Anyone just back from Roatan??

[dixie54]

How was the water temperature? what tour guide did you use? did you go to the Mayan Princess? Thanks for any info!

[Laurie S.]

I was there on December 24th and did a two-tank dive at Bananarama Eco-Resort. My dive computer showed the water was 77 degrees.

[raquel]

WARNING...Beach chairs are VERY limited at the Mayan Princess. Through Victor Bodden, we reserved this tour, including $10 day passes for the resort for each of the 13 of us. When we arrived, it turns our there were NO chairs reserved for us as promised and after a 20-30 minute drive to get there. Even if we brought our own towels (which we didn't since that was to be included in the day pass)...there was not a space on the tiny beach in front of the resort to LAY DOWN a towel. As far as chairs by the beautiful pool area, there were NONE! I'm talking used...empty...no chairs at all by the pool. Any chair available was dragged down to the beach by whoever was luckiest to get there first! What a beautiful resort but a total disappointment, as we had to leave...there was no place to sit or barely stand.

I will add that our ship did not dock until 12 noon and by the time we got off the ship and got to the Mayan Resort, it was between 1 and 1:30. With chairs so limited and small beach space, have a feeling that only "the early bird gets the worm" here....;)

[Laurie S.]

I was there on December 24th and did a two-tank dive at Bananarama Eco-Resort. My dive computer showed the water was 77 degrees.

 

Just checked my dive log--it was 79 degrees.

[lovevacadays]

did Victor Bodden's tour. I think it is much more interesting to see the sights on this island than to just go to a hotel to hang out on the beach. This is an incredibly beautiful island. You can email Victor and he will let you plan your own tour there. Ask for Tex and if he isn't available ask for Ali.

[jcl8003]

Was there 1/1/10, water temp was about 80. As far as the beach we took a taxi to Infinity which is a condo next to cruise ship beach (no day pass)just walked through to the beachand set up between them and the cruise ship. tipped the cruise beach security $6 and he let us use two chairs for the day. Snorkeling right from the beach was good.

[Cayoooga]

We visited on 1/1/10 also. The water was warm as already stated. We did venture over to the West Bay beach area also, and it was busy. We did use Victor Bodden tours but were disappointed with our tour. My opinion for the best thing to do is get out on a boat and enjoy the reefs, by either diving or snorkelling. :D

[LinP]

Cayooga - I'm booked in early Feb with Victor Bodden - why were you disappointed with the trip?

 

Thanks

[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 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! 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.

[barbaraanne]

We visited on 1/1/10 also. The water was warm as already stated. We did venture over to the West Bay beach area also, and it was busy. We did use Victor Bodden tours but were disappointed with our tour. My opinion for the best thing to do is get out on a boat and enjoy the reefs, by either diving or snorkelling. :D

 

So you found the West Bay beach a disappointment, then? We will have three cruise ships in port that day (2 at Coxen Hole), 1 at Mahogany (where we will be) on Feb. 2 . I am thinking now of canceling our island tour that visits West Bay and booking the Graziefelice catamaran with the ship, based on what you said. Was West Bay simply overcrowded and not worth it?

 

I am also worried about what the other above poster said about their island tour. We're booked with a different private agency, but I am thinking a ship's tour might be best. I'd hate to end up with car trouble and stranded!

[carribeancruzr]

We just went on a tour through Victor Bodden last Thurs 1/8/10. It was just as great as the tour we took with him 3 years ago! Marty was our driver. I had the reservation paperwork that Victor had emailed to me prior to our leaving for our cruise. We were able to select a what we wanted to do on our tour online before our cruise-and ziplining to me was not on my plan! When we got there and met Victor and our driver Marty they went over our itinerary and asked if there was anything we would like to add or delete. Well, our college aged kids DID want to zipline and we were able to adjust our tour and add in the ziplining. Well, not only did the "kids" do it, once we got to Victor's and saw how much fun everyone was having and they showed us the ziplines we all went (age range in our group 18-50)!! It was the best $45.00 I ever spent!! There are 12 ziplines throughout the trees and hills. It's very well run and set up very safely. There are monkeys there as well that you can go into their cage and "visit" with them-just watch your backbacks and pockets!!! They love to steal the free charms from Diamonds International! Afterwards we still had time to go to the beach at the West End for about an hour. We planned on spending more time at the beach but ziplined instead. Marty kept an eye on our time to make sure we got everything in we wanted to do, but also was willing to change plans if we wanted.We did everything we had planned on and then some and our ship was only in port from 8-3! Oh, and we went to the East End to see the Sherman's Iguana Farm too! I would highly recommend Victor Bodden's Tours.

[yoyocruiser]

Not sure what you are interested in, but we did something very different. We booked a day at the Sante Wellness Spa. It is about a 20 minute drive from the port--very interesting drive and we had a great driver who gave a fantastic tour. Then the spa sends a water taxi to get you and take you to a very secluded facility. We booked spa packages for three of us. You also have the use of the hot tub by the water, a cooling pool, and the grounds which are beautiful. They will serve a lunch of fresh grilled fish and rice. The whole thing is an incredible experience. The cost of a massage is around 45--or less than half the cost on the cruise ship. The packages make the prices even less. Go to the web site and check it out. It is incredible. And the trip there and back also gives you quite a look at the island.

 

yoyocruiser

[Cayoooga]

Cayooga - I'm booked in early Feb with Victor Bodden - why were you disappointed with the trip?

 

Thanks

We have been to Roatan 4 times on a cruise ship.

 

On our first ever stop in Roatan we did an island tour with VB. It was an excellent excursion. We stopped at many of the tourist stops that others on CC have mentioned, and enjoyed a nice lobster lunch and snorkelled a little.

 

Our disappointment with are recent VB excursion was that the driver wasn't really able to cater to our unusual request of visiting several resorts on the island. We are thinking of booking a few weeks vacation on the island and we were doing some due diligence :D. We also wanted to snorkel on the north shore where it was not crowded. The driver ended up taking us to West Bay Beach, where almost all the cruise ship passengers end up.:(

 

Our driver also let us out at West End to look around at the accommodations. After a short walk around, we returned to the drop off point to find our driver was no where in site, not cool.:( He did return to drive us back to the ship, but things were not pleasant.

 

I would definitely do a private excursion. Tourism is the main employment of Roatan.

 

Get out and enjoy this beautiful island. Have a great cruise.

[trish1c]

Not sure what you are interested in, but we did something very different. We booked a day at the Sante Wellness Spa. It is about a 20 minute drive from the port--very interesting drive and we had a great driver who gave a fantastic tour. Then the spa sends a water taxi to get you and take you to a very secluded facility. We booked spa packages for three of us. You also have the use of the hot tub by the water, a cooling pool, and the grounds which are beautiful. They will serve a lunch of fresh grilled fish and rice. The whole thing is an incredible experience. The cost of a massage is around 45--or less than half the cost on the cruise ship. The packages make the prices even less. Go to the web site and check it out. It is incredible. And the trip there and back also gives you quite a look at the island.

 

yoyocruiser

 

We should definitely have gone with you!

[yoyocruiser]

Trish

Initially I was going to book with Victor Bodden--then I found the spa and it seemed like such a different kind of experience.

Many of the excursions seem to be very dependent on the driver or guide that you get. I know a lot of people write that they have wonderful experiences. Still--yours is really the excursion from hell!!

I'm very glad we did the spa. It was different, relaxing, and very worth the money.

 

yoyocruiser

[trish1c]

It wasn't the excursion from hell . . . that would have happened had we missed the ship. It was actually kind of funny but it was a real dissappointment.

[yoyocruiser]

It's great you like to see the humour in things. . .I keep having this visual of the towing process you described. . .I guess you're right. . .it was kinda funny. . .at least the picture in my mind is!!

 

yoyocruiser

[timezoned]

Coconut Tree Divers

Roatan, Honduras

December 23, 2009

Wow! What a great job.

They provided my family a great diving experience!

It had been several years since my husband and I dove, and our first opportunity to take our two children diving. Our two teens took the Discover Scuba class and we tagged along as a 'refresher' course. I wasn't sure how everything was going to go, but Tree, George, and John made sure everything went perfect. I am so happy that my kids' first dive experience was with Coconut Tree Divers. They are both hooked now!

[Byron Cruise Lover]

We did the VB all day tour last October. Our driver was Marty also. He was great. I would recommend them and maybe you want request Marty, as I could see where the driver could make or break the day.

 

Has anyone heard how the island survived the quake? It all sounds just terrible..........

[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!

[tbirdjoni]

We were there in December and used Rony's tours. http://ronystours.com/ Excellent.

he took us aruond the island then to a beach near the ship beach, Bananarama, but where there were plenty of chairs and space to relax.

[toothfary7]

We were there 2 weeks ago and unfortunately had terrible weather for the whole cruise. Roatan must have been around 60 and rain. We booked on the Calypso Lady ( I think it was http://www.sailroatan.com) for a sail/snorkel trip. It was too cold to snorkel. Lori (the ships owner was very gracious and offered to refund our deposit. Instead we decided to go out just for a tour on this beautiful sail boat. The captain (Dave) and first mate (Ira) really made our day. The were full of stories and showed us parts of the island you would not normally see. If and when we return here, they would definitely be our first choice to book again. We are a family of four and were the only ones booked. I think they take a maximun of 12. Very personized tour without the hoards of people from all the ships!!

[Jkrossel]

Just returned from our Crown Princess cruise 2 days ago. Loved it in Roatan. This is not a rich country, but was beautiful and natural and unspoiled (except for the commercial Mahogany Bay area). The island was very green, and the water was in the upper 70's. We did the horseback riding with Rancho Barrio. We were picked up just outside of Mahogany Bay by our driver Conway, and taken to the pasture for our ride. We met our guide RooseMarie there, and found out we were the only 2 going which was great. She was very knowledgeable about the local plants and fish which realy helped make our ride special. We were able to leave our things with Conway in the car durring which was really helpful as we brought our snorkel gear etc as well. We had a great ride along the beach, and then were picked up by Conway again who drove us to Fosters, and agreed to pick us up anytime we needed him. We ate a great lunch there, and then were able to leave our things in the office, change and snorkel for an hour as well. Conway picked us up just when we asked him too, and gave us a senic tour on the way back to the ship. This was all included in the price which was great. Has a wonderful day, and loved the staff. :)

[Rachy817]

Booked with Victor Bodden last week and had an awesome time. This is our second time with the company and I would highly recommend them. Our ship was not able to dock at Mahogany Bay because of wind, so I was a little nervous but once we did dock at the other pier we went straight to their booth and they were ready and waiting for us! We went straight to the Mayan Princess and our driver got us right in. We did get great lounge chairs right in front of the water and had great food and drinks. It was a bit more crowded then the last time we were there but the beach and the water made it worth it! The water was the warmest out of all the ports we visited.