Where to snorkel with squid in South Australia

From Octo­ber to Decem­ber off the coast of South Australia’s Fleurieu Penin­su­la, it’s peak spawn­ing sea­son for squid – or salt n’ pep­per squid on your menu.

This includes a native species of squid called south­ern cala­mari, which are found in south­ern Aus­tralia and only live for about one year.

They are com­mon­ly found in South Australia’s waters with thou­sands usu­al­ly seen in and around Rapid Head Sanc­tu­ary Zone in the Encounter Marine Park.

The females breed with mul­ti­ple part­ners, lay clumps of white fin­ger-like egg strands, and then a short time after mat­ing, both the males and females die.

When the eggs hatch, the baby squid remain close to the shore for sev­er­al months then move out to deep­er water where they can indulge their huge appetite.

Swim with squid

Snorkelling with squid is a great nature-based expe­ri­ence where you can wit­ness for your­self the diverse marine life of SA.

So why not slap on your bathers and snorkel with them in the crys­tal clear waters along SA’s coast includ­ing Rapid Bay, Sec­ond Val­ley and Port Noar­lun­ga. You can even book a com­mu­ni­ty snorkel tour with Expe­ri­enc­ing Marine Sanc­tu­ar­ies if you’d rather not go it alone.

For a taste of what you’d see, check out the video below to see squid dart­ing through the water at Sec­ond Valley.

Sec­ond Val­ley Squid Jan 2016 

Sanc­tu­ary zones – a safe place

To help pro­tect the south­ern cala­mari species, fish­ing is not allowed at Rapid Head Sanc­tu­ary Zone – or in any sanc­tu­ary zone in SA for that matter.

Intrigued by South Australia’s under­wa­ter world? Learn more from our blogs aboutsea­hors­es,whales,Port Jack­son sharks andbaby marine ani­mals.

This sto­ry was orig­i­nal­ly post­ed in Novem­ber 2016.

Main image: South­ern calamari