Victor Bodden guide/driver recommendations? (MERGED THREADS)

[TigerStar]

Does Victor usually tell you who your guide is when the booking is confirmed? I just got a confirmation for 2 of us but there's no mention of who our guide will be.

 

I specifically requested either Tex or Ali and he replied that we would be booked with Ali. Not sure if he usually mentions the guide or not.

[MDSue]

We also wanted Hanno but was told he is now working in the US.

Wow! I know he was thinking about coming to the US, but surprised to see he actually did. Any clue where in the US? We thought he was a great guide.

[SF]

Wow! I know he was thinking about coming to the US, but surprised to see he actually did. Any clue where in the US? We thought he was a great guide.

 

When we originally booked with Victor we requested either Hanno, Tex or Ali and Victor emailed back Hanno would be our guide. When I recently confirmed as our tour is only a few weeks away that's when Victor told me but I have no idea where in the US.

 

When did he mention to you he was thinking of coming to the US? How long ago?

 

All three have great reviews and I'm glad Ali was available to take over.

Edited March 19, 2010 by SF

[MDSue]

When we originally booked with Victor we requested either Hanno, Tex or Ali and Victor emailed back Hanno would be our guide. When I recently confirmed as our tour is only a few weeks away that's when Victor told me but I have no idea where in the US.

 

When did he mention to you he was thinking of coming to the US? How long ago?

 

All three have great reviews and I'm glad Ali was available to take over.

We've done two tours with him two years apart. We just talked about the pros and cons of living in the US versus Roatan both trips. He talked about how he had thought about it, but he didn't mention having any real plans. I know he probably made plenty of American friends over the years while giving tours for Victor. I think it's possible that perhaps someone made him a job offer to good to resist. I'm happy for him and hope it works out.

[14ersco]

When we originally booked with Victor we requested either Hanno, Tex or Ali and Victor emailed back Hanno would be our guide. When I recently confirmed as our tour is only a few weeks away that's when Victor told me but I have no idea where in the US.

 

When did he mention to you he was thinking of coming to the US? How long ago?

 

All three have great reviews and I'm glad Ali was available to take over.

 

When did you learn that Hanno was no longer your guide?

 

The reason I ask is that we booked on March 4 for our August cruise and at that time Victor said we would have Hanno for our guide. If he is in the US then we will need to contact Victor.

 

Thanks

[SF]

When did you learn that Hanno was no longer your guide?

 

The reason I ask is that we booked on March 4 for our August cruise and at that time Victor said we would have Hanno for our guide. If he is in the US then we will need to contact Victor.

 

Thanks

 

I just wrote Victor to confirm our tour with Hanno and Victor wrote back saying he did have us booked but unfortunately Hanno was working in the US now and wouldn't be our guide. This happened just this past week on Tuesday, March 16th.

Edited March 20, 2010 by SF

[14ersco]

I just wrote Victor to confirm our tour with Hanno and Victor wrote back saying he did have us booked but unfortunately Hanno was working in the US now and wouldn't be our guide. This happened just this past week on Tuesday, March 16th.

 

 

Thanks for the information. Once again the people of Cruise Critic know first when something changes; that is why I keep on watching these threads.

 

Just wrote to Victor to see which guide he now has assigned to us. He should be surprised that I already know that Hanno has left for the US.

[SF]

Thanks for the information. Once again the people of Cruise Critic know first when something changes; that is why I keep on watching these threads.

 

Just wrote to Victor to see which guide he now has assigned to us. He should be surprised that I already know that Hanno has left for the US.

 

Post back and let us know what he says.

[14ersco]

Post back and let us know what he says.

 

Got back a reply from Victor and yes Hanno is in the US, but only for 3 months. I did not ask where in the US Hanno was working. So Hanno will still be our guide this summer in Roatan. :cool:

[LAC&RJC]

We were in Roatan on March 2 and did a private tour with Victor. Our guide was Lionel and he was excellent. He was very friendly and knowledgeable about his island and its history and heritage. He gave us a great tour.

[hershey1srl]

So glad to hear that! we are going on the Dream 4/3 can't wait! We booked a tour with Victor and Lionel will be our guide. I hope he has good ideas, cause other that ending at Paradise Beach, not sure what to see! I'm hoping he makes good suggestions! :o

[SF]

Got back a reply from Victor and yes Hanno is in the US, but only for 3 months. I did not ask where in the US Hanno was working. So Hanno will still be our guide this summer in Roatan. :cool:

 

Thanks for posting back and letting us know the response from Victor.

 

We are looking forward to our tour with Ali. Victor from what I've read on the boards takes a lot of interest in making sure his customers are happy with their tour and visit.

Edited March 23, 2010 by SF

[lovevacadays]

Thanks for posting back and letting us know the response from Victor.

 

We are looking forward to our tour with Ali. Victor from what I've read on the boards takes a lot of interest in making sure his customers are happy with their tour and visit.

 

Enjoy your time in Roatan. Ali comes highly recommended on these boards but even more than that by his fellow tour guide Tex. Roatan is gorgeous. I wish I was on my way there now!

[SF]

Enjoy your time in Roatan. Ali comes highly recommended on these boards but even more than that by his fellow tour guide Tex. Roatan is gorgeous. I wish I was on my way there now!

 

Yes, it does look gorgeous as we recently saw an episode on House Hunters where people were buying a second home there and the scenery and landscape they showed was beautiful. Not sure what we want to do yet as we don't want to visit the monkeys or any beaches. We have beaches all year long at home so it isn't on the top of our list. Probably going to sightsee, shop and trying to decide if we want either the Butterfly Gardens or Botanical Gardens. May stop by West Bay Beach Area and we're also thinking about the Glass Bottom Boat.

[Copper49]

We just got back from our cruise and we did a tour with Bodden tours when we were in Roatan. We were supposed to have Hanno, but we weren't told until we arrived outside the pier that he was in the US. I was a little disappointed and scared of who I would get. We got Sam as our guide. I have to say, we had a wonderful time with Sam!!! He is very knowledgeable about the island and he is a sweetheart. There were just the two of us, so he was so helpful with taking pictures of us and made sure to take two or three at a time :)..He is WONDERFUL and my husband and I would recommend him to anyone. I can't wait to go back and we are going to request him again!!

[islandhoppin]

We will be in Roatan in Sept.2010, i want to book a tour with Victor, i was wondering if anyone has done the zipline and if so how was it and would you recommend this? If anyone else has any suggestions on a must see or do on the tour, please do tell. We also want to see the monkeys. Any and all suggestion are welcome.

 

Thank you,

Maryanne :p

[silvercrikhix]

We just used Victor Bodden Tours last Friday. We can't recommend this enough. YOU decide where you want to go and what you want to see. Everyone we met was extremely friendly, helpful and accommodating. Top notch service with a smile!

 

Our driver was a delightful young woman named Johanna. We drove around the whole island, stopping at any places we wanted. She answered every single question we asked of her. And we asked about everything from weather to education to heritage to typical life to traffic to imports/exports, politics, religion, etc.....

 

We wanted coffee and vanilla from the grocery store, as we had heard it was much less $ than the gift shops. She told us which ones would be best, went in with us and helped us with any questions we had. We bought 2 bottles of vanilla, 2 bags of coffee and 2 banana sodas. Cost $16. US. It was clean and bright, just like an american grocery store. The touristy gift shops and the ship were selling the coffee for $16/bag. Ha!!

 

We went to Victors home and played with the monkeys for as long as we wanted.....held the parrots....my DH hand fed a new white tail deer fawn. The staff at Victors house was very friendly and happy. There is a spider monkey there with a new baby, absolutely adorable!

 

We shopped at a few other gift shops, etc. Our main goal was to visit the Stone Castle Cameo factory. We purchased 4 of them. Their credit card machine was not working, she took my DH to a bank while I stayed there and ogled the cameos. The bank didn't work out so......we took one of the store clerks with us back to Mahogany Bay where they have a new store "Gem Carvings" and used the cc machine there. It was toward the end of our tour and we needed to take our purchases with us. Our driver then took the clerk back to the Stone Castle location for us. Talk about service!!!

 

We can't wait to visit Roatan again and see more with a Victor Bodden Tour guide!!! :D

Edited March 30, 2010 by silvercrikhix

[Bellfree Bat]

I have not taken my tour with Victor yet but if the tour is half as good as his communications with me, I am sure it will be great. Based on the guide reccomendations here, I had asked if I could either have Tex or Ali. The email was sent this morning and I already have confirmation that Ali will be our guide.

 

Looking forward to this tour as the last time we were on Roatan, we went diving so saw little above water. Are there any "not to miss" areas? We would like to go to the Botanical Gardens and general sightseeing including lunch but really open as to the rest.

[blessedwith12]

Personally I loved the West End area. We were there on a rainy day so we didn't stop - but if I ever return to Roatan, I would love to go there and look around. Next we went to one of the resorts at the West Bay? area - not so sure on the names of places and it was a beautiful beach. Those are the two areas where I would spend my time if I go back.

We,too, asked for Ali or Tex and we had Tex. He has a wonderful sense of humor, is very personable and knowledgeable. We enjoyed our time with him very much.

[plugged51]

has anyone who has used victor bodden tours ever gone to the garafuna experience. i just read about it and wondered if it is possible to include it in his tour. also wondering if you have, if it is worthwhile. want to see the island that so many of you have described and dont want to miss anything. thanks for any info.

[SF]

We are also interested in including the garafuna experience our our upcoming tour so I'm hoping someone will post who's already been there.

[chasm4u]

What we are definatly asking for...

Monkeys

Melvin Boddens home

tour of Coxen Hole (we are not average tourists)

We want to take picture of french harbour to if our driver thinks its a good idea. sINCE ITS A very POOR AREA WE WILL TAKE HIS ADVICE ON THAT ONE.

 

-------

 

After this should we ask to see oak ridge, woul dwe have time? Or should we do the botanical gardens for a hike.

 

We hate touristy things, love hiking and culture. We realise the bad neighboorhoods always have the best food adn you learn nothing about a culture at a resort.

 

Any suggestions?

[dkb363]

We also just used Bodden's Tours - we had Lonnie as our guide and he was great. Took us whereever we wanted - one of the kids wanted an official Honduras soccer shirt and he knew just where to go to get a good price. The kids ziplined at his house - what they liked about that one was they could do tricks (i.e. zipline upside down, etc) vs. some others they have done. Monkeys were cute - we really laughed when they would jump all over you. Enjoy your tours - you are in good hands.

[msw.delafield]

Chasm4u -

Your Bodden guide will pretty much go or do whatever it is you want to do.

We chose to avoid a ship excursion when we visited Roatan last month. We had pre-booked a Bodden car and driver via the internet. We also communicated ahead of time what we were hoping to do and see.

We were very fortunate to be assigned Channin Bodden as our driver and guide for the day. Channin was born on Roatan but spent his youth in the US, returning to Roatan after high school. He was fluent in both the local Spanish and his English was perfect as well.

Technically, our time with Bodden was booked as “The Best of Roatan” tour – but once we got into the car and we were underway, we shared our interests with Channin and he modified our day to accommodate all of our interests.

Channin took us to see some of the more scenic vistas off the eastern end of the island, we traveled all the way down to West End, looked at some of the available property for sale on the island, visited an iguana farm and took time to stop and see the monkeys at the Bodden home. We finished up the tour that day stopping at a local roadside restaurant/bar on the way back to the ship and enjoyed an outstanding meal of fresh caught and cooked garlic grouper.

It sounds like all of the Bodden guides provide enjoiable experiences, but i'd strongly suggest asking for Channin if you have the choice!

Thanks for reading!!

MSW

[SF]

We used Victor Bodden just recently in April and Ali was our driver who was great. We are returning to Roatan this month again in May and are using Victor again but this time our driver is Pilo. I'm sure he's just as great as Ali but has anyone had him as a driver recently as I haven't seen his name mentioned on the boards anywhere?