Where and when to see octopus and cuttlefish

Clever, colour-changing cephalopods: mimic octopuses that impersonate other animals, tiny blue-ringed octopuses and the strutting flamboyant cuttlefish are muck-diving stars.

This guide documents sightings in 7 Good Dives regions.

Colored-pencil illustration: one greater blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena lunulata).

Where to plan your trip

Our picks for a trip focused on octopus and cuttlefish, chosen for the encounters below. Calendar peaks describe timing, not a ranking of destinations.

Mimic octopus and varied cephalopods
Scuba diving
Lembeh Strait
TK sites and Hairball offer different octopus targets. Choose your animal before choosing dates: the individual calendars below preserve separate mimic, blue-ringed and cuttlefish seasons.
Target: mimic octopus · blue-ringed octopus · flamboyant cuttlefish
Ask about: TK 1, 2 and 3 · Hairball
Sources
- Lembeh dive sites and resident critters (Murex Resorts)
Flamboyant cuttlefish and muck octopuses
Scuba diving
Dauin & Apo Island
Dauin combines flamboyant cuttlefish with several octopus types. Ask for recent guide reports and allow repeat searches; one group calendar cannot promise every target.
Target: flamboyant cuttlefish · octopuses (mimic, blue-ringed)
Ask about: Dauin coastal sites · Atmosphere House Reef
Sources
- Dauin critters and house reef (Atmosphere Resorts)
Shore-based octopus and cuttlefish searches
Scuba diving
Tulamben & Amed
Seraya Secrets documents mimic octopus and cuttlefish on the sandy slope. This is a practical choice for repeat macro dives from shore.
Target: octopus
Ask about: Seraya Secrets
Sources
- Tulamben Coral Garden and Seraya Secrets (Tulamben Dive Resort)

Octopus and cuttlefish sighting calendar

Calendar months, every year

Regional overview rows show presence. The animal rows below each region show their individual peak months.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Lembeh StraitIndonesia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Lembeh Strait: mimic octopus	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	●	●	●	●	●
Lembeh Strait: blue-ringed octopus	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak
Lembeh Strait: flamboyant cuttlefish	Peak	●	●	●	●	●	●	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak
Dauin & Apo IslandPhilippines	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Dauin & Apo Island: octopuses (mimic, blue-ringed)	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	Peak	Peak	●
Dauin & Apo Island: flamboyant cuttlefish	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	Peak	Peak	●
Tulamben & AmedIndonesia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Tulamben & Amed: octopus	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
AnilaoPhilippines	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Anilao: blue-ringed octopus	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Malta & GozoMalta	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Malta & Gozo: octopus	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Raja AmpatIndonesia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Raja Ampat: octopus	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
WakatobiIndonesia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Wakatobi: octopus	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●

Peak = best odds · ● = regularly seen · blank = unlikely.

Calendars describe animal presence, not weather or site access; check each region’s dive season. For grouped animals, a marked month may apply to only one member of the group. Sightings vary by site and dive.

Where and when to see octopus and cuttlefish

Where to plan your trip

Octopus and cuttlefish sighting calendar

Explore all 7 documented regions