Are the Montebello Islands safe to visit after the atomic tests?

Mostly yes, with two clear exceptions. Trimouille and Alpha Islands still carry slightly elevated background radiation at the ground-zero sites and DBCA limits visits to one hour per day on each, with no soil disturbance and no removal of relics. The other 170-plus islands and the surrounding waters are at normal background levels and are fished and visited routinely. Charter operators brief these rules at the start of every trip.

How do I get to the Montebello Islands?

Charter or private boat only. The most common access is a 5 to 10 day mothership charter departing Dampier, which is a 16-hour drive from Perth or a flight into Karratha airport. A smaller number of charters depart Exmouth. Private boats need to be a capable offshore platform with full self-sufficiency for the 100-kilometre crossing — most private trips travel as a small fleet.

Can I camp at the Montebellos?

Yes, in limited designated zones with a DBCA permit. There is no water, no fuel, no facilities and no waste collection — campers must be fully self-sufficient and pack everything out. The vast majority of fishing visitors stay on a chartered or private mothership rather than camping.

What fish does the Montebello Islands marine park hold?

Over 450 recorded species. The reef and pelagic mix targeted by recreational and charter anglers includes Spanish mackerel, red and spangled emperor, coral trout, rankin cod, giant trevally, queenfish, sailfish and mangrove jack along the lagoon edges. Sanctuary zones overlay parts of the chain — verify on the current DBCA visitor map before fishing.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Montebello Islands (Conservation Park / Marine Park)

Tue 27 Oct 2026 · Australia/Perth

Forecast updated 6:00pm AWST

Bite Alert

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27 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 31 Oct

📍 Montebello Islands (Conservation Park / Marine Park)

full · 99%

Weather: Sunny Wind: SW 240° · 24 km/h Swell: 0.9 m @ 7 s SW Water: 24.8 °C Pressure: 1012.4 hPa ↓ falling Faces several ways: wind direction isn't scored here

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

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▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:30 am

Solunar Minor window

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind S 34 km/h

Moon full all day

Water temp 24.8 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:16 am Last light 6:47 pm

Low 5:02 am High 11:17 am Low 4:52 pm High 11:02 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

Good

11:00 am → 1:00 pm

Good

6:30 pm → 7:30 pm

First light

5:16 am

Last light

6:47 pm

Sunrise

5:38 am

Sunset

6:24 pm

Moonrise

7:44 pm

Moonset

6:00 am

Low tide

5:02 am

High tide

11:17 am

Low tide

4:52 pm

High tide

11:02 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

23°

↙︎

234°

37 km/h

1am

☀️

23°

↙︎

221°

37 km/h

2am

☀️

23°

↙︎

211°

37 km/h

3am

☀️

22°

↙︎

208°

35 km/h

4am

☀️

22°

↙︎

204°

35 km/h

5am

☀️

22°

↓︎

201°

34 km/h

6am

☀️

21°

↓︎

198°

34 km/h

7am

☀️

21°

↓︎

198°

32 km/h

8am

☀️

21°

↓︎

200°

29 km/h

9am

☀️

21°

↙︎

203°

25 km/h

10am

☀️

22°

↙︎

212°

21 km/h

11am

☀️

22°

↙︎

227°

21 km/h

12pm

☀️

22°

↙︎

240°

24 km/h

1pm

☀️

21°

↙︎

243°

27 km/h

2pm

☀️

22°

↙︎

244°

27 km/h

3pm

☀️

22°

↙︎

243°

28 km/h

4pm

☀️

22°

↙︎

244°

30 km/h

5pm

☀️

22°

↙︎

244°

32 km/h

6pm

☀️

22°

↙︎

243°

32 km/h

7pm

☀️

22°

↙︎

244°

32 km/h

8pm

☀️

22°

↙︎

247°

32 km/h

9pm

☀️

22°

↙︎

246°

32 km/h

10pm

☀️

21°

↙︎

243°

34 km/h

11pm

☀️

21°

↙︎

241°

35 km/h

Hourly Swell

Easing 0.8 → 0.5 m SW

12am

0.8 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

1am

0.9 m

@ 7 s

←︎

Slight

chop

2am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

←︎

Slight

chop

3am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

←︎

Moderate

chop

4am

1.1 m

@ 6 s

←︎

Moderate

chop

5am

1.1 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

6am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

7am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

8am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

9am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

10am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

11am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

12pm

0.9 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

1pm

0.8 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

2pm

0.8 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

3pm

0.7 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

4pm

0.7 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

5pm

0.7 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

6pm

0.6 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

7pm

0.6 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

8pm

0.6 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

9pm

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

10pm

0.5 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

11pm

0.5 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 0.4° over the last 3 days

Sat

24 Oct

24.4°

Sun

25 Oct

24.5°

Mon

26 Oct

24.7°

Tue

27 Oct

24.8°

Wed

28 Oct

24.9°

Thu

29 Oct

24.8°

Fri

30 Oct

24.7°

Sat

31 Oct

24.6°

Sun

1 Nov

24.7°

Mon

2 Nov

24.6°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 24 km/h SW (240°).

Wind map data: ECMWF HRES (operational), updated every 6 hours. Not for navigation.

Open in the full fishing map →

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

Good

11:00 am → 1:00 pm

Good

6:30 pm → 7:30 pm

First light

5:16 am

Last light

6:47 pm

Sunrise

5:38 am

Sunset

6:24 pm

Moonrise

7:44 pm

Moonset

6:00 am

Low tide

5:02 am

High tide

11:17 am

Low tide

4:52 pm

High tide

11:02 pm

Species at This Spot

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