Montague Island is a nature reserve about nine kilometres offshore from Narooma, and a visit is one of the best wildlife experiences on the New South Wales coast. The island is home to Australia's largest colony of little (fairy) penguins, around 8,000 birds that come ashore each evening at dusk to their burrows. Tours from Narooma time their arrival for the penguin parade, which reliably delivers. The island also hosts tens of thousands of short-tailed shearwaters (muttonbirds) from October to April, along with Australian fur seals year-round on the rocks offshore.
Access is by boat tour only — independent landing is not permitted. The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service runs the main tour concession from Narooma Wharf. Tours are timed around the penguin emergence at dusk, though morning snorkelling tours (July to November) offer the chance to swim with seals. The lighthouse at the northern end of the island, built in 1881, is a heritage structure and part of the tour route. Bookings are essential in peak season.