Walk into the main shopping area of Sidari and book from the offices there, you'll find its best to shop about between them but you will get cheaper deals...

thanks.....what kind of prices am i looking to pay-just examples?

Sometimes holiday reps state that you should not go with local companies as they are not as safe/insured so you would not be covered if something happened. Assume this is to get you to book with tour operator - but is there any truth in it?

First time we ever went abroad we booked trips with reps... then a day or so later we spotted the same trips available directly for sometimes half the price..

now 90% of the things we have done are nothing to do with the reps so you get the same trip..if you see what I mean.. its not like the reps come along and do all the chatting etc.. they simply book it and someone else (local company) does all the rest..

We booked several trips locally in Corfu and one of them never sent a coach (or all the coaches we asked and said no its not me, one got it wrong.. either way we didn't get the trip).. So after waiting from around 7am to about 9am we went back the the agent and got our money back (took a bit of talking but nothing serious).. So had we have booked this through the reps the only difference would have been the reps would have been getting our earache and giving us our money back...

I would think unless you find someone called "suspicious stavros" who appears behind a bush whispering about cheap boat rides, then the companies are going to have all the relevant experts and all the needed paperwork...

I am afraid Andrewbates is right.
I book all excursions and my clients will be on the same trip half the time as a tour operators guests. Some Tour operators insist that their local agent put on exclusive trips, just for their company which does happen in some cases, but the only difference will mostly be that you may not have a rep in uniform to hold your hand. But what you will have is better value for money as in 9 times out of ten you will find the same or similar trip locally, cheaper. The reason is simple, the excursion provider has to cover a commission to the agent, the rep, and the tour operator in the Uk. A local office can afford to cut his commission .
Insurance... they are pushing their luck if that is what they are saying , they should know we are in Europe now and EU law applies to everything so you will be insured. That kind of talk is unprofessional just to try and close a sale before you can go out and see whats on offer locally!
There is a page detailing various excursions on Castaway travel excursions Though aimed at people staying in Acharavi all these are also available from Sidari.