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)

Sat 31 Oct 2026 · Australia/Perth

Forecast updated 6:00pm AWST

Bite Alert

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31 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 31 Oct

📍 Montebello Islands (Conservation Park / Marine Park)

waning gibbous · 74%

Weather: Sunny Wind: SW 238° · 25 km/h Swell: 0.5 m @ 12 s SW Water: 24.6 °C Pressure: 1014.7 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 · 5:00 am

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dawn

Tide Strong flow

Wind SW 23 km/h

Moon waning gibbous all day

Water temp 24.6 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:13 am Last light 6:49 pm

High 12:46 am Low 7:34 am High 1:47 pm Low 7:11 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:00 am → 6:30 am

2h 30m

Good

6:30 pm → 8:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

7:30 am → 8:00 am

30m

Good

12:30 am → 1:00 am

30m

First light

5:13 am

Last light

6:49 pm

Sunrise

5:36 am

Sunset

6:26 pm

Moonrise

11:58 pm

Moonset

10:00 am

High tide

12:46 am

Low tide

7:34 am

High tide

1:47 pm

Low tide

7:11 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

23°

←︎

252°

23 km/h

1am

☀️

23°

↙︎

244°

24 km/h

2am

☀️

23°

↙︎

238°

24 km/h

3am

☀️

23°

↙︎

233°

24 km/h

4am

☀️

23°

↙︎

227°

24 km/h

5am

☀️

23°

↙︎

222°

23 km/h

6am

☀️

23°

↙︎

217°

22 km/h

7am

☀️

23°

↙︎

213°

22 km/h

8am

☀️

23°

↙︎

213°

21 km/h

9am

☀️

23°

↙︎

216°

22 km/h

10am

☀️

23°

↙︎

223°

22 km/h

11am

☀️

23°

↙︎

231°

23 km/h

12pm

☀️

23°

↙︎

238°

25 km/h

1pm

☀️

23°

↙︎

243°

27 km/h

2pm

☀️

23°

↙︎

246°

28 km/h

3pm

☀️

23°

↙︎

246°

30 km/h

4pm

☀️

23°

↙︎

246°

31 km/h

5pm

☀️

23°

↙︎

245°

32 km/h

6pm

☀️

23°

↙︎

243°

33 km/h

7pm

☀️

23°

↙︎

241°

34 km/h

8pm

☀️

23°

↙︎

239°

35 km/h

9pm

☀️

23°

↙︎

236°

35 km/h

10pm

☀️

23°

↙︎

232°

35 km/h

11pm

☀️

23°

↙︎

228°

35 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.5 m SW

12am

0.4 m

@ 13 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

1am

0.4 m

@ 13 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

2am

0.4 m

@ 13 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

3am

0.4 m

@ 13 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

4am

0.5 m

@ 13 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

5am

0.5 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

6am

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

7am

0.5 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

8am

0.5 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

9am

0.5 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

10am

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

11am

0.5 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

12pm

0.5 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

1pm

0.5 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

2pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

3pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

4pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

5pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

6pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

7pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

8pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

9pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

10pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

11pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 24.6°

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°

Tue

3 Nov

—

Wed

4 Nov

—

Thu

5 Nov

—

Fri

6 Nov

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 25 km/h SW (238°).

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

4:00 am → 6:30 am

2h 30m

Good

6:30 pm → 8:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

7:30 am → 8:00 am

30m

Good

12:30 am → 1:00 am

30m

First light

5:13 am

Last light

6:49 pm

Sunrise

5:36 am

Sunset

6:26 pm

Moonrise

11:58 pm

Moonset

10:00 am

High tide

12:46 am

Low tide

7:34 am

High tide

1:47 pm

Low tide

7:11 pm

Species at This Spot

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