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, samson, 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)

Thu 24 Sep 2026 · Australia/Perth

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Today Tomorrow Sun 20 Sep

📍 Montebello Islands (Conservation Park / Marine Park)

waxing gibbous · 93%

Weather: Sunny Wind: SW 208° · 26 km/h Swell: 0.7 m @ 8 s SW Water: 25.2 °C Pressure: 1014.0 hPa ↓ falling

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 10:30 pm

Solunar Major window

Time of day Night

Tide Moving

Wind SW 23 km/h

Moon waxing gibbous all day

Water temp 25.2 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:44 am Last light 6:36 pm

Low 3:06 am High 8:50 am Low 3:21 pm High 9:30 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

9:00 pm → 11:30 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:30 am → 7:00 am

1h 30m

Good

6:00 pm → 7:30 pm

1h 30m

Good

3:30 pm → 4:00 pm

30m

First light

5:44 am

Last light

6:36 pm

Sunrise

6:05 am

Sunset

6:14 pm

Moonrise

4:08 pm

Moonset

4:19 am

Low tide

3:06 am

High tide

8:50 am

Low tide

3:21 pm

High tide

9:30 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

26°

↙︎

223°

22 km/h

1am

☀️

25°

↙︎

220°

23 km/h

2am

☀️

25°

↙︎

215°

25 km/h

3am

☀️

24°

↙︎

207°

25 km/h

4am

☀️

24°

↓︎

199°

26 km/h

5am

☀️

24°

↓︎

193°

27 km/h

6am

☀️

24°

↓︎

199°

26 km/h

7am

☀️

24°

↓︎

196°

27 km/h

8am

☀️

24°

↓︎

195°

27 km/h

9am

☀️

24°

↓︎

197°

27 km/h

10am

☀️

24°

↓︎

200°

27 km/h

11am

☀️

24°

↙︎

204°

27 km/h

12pm

☀️

25°

↙︎

208°

26 km/h

1pm

☀️

25°

↙︎

212°

26 km/h

2pm

☀️

25°

↙︎

214°

26 km/h

3pm

☀️

25°

↙︎

215°

25 km/h

4pm

☀️

25°

↙︎

216°

24 km/h

5pm

☀️

25°

↙︎

216°

23 km/h

6pm

☀️

25°

↙︎

215°

22 km/h

7pm

☀️

25°

↙︎

214°

21 km/h

8pm

☀️

25°

↙︎

212°

21 km/h

9pm

☀️

25°

↙︎

211°

22 km/h

10pm

☀️

25°

↙︎

209°

23 km/h

11pm

☀️

24°

↙︎

207°

24 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.6 m SW

12am

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

1am

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

2am

0.7 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

3am

0.7 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

4am

0.7 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

5am

0.7 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

6am

0.7 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

7am

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

8am

0.7 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

9am

0.7 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

10am

0.7 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

11am

0.7 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

12pm

0.7 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

1pm

0.7 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

2pm

0.7 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

3pm

0.7 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

4pm

0.7 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

5pm

0.7 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

6pm

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

7pm

0.6 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

8pm

0.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

9pm

0.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

10pm

0.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

11pm

0.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 25.2°

Mon

21 Sep

25.3°

Tue

22 Sep

25.4°

Wed

23 Sep

25.3°

Thu

24 Sep

25.2°

Fri

25 Sep

25.1°

Sat

26 Sep

25.0°

Sun

27 Sep

24.9°

Mon

28 Sep

—

Tue

29 Sep

—

Wed

30 Sep

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 26 km/h SW (208°).

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

Open in the full fishing map (beta) →

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

9:00 pm → 11:30 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:30 am → 7:00 am

1h 30m

Good

6:00 pm → 7:30 pm

1h 30m

Good

3:30 pm → 4:00 pm

30m

First light

5:44 am

Last light

6:36 pm

Sunrise

6:05 am

Sunset

6:14 pm

Moonrise

4:08 pm

Moonset

4:19 am

Low tide

3:06 am

High tide

8:50 am

Low tide

3:21 pm

High tide

9:30 pm

Species at this spot

Weekly Bite Forecast

Montebello Islands (Conservation Park / Marine Park) + nearby Perth spots. Thursday 6pm — top windows, conditions, what's biting.

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