Firstly, just wanted to reply to Mandi's message from 01 Sept 2004:
Hi Mandi, appreciate your concern for the turtle in the picture, it's terrible some
of the things that the tour boats do, just to get near to these lovely (and
endangered) creatures. HOWEVER, the picture that you referred to is actually
not as cruel or wrong as you may think. Captain Spiros, who is the one
holding the turtle, told us himself the story and reason behind the picture. The
turtle was actually tangled up under the water in a fishing net, and so Spiros,
with much difficulty, rescued it from the net, where it would surely have died,
this photo shows Spiros and the turtle just after this happened. Spiros sees
hundreds of turtles each year, and could have 1,000s of better pictures with
turtles if he wanted, but he is just as concerned with their welfare as the rest of
us, maybe more so, particularly as they are part of his local heritage too. In
fact, if Spiros encounters boats 'chasing' turtles and going places they
shouldn't, he isn't shy about letting them know NOT to do this. I hope this gives
the right view of the photo on the website Mandi.

My wife and I went on the Speedboat tour with Captain Spiros and Tasos on
Sat 4th Sept, and had an amazing time. We set off at 08:30 in the morning,
and were both allowed to sit right on the front of the speedboat, which made it
an amazing experience before even seeing any of the caves or coves etc...
We were fortunate enough to see a lone dolphin on the way to the shipwreck
(at Navagio), and some lovely seagulls which glide millimeteres above the
surface of the water, searching for food. We were enlightened by interesting
stories of the places we were passing and visiting, some of which were
factual, and others which were clearly just made up or embellished for sheer
entertainment value, such as the "Mermaid fashion show!" ...Captain Spiros
had a captive audience, and he didn't disappoint!

Many had the opportunity to drive the boat, and the places we stopped to
swim (blue caves etc) and dive of the boat (a lovely small secluded cove)
were excellent, and just made the trip everything we anticipated and more!

One of the nicest things about the trip was that it is completely tailored-made
to the group of 24 on the boat at the time. If you want to stop for a long time or
a short time somewhere, on a beach, in the caves, at a restaurant, Spiros
obliges, if you want to just stop, or go back, or turn the boat around and get
the photo you really want, he'll patiently wait for that too... he'll learn your
names (and if required quickly appoint a new nickname for you!), and will
remember you when he sees you in the town and on the beaches days later.

It was one of the highlights of our 2 weeks in Zante, and this is a massive
recommendation to all who haven't booked a trip yet, to book this one!!
And when a speedboat passes the beach tooting it's horn, WAVE!!!

(If you read this Spiros, all the very best from the boy with the 'expensive toy',
who was doing somersaults off the front of your boat, and his 'lovely wife' who
sat at the front of the boat for the whole trip!)