Montague Island sits nine kilometres offshore from Narooma on the New South Wales south coast, surrounded by Pacific Ocean waters that support an unusually diverse mix of temperate marine life. The island hosts a large Australian fur seal colony, and dedicated sites such as The Seals give divers reliable encounters with them in the water. Across the seven sites in our database, topography ranges from shallow seagrass beds and kelp forest to pinnacles, caverns, and drop-offs reaching forty metres. Grey nurse sharks, bronze whaler sharks, grey nurse sharks, pot-bellied seahorses, and long-nosed fur seals have all been recorded. All offshore sites require a boat crossing from Narooma, which can be affected by swells and bar conditions.
Monthly water temperature across Montague Island's sites, from satellite sea-surface data corrected for depth. The band shows the site-to-site spread.
Water is warmest in late summer and early autumn and at its coldest in mid-winter, when a five-millimetre to seven-millimetre wetsuit is advisable. Visibility at offshore sites is generally good but varies with swell, and the open crossing from Narooma is weather-dependent.
Water temperature around Montague Island ranges from about 17°C in July to 23°C in February, based on satellite sea-temperature data for its dive sites.
In the warm season (about 23°C) a 3mm full suit is comfortable in Montague Island; in the coldest months (about 17°C) step up to a 7mm or semi-dry suit.
Fin maps 7 sites in Montague Island (6 scuba diving sites and 4 snorkelling spots, with some suited to both).
4 more sites to explore
