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 13 Oct 2026 · Australia/Perth

Forecast updated 12:03pm AWST

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📍 Montebello Islands (Conservation Park / Marine Park)

new · 4%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: SW 245° · 21 km/h Swell: 0.9 m @ 11 s SW Water: 23.7 °C Pressure: 1016.9 hPa ↓ falling Faces several ways: wind direction isn't scored here

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:30 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind SW 26 km/h

Moon new all day

Water temp 23.7 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Now

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:26 am Last light 6:41 pm

Low 5:26 am High 11:34 am Low 5:15 pm High 11:24 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:30 am → 7:00 am

2h 30m

Good

4:30 pm → 7:30 pm

Good

1:30 pm → 2:30 pm

Good

11:30 am → 12:30 pm

First light

5:26 am

Last light

6:41 pm

Sunrise

5:48 am

Sunset

6:19 pm

Moonrise

7:10 am

Moonset

8:45 pm

Low tide

5:26 am

High tide

11:34 am

Low tide

5:15 pm

High tide

11:24 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

22°

↙︎

238°

32 km/h

1am

☀️

22°

↙︎

235°

30 km/h

2am

☀️

22°

↙︎

228°

30 km/h

3am

☀️

22°

↙︎

226°

28 km/h

4am

☀️

22°

↙︎

226°

27 km/h

5am

☀️

22°

↙︎

223°

26 km/h

6am

☀️

22°

↙︎

220°

26 km/h

7am

☀️

22°

↙︎

218°

25 km/h

8am

☀️

22°

↙︎

219°

24 km/h

9am

☀️

22°

↙︎

223°

22 km/h

10am

☀️

22°

↙︎

230°

21 km/h

11am

☀️

22°

↙︎

238°

21 km/h

12pm

☀️

22°

↙︎

245°

21 km/h

Now

☀️

22°

←︎

250°

20 km/h

2pm

☁️

22°

←︎

253°

19 km/h

3pm

☀️

23°

←︎

259°

21 km/h

4pm

☀️

23°

←︎

258°

24 km/h

5pm

☀️

23°

←︎

256°

25 km/h

6pm

☀️

23°

←︎

256°

24 km/h

7pm

☀️

22°

←︎

258°

23 km/h

8pm

☀️

22°

←︎

256°

25 km/h

9pm

☀️

22°

←︎

250°

26 km/h

10pm

☀️

22°

↙︎

245°

26 km/h

11pm

☀️

22°

↙︎

241°

25 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.8 m SW

12am

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

1am

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

2am

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

3am

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

4am

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

5am

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

6am

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

7am

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

8am

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

9am

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

10am

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

11am

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

12pm

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

Now

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

2pm

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

3pm

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

4pm

0.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

5pm

0.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

6pm

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

7pm

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

8pm

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

9pm

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

10pm

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

11pm

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 23.7°

Sat

10 Oct

24.0°

Sun

11 Oct

23.8°

Mon

12 Oct

23.7°

Tue

13 Oct

23.7°

Wed

14 Oct

23.8°

Thu

15 Oct

23.9°

Fri

16 Oct

24.0°

Sat

17 Oct

24.3°

Sun

18 Oct

24.3°

Mon

19 Oct

24.4°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 21 km/h SW (245°).

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

4:30 am → 7:00 am

2h 30m

Good

4:30 pm → 7:30 pm

Good

1:30 pm → 2:30 pm

Good

11:30 am → 12:30 pm

First light

5:26 am

Last light

6:41 pm

Sunrise

5:48 am

Sunset

6:19 pm

Moonrise

7:10 am

Moonset

8:45 pm

Low tide

5:26 am

High tide

11:34 am

Low tide

5:15 pm

High tide

11:24 pm

Species at this spot

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