Palikula Bay

We carried on to Palikula Bay to the NE of Luganville. We spent many days in Palikula and could have stayed longer! It is a lovely bay with very friendly locals. It is also easy to catch a ride to Luganville for last minute supplies.

A trio of boys canoed over to the boat to chat. They gave us information about the coral, fishing and octopuses. Dina mentioned to them that she wanted to see a live octopus (as often people bring her dead versions of the animals she expresses an interest in!). One day they came with the shell of a sea turtle. 

"Octopus boys" showing us a turtle shell

The next day, they arrived at the boat with a live (semi!) octopus in their canoe! They took Dina to the reef where they had found it and were all looking for octopus when the father of one of the boys, who was spear-fishing nearby, called over. He had a small, live octopus clinging to his arm! Fortunately, this octopus was too small for their dinner table. Dina petted the octopus before the man finally peeled it, like very strong Velcro, off his arm. The little octopus was confused and kept trying to cling to the man. It inked the water and finally shot away and hid under a rock. Of course, Dina did not have a camera!

The boys, now known to us as The Octopus Boys, returned to the boat daily, bringing fresh coconuts, a turtle shell, to invite us snorkelling, to chat and eat cookies and to jump into the water from the bimini (cockpit roof).

The Octopus boys

We went exploring the reef on our own looking for octopus and found this wonderful, curious, old guy (we really don’t know if it is male). We spent a long time looking at each other!

Octopus partially hidden in the rocks