Look for Mamfredas Tours they have an office in Tsivil and work with a group of agents & coach operators under the banner of the Zakynthos tourest Association [TEZ] some of the trips available are..
the island village tour [can include boat to the blue caves extra]
Olympia [day trip but a long day]
Athena [2 day trip]
Greek night out
Kefalonia [day trip by coach and ferry]
Jeep Safari
Glass bottom boat around the marine park to hopefully see the turtles
sailing on the Ionian sea
half day cruses inc turtle spotting and keri caves
day cruse around the island

sorry i cant help with current prices
their e-mail is mamfredastours@yahoo.gr

Yasus
wizard

Is a tour of Zante better done thro' the tour operator or independently? Is the driving on Zante ok?

As others have said, book tours/trips independently, much cheaper than through TO's
Driving is ok on Zante, we've hired cars plenty of times there and never had any problems. However, do keep an eye out for Greek taxi drivers and bus drivers - they seem to have their own driving regulations

Thx a lot for all that useful info.
One last question:
Where do you get to see in Cephalonia? I'm in 2 minds about that trip as would like to see another island but might like to hold it in reserve for a future holiday.

kefalonia trip daily in high season includes
monastry of st.Gerassimos
Drogarati cave ****
Melissani lake and caves ****
Karavomilos
Aghia Efimia
Myrtos beach
Argostoff

**** extra cost

yasus

wizard

Hi Stark...

I've only been to Zante in May and June so not sure about how many turtles will be around in August.
The peek mating season is mid June and egg incubation is around 60 days so August is late in the season for the turtles to be coming ashore to lay.

They will be around though and like Sarah suggests hire a pedalo as you will probably need to go a little further out to see them and swim with them. May and June i know they come in very close to the shore late afternoon and follow the warm currents all around the Laganas Bay area. I've snorkelled with turtles about 30 yards from the beach at Kalamaki, and the sea is very calm in the bay and it's just been above my elbows as the sea floor has a very shallow gradient. Fins are needed if you want to keep up with them and some kind of buoyancy aid if your not strong swimmer as they can take you out a long way.. ..

Aghios Sostis islet (i think they charge to go on the islet now) is very good for Snorkelling no turtles but, plenty of big fish and some of the Dive centres around here take out people who only want to snorkel around the Keri peninsula dive sites.

http://www.eurodivers.nu/prices/snorkeler-prices.html << €20 with your own kit €30 with all kit supplied

Eurodivers can be found along the Laganas beach above one of the restaurant / bars just look out for sign.
http://www.eurodivers.nu/how-to-find-us.html

If they are too busy try Adventure diving further along towards Sostsi islet at Lithakia.
http://www.adventuredivingeuro.com/UKindex.htm

Some more info
http://www.divingfinder.com/Scuba_Diving/Europe/Italy/Dive_Centre/Adventure_Diving

Hope you get to swim up close because it's an experience to swim with one underwater..

we just got back from kalamaki yesterday we thought about doing some trips but just hired a car for a few days instead, we went all over the island in the 3 days, the shipwreck looks great from above we also went to st nicholas port and did a short boat trip to the blue caves, that was amazing as they are small boats and they get right in the caves

hotel petros is on the way out of town, about 20/25 min walk throu the town to the beach, or come out of hotel, take 1st right, then second left and walk throu pleasant side roads to beach, by the football ground.
reasonable rooms, though if you are on ground floor, look out for the ants!
pool ok, bar ok as long as the owners family is not monopolising it again this year.

to book the Levante speedboat trip, go down to the harbour and see Spiros the captain, or you can catch him at Freddies beach bar around 1pm every day. spectacular trip this, done it 4 times!

to book the jeep safari, book direct with them at their office opposite the Nemisis restaurant, on the way to Planos end of town [ opp to your end!]well worth the trip, though not suitable for the very young, as it does get very bouncy off road!

Plazza Palace hotel is very close by and one of the best in town.

theres Two Brothers apartments in Tsilivi, they also have a fantastic bar .

Tsilivi beach is good clean shallow sand and a BLUE FLAG AWARDED BEACH,unlike others on Zante.

its the rate of euro/sterling thats bad...prices have not increased

the new dep lounge is a great improvement. airconditioned, clean toilets, but limited seating.upstairs smoking area near dutyfree.
cafe still a rip off though

I would recomend a day trip to Kefalonia - i did it through a tour agency, not with a car though. We went to a monastry, melissani lake, drogarati cave and the capital, argostoli. Beautiful Island - went there on holiday a couple of years after the day trip!

Iberostar Plagos beach, Tragaki nr Tsilivi, Zante.

Has anyone seen a wedding or got marrried within this hotel? Just wondering if anyone has information on where the weddings take place! I've been told there is a choice of a few locations but have no more information . Also wondering what options there are nearby, or in hotel to arrange an evening party?
Any info welcome-we go in 4 weeks!

Yes luca:
The airport cafe is awful. A real rip-off for poor food & the coffee was undrinkable.
I'd recommend for people to bring their own food & avoid it. Why is there not more seating?
It is a brand new airport but doesn't seem to be coping very well with the volume of summer tourists.

Going to Argassi ( Katerina Palace ) in mid Oct and would like info
on prices of meals beer etc are they expensive due to the poor rate
of the pound at the moment.

interesting question.. we are going 2nd week of october to Argassi ... lets hope the weather holds out for october
wizard

We are thinking of booking a villa in tsilivi for next sept (final week of) and was wondering if anyone could tell us if its still hot then, as ive heard that it rains in september there. We went there in july 2007 and it was a scorcher but as from next year we are taking our five year old for his first abroad holiday and we wanted a month that would be comfortable for him but still a nice suntan for us. Any info would be great. cheers all

We went in mid September 2005 and it rained a lot, we thought the beach in Tsilivi was awful

Hi we went end of May this year and weather was lovely. It rained one morning for about an hour but it was still lovely and warm! Best thing was it was pleasant on an evening so we could sleep without air con.
Sorry that doesn't help with Sept but maybe you could go another time?

Sorry previous post should have read ' without aircon!! '