication we have received from Victor, we should have a wonderful trip.

[lovevacadays]

Legalwife, nice to hear you are going to get Tex. He is really a nice guy. Very flexible in what you want to do. He will suggest things if you like. Ask him if he will take you for a drive on the beach. Here in California we can't do that so it was great! He told us quite a few stories and gave us insight to island life there.

[Jaymee287]

We don't leave until June, however we booked just a few weeks ago. I sent an email requesting Tex of Ali. I'm waiting on a reply now! We are getting so ANXIOUS!

[czimm]

We used Victor Bodden tours last Thursday for our Best of Roatan tour. The weather was overcast and a little cool, but we had a great time on our tour. Ben was our driver and showed us his island, along with a stop to visit the monkeys, and a few hours at the beach. The monkeys were a highlight - even those in our group who were not looking forward to the monkeys ended up loving them. They are very curious and mischievious.

 

Ben took us to Infinity Resort in West End , where we had use of the pool and tables by the bar for free, and could use their beach. Beers were cheap - I recommend the Honduran brew- Salva Vida. The beach is gorgeous. We walked to Celeste's for lunch and tried the lobster, pork and chicken baleadas. They are awesome, and very reasonable. Tip: Do not let the parrots at Celeste's climb on you. They will not get off, and will bite you when you try to move them!

 

The new Mahogany Bay port is stunning. Carnival owns the port, and will not allow the independents to pick you up in the port (although they can drop you off). We had to walk through the port area and up the hill to meet our guide. Roatan was our favorite port on this cruise and our tour with Ben was well worth the the 10 minute walk from ship to our driver.

 

We paid $25 per person for our tour - a great value for such a fun day.

[trish1c]

Many of you may have read how dissappointed I was with our recent tour with Victor Bodden. I wasn't exactly quiet about it on these boards.

Today in the mail I received a full refund! In our cynical times when corporate greed dominates it was so refreshing to find a company who stands behind it's products & service & does the right thing. We never even asked for the money back.

My trip may have been awful but in that small gesture, Victor Bodden turned me from a liability to an asset.

I really applaud the integrity of the company. Although I doubt we'll return to the Western Carribean, I would give him another chance if I was ever in Roatan & I will not dissuade others from using the services.

More businesses could take lessons. I teach a business ethics course in an MBA program & these events will be worked into my cirriculum.

Thank you, Victor Bodden!

[MDSue]

Many of you may have read how dissappointed I was with our recent tour with Victor Bodden. I wasn't exactly quiet about it on these boards.

 

Today in the mail I received a full refund! In our cynical times when corporate greed dominates it was so refreshing to find a company who stands behind it's products & service & does the right thing. We never even asked for the money back.

 

My trip may have been awful but in that small gesture, Victor Bodden turned me from a liability to an asset.

 

I really applaud the integrity of the company. Although I doubt we'll return to the Western Carribean, I would give him another chance if I was ever in Roatan & I will not dissuade others from using the services.

 

More businesses could take lessons. I teach a business ethics course in an MBA program & these events will be worked into my cirriculum.

 

Thank you, Victor Bodden!

Thank you for posting the other side of the story. Most of us had wonderful experiences on his tours and most of all we knew just how much he cares about each and every one of his customers. He has always personally written me after each tour to make sure we had a memorable tour. I am not at all surprised he refunded your money. He is a first class business man and gentleman.

[Naomi John]

What a nice thing to do.

 

You had a bad time, they found out and refunded your money, without asking.

 

I commend Bodden for the refund, but also thank you for advising the boards they did so, and not retracting your experience on the tour.

[yoyocruiser]

Trish

Was so glad to hear this--I know you were very disappointed. dont' you love it when good things happen??

[legalwife]

Sigh.... I just love happy endings. Now I haven't been on the tour yet, but every bit so far I have experienced with these folks has been great. And, now this!!! Don't you wish all businesses CARED about their clients?

 

Trish, I am glad for you and hope you will pass the word on as you are now.

 

Hope your next tour with whoever will be lots of fun.

[lovevacadays]

Trish, so glad to hear of your most recent experience with Victor. Every company will have things that go wrong and you are indeed right, not all will try and fix it. Fabulous

[trish1c]

That's why I felt I oweed it to the company & to cruisecritic to finish the story. Yeah our tour was the pits but they made it right. What else can a customer ask for?

[Naomi John]

Our guide will be Hanno. Any more input on Hanno that I have not already read? Is he good with children and those in there upper 60's?

[MDSue]

Our guide will be Hanno. Any more input on Hanno that I have not already read? Is he good with children and those in there upper 60's?

We have had Hanno twice now. We liked him so much the first time that we requested him for our second visit. He knows the island well and will make every effort to provide you with a memorable day. When you see him please tell him Lynne and Susan say hello and hope to be back soon!

 

Here's his pic:

 

Your kids will probably love the monkees- I know I did:

 

This was a great snorkelling beach- but there are other beautiful samdy beaches too:

[nowendy]

We have had Hanno twice now. We liked him so much the first time that we requested him for our second visit. He knows the island well and will make every effort to provide you with a memorable day. When you see him please tell him Lynne and Susan say hello and hope to be back soon!

 

Here's his pic:

 

Your kids will probably love the monkees- I know I did:

 

This was a great snorkelling beach- but there are other beautiful samdy beaches too:

 

 

what beach was this?

[MDSue]

what beach was this?

Half Moon Bay- a lovely tropical beach, clean bathrooms and a decent restaurant and bar:

 

view from the restaurant- the reef is viewable in the distance:

 

no charge beach front chairs:

 

 

another view-towards West Bay area

 

[CHSGrl]

Has anybody added the offshore fishing to the VB tour. We will be a party of 6 and 4 of us want to go fishing while 2 go horseback riding. If so, how long did you go? How far out did you have to go?

[Naomi John]

We have had Hanno twice now. We liked him so much the first time that we requested him for our second visit. He knows the island well and will make every effort to provide you with a memorable day. When you see him please tell him Lynne and Susan say hello and hope to be back soon!

 

Post a reminder closer to April and I will.