Octopus
Swim, Snorkel, Dive, See, Meet, Watch the Octopus
The Octopus changes the color of his livery according to the environment where he is, thanks to the mimetic faculties of his coat. To blend in with his environment, he takes poses that follow the relief or he changes his livery color with variations of brown, black, red, yellow. He can even make the texture of his skin smooth or grainy to imitate the substrate.
Territorial, it moves with its 8 tentacles, from one rocky or coralligenous crevice to another, along the shores, staying for a long time in the same place. When it feels attacked, it sends a cloud of ink in small jets to conceal itself while fleeing backward.
CHECK SEASONALITY
Octopus vulgaris
Macro
Poulpe commun, Pieuvre, Common octopus, Octopus vulgaris
Food
Octopus feeds on crustaceans, mollusks and cephalopods. It catches them with its tentacles covered in suckers and takes them to its burrow. It paralyzes them with its very powerful venom.
It uses its mouth like a beak to shred its prey. It can also pierce shells. It feeds on soft tissues and lets the shell pile up in front of its burrow. They end up blocking the crevice and hiding it from predators.
Breeding
Octopus attains sexual maturity when it reaches a weight of between 200 and 500 g depending on whether it is a male or a female. The ritual courtship consists of the interlacing of the male and the female. The male inserts its reproductive tentacle inside the female's cavity. The fertilization takes place internally.
The female lays the eggs six weeks after mating. The water temperature determines how long they are incubated for and when they hatch. The female lays several thousand eggs in the shelter and ventilates them until they hatch (24 to 125 days depending on water temperature), and does not it over this whole period of time. It dies when the eggs hatch.
Dive centers
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C.P.S.M Centre de Plongée de Saint Mandrier
France
- Saint Mandrier

The diving school CPSM of Saint-Mandrier is located on the seaside, in the bay of Sablettes, at the exit of the bay of Toulon. Open on weekdays from April to October, the CPSM of Saint-Mandrier's boats depart at 9:30 am and 2:30 pm and on weekends, at 10:30 am only. In July and August, the first departures of the speedboats with 15 divers each, take place at 8:30 am.
At the CPSM of Saint-Mandrier, you park your car in a large free public parking lot, next to the center and you benefit from a nice infrastructure on the spot, with a classroom equipped with a video projector, a store selling equipment, a changing room with hot showers and toilets.
From the C.P.S.M Centre de Plongée de Saint Mandrier, you have fast and direct access to the most interesting dive sites of the area, including the wreck of the Aroyo, with a 10 minutes drive. Non-divers can enjoy the sun and sea on the sandy beach, a few meters from the center. Further on, games of bowls are played in specially designed areas in the shade of the pine forest. [+]
- Located close to the dive sites
- Functional boat
- Meeting after diving
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Centre de Plongée Cap Cerbère
France
- Cerbère
The Cap Cerbère diving centre is located in the heart of the Cerbère-Banyuls marine reserve, in the Pyrénées-Orientales. Open all year round, the premises of Cap Cerbère, also welcome people with reduced mobility, in the village of Cerbère. They include three separate men's and women's changing rooms, with a blower to dry your wetsuits between two boat rotations, showers and sanitary facilities, two classrooms equipped with video projectors and wifi, two inflation stations (air and nitrox) including 20 buffer bottles.
Wetsuits can be rented from children's size to XXL, from 5 mm to drysuits. Parking is free. The boarding platform is just a few metres from the club. The Cap Cerbère training centre offers PADI and FFESSM courses from beginner level 1 to the more advanced level 4. For those who dive with rebreathers or technical dives, we have soda lime on order, nitrox equipment and 5 ponys for O2 decompression. The Cap Cerbère club is the ideal structure for groups of up to 58 divers with comfort and safety.
You can even benefit from a group rate in summer! Come aboard the Cap Cerbère, a 14 m boat approved for up to 39 divers, equipped with a lift to make it easier to get in and out of the water. The Marlasca is also an 8.5 m long boat, equipped with two parrot ladders and can accommodate up to 19 divers. The boat can be rented for 3 hours to meet up with friends or family. The dive sites are located near the Cap Cerbère diving centre with a 5 to 15 minute sail. Possibility of kayaking, paddle. [+]
- Protected Marine Park
- Near Downtown area
- Welcome groups
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Ecole de plongée d’Ile Rousse
France
- Ile Rousse

The EPIR diving center is located in the fishing port of Ile Rousse, in the Balagne region of northern Corsica. Open from March to November, EPIR has a parking lot near its premises, to unload your equipment. On-site, state-qualified instructors who are also PADI instructors will welcome you and guide you in your choice of training. The EPIR diving school offers FFESSM and PADI training courses from the first dive to level 4, dive guide.
The EPIR training center also organizes 2 weeks in a hyperbaric environment for professionals, in Scuba Class 1B or Class 2B, with a package of accommodation, catering, and courses. EPIR promotes PADI E-Learning to validate the theoretical part of the preparation for a diving level. With this method, you do your theoretical courses at home and then you do your dives at Ile Rousse during your vacations. This is a way to enjoy your stay without the theory courses on site.
Embark on the EPIR boat to go to the most beautiful dive sites of Calvi when the weather conditions allow you to go west, as well as to the dive spots of Ile Rousse, nearby. EPIR can offer you diving packages for couples, families, and groups. For non-divers, the beach of Ile Rousse is located at 100 meters from the premises. Boat, sailboat and speedboat rentals, windsurfing, and jet ski rentals are available. Otherwise, take a nice walk to the market of Ile Rousse accessible in 10 minutes by foot. [+]
- Near Downtown area
- Nautical activities
- Near Downtown area
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Sanary snorkeling
France
- Sanary-sur-Mer

Sanary Snorkeling is located on the fishermen's wharf in Sanary-sur-mer. Amarilli and Jacques welcome you warmly on their boat, a semi-rigid, to make discoveries of the bay and the islands of Embiez.
You can embark for half a day or a full day, at sunset or at dusk in the evening. With family or friends, come and discover the most beautiful Natura 2000 classified sites in the bay of Sanary, for a first dive or a diving course.
Small family structure, Sanary Plongée offers the opportunity to privatize the boat for a birthday, the bachelor party, a theme trip or any other festive occasion!
These outings are accessible to everyone from 6 years old. The equipment is provided and the outings last 2h30 on average. You can choose one of the four possible time slots during the day. [+]
- Friendly atmosphere
- No equipment carrying
- Stay without a car
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All Blue Diving
Spain
- Cambrils

All Blue Diving is located in Cambrils, close to Tarragona. Diving at All Blue Diving is ideal for divers and their families, who will also enjoy the historical remains of Tarragona, the PortAventura theme park and all the water sports activities in the area. Open every day from April to November and by appointment the rest of the year, All Blue Diving welcomes you in the mornings from 10am to 1pm and in the evenings from 5pm to 7pm. With a small shop under a covered passageway, you'll find a reception desk, a small indoor lounge, equipment sales and more.
A minibus takes you to and from the dive sites on the shore, the calas. On request, divers can be picked up from the hotels. You can choose to take courses at All Blue Diving, from beginner to Open Water Diver and Divemaster levels. If you're already a certified diver, you can explore the crystal-clear coves of Cala Calafat, Cala Llobeta and Cala Sant Jordi from the shore, or take the boat out to explore the deeper sites. Don't miss night diving from the beach at Cala Vidre with All Blue Diving. Follow the wreck trail at Tarragona's Pârque Subacuático with All Blue Diving. Here, the atmosphere is friendly, the instructors motivated and environmental protection taken very seriously.
All Blue Diving is part of Nautic Park, which groups together several diving centres in L'Ametlla De Mar in Tarragona. You can also organise your diving holiday with Nautic Parc to obtain an accommodation and diving package, and why not book some water sports activities too...
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- Shore diving
- Nautical activities
- Near Downtown area
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