Why you should visit the Phillip Island Penguin Parade, Australia
Phillip Island is home to approximately 32,000 breeding adult Little Penguins. These cuties are only 33cm tall, and weigh around 1kg. But despite their small stature these penguins know how to move! Climbing, jumping over rocks, waddling up steep cliffs and persevering to get back to their burrow which can be over 1km away. They will steal your heart!
The Phillip Island Penguin Parade is the perfect location to watch the Little Penguins up close.
Little Penguins are the smallest of all penguin species
Published 18.10.2020. Any post on this site may contain affiliate links which could result in Many Journeys Blog receiving a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Penguins, penguins everywhere!
When visiting wild animal attractions it can be hit-and-miss whether you will actually see anything. But you will definitely see Little Penguins at the Phillip Island Penguin Parade! Generally over 2,000 Little Penguins are recorded per evening but this varies over the year.
LEARN | The Penguin Foundation website has excellent Fact Sheets and information.
SUPPORT | Can’t make it to the Penguin Parade but want to support these amazing creatures? Consider a Donation or Adopt a Penguin!
WATCH | Live Penguin TV is available via the Phillip Island Nature Parks website.
Little Penguin. Image courtesy of Penguin Foundation Phillip Island
More than penguins
Whilst the main attraction is no doubt the Little Penguins, the boardwalks offer a wonderful opportunity to spot wallabies, birds and echidna.
There is strictly NO PHOTOGRAPHY at the Phillip Island Penguin Parade. All photos in this blog post are courtesy of the Phillip Island Penguin Parade App which has an image library if you wish to see more photos.
When do the Little Penguins arrive?
The Little Penguins return from ocean feeding at sunset but won’t leave the water until they feel it is dark enough to do so safely. Even a full moon can provide unfavourable light conditions and scare the Little Penguins from waddling up the beach!
Arrival times are available on the Penguin Parade website, but generally during the summer months the penguins won’t be visible until around 8.00 pm and can be as late as 9.00 pm. This makes it a late night with small children, or those who don’t enjoy late nights.
In late autumn and winter, the Little Penguins arrive around 5.30 pm – 6.00 pm making it an earlier night which might suit you better.
READ | Visiting the Phillip Island Penguin Parade in winter post.
When to visit
Spring and summer are the peak periods for the Phillip Island Penguin Parade (along with school holiday and public holidays), but the number of visitors drops in winter. You will have better viewing locations and more room to move around watching the Little Penguins along the boardwalk.
READ | Best time to visit Victoria
Advice for a trip to Phillip Island Penguin Parade
Bring something to sit on
You are not allowed to stand in the seating area, so even if the seats are totally saturated you will have to sit. Which means a very wet and cold bottom! Bringing something to sit on will also be more comfortable, as the seats are very hard.
Rug up
The temperature drops quickly so bring warm clothes.
Strollers/pushers
You can’t bring a stroller/pusher down into the seating area, they have to stay at the top. You can either leave the stroller and bring bubs with you to sit down, or stand with the stroller and still have a view of the beach. This might be an inconvenience if you were planning to use the weather covers etc on the pusher but you don’t want to stand up.
Walk around
At the start, you sit in the seating area and watch the Little Penguins make the dash from the water to the safety of the sand dunes. This is really cute, but the best way to see the Little Penguins is to walk around the boardwalks and see them scurrying through the vegetation and hanging out near the burrow entrances.
Book tickets
Pre-purchase tickets to avoid disappointment, and look at the option of getting a multi-parks pass if you plan on visiting other attractions on Phillip Island. There is an option to purchase tickets for the Penguin Plus ($60 for adult, vs $27 for general admission) which is a viewing platform that provides closer access to the Little Penguins. However, once the Penguins have come up from the water you can walk around and view them in so many places that I don’t feel you need to spend the extra money. You will literally see hundreds of Little Penguins!
Stay the night
We really enjoyed leaving the Penguin Parade and going back to a hotel to snuggle-down for the night!
Getting There
The Phillip Island Penguin Parade is towards the west end of Phillip Island, around 90 minutes from Melbourne.
INSPIRE | Looking for more Gippsland inspiration? There are a range of posts on the Australia – Gippsland destination page.
PLAN | Essential items for visiting Australia
Pin Me!
There is strictly NO PHOTOGRAPHY at the Phillip Island Penguin Parade. All photos in this blog post are courtesy of the Phillip Island Penguin Parade App which has an image library if you wish to see more photos.
Emma
This looks amazing. At first I was a bit sad that you can’t take photos, but after thinking about it I think that just means you’ll take it all in more. Sometimes we snap the pictures but don’t enjoy the moment. Sounds like you can here, and they sure look adorable
ManyJourneysBlog
You are completely right about taking more in if you aren’t focused on photos. The light from camera and phones is very bad for the Little Penguins so it’s for the best if photography is prohibited.
Krista
Omg this is such a cute experience! I had no idea about this so I’m adding it to my bucket list for sure.
ManyJourneysBlog
They are super cute, and surprising very noisy! Definitely add Phillip Island to your bucket list, it is a stunning island and there is heaps to do!
Hannah
Oh my goodness! These little penguins look absolutely adorable! My other half absolutely loves penguins so I think this might be one to go on our bucket list! Thanks for the wonderful guide and great timps, hopefully I’ll have an opportunity to visit one day!
ManyJourneysBlog
I hope you can visit one day, the penguins are very entertaining to watch!
Denise
OMG, they are just darling! I’d love to see this incredible experience!
ManyJourneysBlog
We have visited twice and each time they stole me heart! You can watch them live via Facebook on the Phillip Island Nature Parks page (@PhillipIslandNatureParks )
Megan
What a cool experience! My littles (and I!) would love to see this. Hopefully one day we can make it out to Australia 🙂
ManyJourneysBlog
I hope you can make it to Australia one day too! Watching the Little Penguins is an awesome family activity and there are plenty more family friendly attractions at Phillip Island.
Cassie
Love your tips about this – I’m never really sure about doing animal activities and you’ve given a good guide. (And the no photo rule is good!)
ManyJourneysBlog
I understand about being unsure with respect to visiting animal attractions, I tend to avoid them unless I have done plenty of research. Provided people follow the rules and stay quiet, don’t take photos and stay on the boardwalks then the Little Penguins can just go about waddling and being super cute. The area the penguins nest in is very large, and the boardwalks only cover a small area so there is plenty of human-free space.
Planet Hopper Girl
What a stunning experience. I would love to go see a penguin parade too. Cheers for sharing!