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Narooma Charters and Barunguba Montague Island Tours
4.7
47 reviewsAbout
Narooma Charters and Barunguba Montague Island Tours are some of the most experienced charter operators in Narooma, having over 40 years of experience since starting in 1983.
Experience the magic of Barunguba Montague Island, voted Tourism Australia’s top eco-tourism destination and wildlife hotspot for whale watching, seal viewing, penguin tours, scuba diving, snorkelling, seal dives, grey nurse shark dives, wildlife cruises and bird watching trips.
Their large and comfortable vessels are fully licenced and surveyed by the Maritime Authority.
'Sea Eagle' is a 42-foot Steber with a forward cabin giving maximum space at the rear for passengers. She gives a smooth comfortable ride and has a good reputation for reliability and seaworthiness.
'Dreamtime' is one of the most awesome charter boats in Australia. The ride is superb, the amount of room on the boat is incredible. Add to this the ability to stand on the bow and watch dolphins swimming through the tunnel makes 'Dreamtime' one of the best dive boats around. You can also venture up on the flybridge and join the captain for the journey to the island or help find the whales.
What's Available
4 featuresCharter Vessel Association
Available Tours
Whale Watching and Montague Island Morning Tour
Whale watching and Montague Island tour combined! See Whales and seals and land on the island with an NPWS guide. From September to mid-November, warm currents attract migrating whales. See Humpback whales and many other species frolic in Narooma’s spectacular waters. On our tours, pods of up to 10 whales are a common sight, and they often swim to the boat where they seem curious about the people watching them. In the last ten years, Narooma Charters has had a whale-spotting success rate of 100%. Each pod of Whales on their southern migration stops in the area for up to four weeks and feeds on Krill or Jellyfish, and when they have had their fill, they play about around the pristine waters of Montague Island. See the whales breach in full, slap their tails and check out the mother whales with their baby calves – right up close! A wide variety of whales are seen on the whale-watching tours including Humpbacks, Southern Rights, Fin Whales, Bryde’s Whales, Sei Whales, Blue Whales, and Killer Whales, and large pods of Dolphins are an added delight. Whales are often sighted only five minutes from the port.
Whale Watching and Montague Island Afternoon Tour
Spend one and a half hours whale watching and then visit the seal colony at Montague Island. Land on the island for a tour of the historic buildings with a National Parks and Wildlife Service guide and then see the famous penguin parade on the evening tour. These tours operate from September to November.
Montague Island Evening Tour
The number one attraction of the South Coast is undoubtedly an evening tour of Montague Island Nature Reserve. Relax aboard one of Narooma Charter's two licensed charter vessels and enjoy your twenty-minute voyage to Montague's resident seal colony. Along the way you may encounter pods of migrating whales (September to November), vast schools of friendly dolphins, basking sunfish, manta rays, or acres of pelagic fish. In the company of your National Parks and Wildlife Service tour guide, you will land on the Island to observe the resident wildlife and explore the magnificent heritage buildings. At dusk walk back to the jetty and watch the penguins return to their nests.
Scuba Diving
Located just five miles off the coast from Narooma, Montague Island is one of diving's most diverse and best-kept secrets. The island's unique location offers dozens of dive locations. The favourite for new and regular divers is Montague's famous Australian Fur Seal Colony. Every diver who experiences the joy of swimming with these cute, playful, wide-eyed creatures emerges with a feeling of amazement at the friendliness of these fun-seeking seals. It's an easy dive with most of the seals sunbaking on the surface within 20 metres of the anchored boat. Yet when a diver enters the water they just can't help themselves and come charging over to show off their agility to the strange clumsy creatures with bottles on their backs!
Whale Watching
1994 saw the first dedicated whale-watching tours start from Narooma. After seeing large pods of migrating whales from September through to November, Narooma Charters decided to run specialised whale-watching tours. Whale watching has proved to be so popular it is now one of the most popular times of the year. Pods of up to 10 whales are not uncommon and often swim to the boat where they seem curious about the people watching them. Since whale-watching tours began from the port of Narooma there has been a success rate of 98 per cent with many people who have been all over the world specifically to see whales, commenting that Narooma has turned on the best whale watching they have ever seen.
Montague Island Day Tour
The number one attraction of the South Coast is undoubtedly a tour of Montague Island Nature Reserve. Relax aboard one of Narooma Charters' two licensed charter vessels and enjoy your twenty-minute voyage to Montague's resident Seal Colony. Along the way you may encounter pods of migrating whales (September to November), vast schools of friendly dolphins, basking sunfish, manta rays, or acres of pelagic fish. When you land on the island you will be greeted by a National Parks and Wildlife Service tour guide who take you on a walk up to the lighthouse observing the resident wildlife and exploring the magnificent lighthouse and heritage buildings as you go. From September to January, see the penguins go ashore on an evening tour.
Fishing Charters
For the Game fisherman, the waters abound with black, blue and striped marlin, giant yellowfin tuna, delicious albacore and kingfish along with a variety of other species. (December to June). Reef fish are available all year with good stocks of snapper, morwong, trevally, long-fin perch, pigfish, wrasse, large leather jackets and a good variety of other reef species. The vessels are fully surveyed and licensed to carry passengers. The skippers and crew are fully qualified and have more than 20 years each experience fishing the waters around Narooma, Montague Island and the continental shelf. The vessels are equipped with the very latest in marine electronics and state-of-the-art fishing tackle. The boats are purpose-designed to give you maximum fishing space.
Snorkelling
Snorkelling with the seals at Montague Island. Experience the joy of swimming with these cute creatures with a feeling of amazement at the friendliness of these furry fun-seeking seals. It's an easy swim with most of the seals sunbaking on the surface within 20 metres of the anchored boat. The colony consists of up to 1,600 seals during the cooler months (June to mid-December). During the summer months, there are 500 to 800 seals at Montague Island most of these are either rogue or non-competitive seals rejected from the Southern colonies. All are male and this is a non-breeding colony, hence the island has no shark problem because sharks tend to only feed on small pups that haven't yet learnt to swim properly.
Nearby places
Reviews & Ratings
Leah Roberts
Google review
We took our kids on the Montague Island penguin tour and WOW! This was the experience of a life time! I was nervous taking my kids on a boat but our crew Georgia and Adam were so professional. They also went to great lengths to ensure we had a great time. On the way to the island we stopped numerous times to watch whales, dolphins and seals which was an absolute unexpected highlight of the trip. Georgia and Adam stopped the boat at a safer distance so we could take our time to enjoy it all. She we arrived at the island, Parks and Wildlife gave a very informative and visually stunning tour. We learnt about indigenous use of the island and European history. By the time we got to the penguins my cup was already full! But then we got to watch the stunning sunset and 5 penguins come ashore. The whole experience was truly magical and exceed all my expectations.
nicole cluff
Google review
Great tour with informative and helpful guides. We enjoyed the island tour with optional snorkelling. The timing of the tour was perfect and the boat crew were friendly and attentive. Would definitely recommend.
Jane Ireland
Google review
We took the evening tour with Narooma Charters. Overall we enjoyed our trip but it wasn't quite what we had expected. We only got small glimpses of whales, possibly due to the time of day or weather conditions. The trip to Montague Island was lovely and very informative but possibly a little too long. The penguin parade was also a bit underwhelming. We only saw 6 or 7 penguins, not really a parade. As I said, overall we enjoyed it but it was a more of a wildlife trip (mainly birds and seals) with a fun boat trip back in the pitch black.
Emily Corby
Google review
Awesome tour! Very well planned and executed. We snorkeled with Seals and it was unreal, seeing them up so close and playfully gliding around just below or next to you. The tour on the island itself is interesting and informative with some beautiful views. Would recommend. The staff are great.
Ness Emers
Google review
We took the morning tour, which included a dive with seals. We loved it! We saw heaps of fish and seals and the water was clear and warm. The tour of the island was beautiful and our tour guide was knowledgeable and friendly. This was a really relaxed type of tour and very enjoyable.
Get in touch
Where you'll be
No.2 Town Wharf
Narooma NSW 2546