The Montebello Islands are a group of more than 100 Islands off the north-west coast of Western Australia. They achieved international notoriety in 1952 when the British, in an operation code named Hurricane, detonated an atomic weapon in a bay off one of the major Islands Trimouille. Two further atomic tests were carried out in May and June of 1956 on Alpha and Trimouille Islands. They are located 20 kilometres north of Barrow Island and 120 kilometres north, north-west of Dampier and were named by the French navigator Nicolas Baudin in 1801. Baudin was evidently "discouraged by the seeming barrenness of the country, the scarcity of fresh water and the hostility of the blacks, so kept to the sea and did little else than survey the coast line and islands. Before he left, however, he named the islands after the battle of Montebello, where the victorious French general Lannes (Later duke of Montebello) defeated the Austrians in 1800. The flat limestone islands range in size from Hermite, the largest, at about 1,000 ha, to several small islets and rocks of less than one hectare. They are the remnants of an old coastal landform and have been separated from the mainland for more than 8000 years. No evidence has been found of Aboriginal occupation of the islands since that separation, although they probably lived there before.

Phone: 08 9144 4600

Address:
Via
Dampier, Western Australia, 6713

Guest Facilities:
Shaded Area, Sheltered Area

Experiences you can enjoy at Monte Bello Island:
Island