Active Octopi?

[thompson27502]

Are there any currently active Octopi at St John snorkel spots? We'll be down next week. Was hoping to see one. Any leads would be appreciated.

[DonBeyer]

Saw one last week at Francis, about 100 yards north of where the trail hits the beach.
Don

[equineannie]

Octopi are fairly territorial so anywhere they have been seen is still a great spot. Enjoy!

[Coconuts]

Seeing octopi also requires an additional ingredient, namely skill. It seems that I am lacking in that department. If it was merely luck, my record would be a lot better. Pickles posted here of a snorkel along the left (west) side of Maho Bay, where she saw (from memory) about ten octopi! On our last trip, I followed that route, towing a scuba tank on a float, no less, so I could have as much bottom time as I wanted. Nada on the octopi, and a pretty uninteresting dive in general. In the challenge between gear and skill, it seems that the latter wins hands down.

I saw an octopus once over in Brewer's Bay (Tortola). That has been about it. Sigh...

All the best,

Kevin

[Ed S]

Wish I could give you a live/current report, but we haven't been on island in 3 months (although based on equineannie's comment, maybe all the one's we saw are still there!). We saw more this last trip than previous trips (although I must agree with Kevin - there is a combination of skill and luck, and we might just be getting better at spotting them).
Most of the time, we do not see them in full view, but under a rock or crevasse (next to a pile of clean shells) and just see an arm and eye or two. This trip, we also saw them in full view.
In chronological order.....
Little Lameshur - left side - saw 4 separate octopi under rocks (none in full view), all in the same morning.
Francis - right side out towards Mary Point - saw one hiding.
Gallows Point - saw one - 2 eyes and 1/2 of it's body (saw the same one on 2 separate afternoons). Also swam over to Frank Bay from Gallows (where we stay) and saw one all the way to the left, not too far out towards the point.
Great Lameshur - on left side - saw one in full view just sitting there for the entire time.
Salt Pond - left side - another one in full view!
I guess you can say that they are our favorites, and we are in search of them each and every snorkel (my wife is basically obsessed with them, to the extent that a couple of trips ago she found a live true tulip (google image it - they are an amazing bright red/orange creature) and brought it to an octopus at Francis who happily latched onto it!).
Good luck - please report back!

[thompson27502]

Thanks guys! Last trip I asked about turtles and saw many. Hoping I see many octopus this trip.

Come oooon 3/28!

[Joppa]

In February we saw 3 maybe 4 Octopi at Salt Pond along the left side. I got some amazing pictures. A couple of them are entered into the Island Treasure Maps photo contest on Facebook. One of the photos has 2 Octopi in it. Salt Pond is usually a good place for turtles too.

[iheartsj]

When searching for octopi, look in rocky places that provide lots of hiding sites. The give away is the "octopus garden". A pile of fresh shells just outside the entrance to the octopi's hiding hole. Once I knew to look for the "garden", I started spotting octopi.

Happy Hunting.

[awardb]

I'm just encouraged by Ed S. We go to Lameshur all the time, spend a lot of time on the left side, but have never seen any octopi. Maybe this year. I'll look for the shell garden as noted above!