The Best of Phillip Island: Wildlife and Penguin Tour

Phillip Island is one of the “must see” destinations outside of Melbourne and greater Victoria. If you find yourself with a couple weeks time in Victoria, it would be a pity to not check it out!

Especially if you are itching to see the highlights of Australia’s wildlife and scenic surf beaches on the Victorian coast, I cannot recommend the Full Day Nature and Wildlife Experience Tour through Viator enough.

Blog Guide

• Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park Near Phillip Island
• Cape Woolamai
• The Nobbies Centre on Phillip Island
• The Phillip Island Penguin Parade
• Why should you visit Phillip Island?
• What you need to bring?
• Conclusion: The Best of Phillip Island: Wildlife and Penguin Tour

Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park Near Phillip Island

The first stop on my tour with Pete was the Moonlit Wildlife Sanctuary. The Moonlit Sanctuary is called a sanctuary because all of the animals are raised there with the most authentic conditions possible to their natural environments. Almost all of the animals are very accustomed to the constant hustle of human visitors and seem to mostly enjoy the attention.

I found myself swooning for hours over the wallabies and kangaroos eating out of my hand, and the koalas at a distance attached to their trees munching on their eucalyptus leaves.

I learned from our tour guide, Pete, that Koalas attain ALL of their daily nutrition and hydration from the eucalyptus leaves.

On their tree branches, they eat, hydrate, mate and empty their bladders and bottoms. As you can imagine, this leaves no real reason for them to ever come down from their branches so, once a day, the sanctuary holds a “Koala Pet” where tourists pay to pet the Koalas with one arm.

In Victoria, this is seen as a way of allowing tourists to get up close and personal with the koalas without overly intruding on their space. In northern Australia, tourist activities often include holding koalas, with both arms.

Cape Woolamai

Cape Woolamai is a breathtaking beach bordering the edge of Phillip Island on your way to the Penguin Parade. This tour provides 30 – 40 minutes to take a scenic stroll down the boardwalk, where you can peek for penguins burrowed in the mountainside against an amazing, grassy rock coast line.

In the distance, my tour guide, Pete, shared that there is a tiny island where Australian seals come to bathe on the coast of the surrounding Indian sea.

The Nobbies Centre on Phillip Island

The Nobbies Centre is Phillip Island’s national wildlife center. It showcases heaps of information on penguin species around the world and details their lifestyle and existence in Australia, Africa, South America and beyond.

The tour provides you with plenty of time to soak in this information, to sip a coffee and enjoy the various exhibits provided by the museum.

The Nobbies Centre is located conveniently above the beach where the penguin parade occurs each evening. Nobbies ensures that you won’t miss the infamous penguin parade as you get lost in the museum exhibits by placing countdown timers throughout.

The Phillip Island Penguin Parade

The Melbourne penguin population represents the smallest species of penguins in the world. Phillip Island’s Penguin Parade is a national event that happens every evening at the southernmost shoreline of Phillip Island. Between 9 – 9:30 pm each evening, these adorable penguins scurry to their inland burrows to rest.

The expert staff from the Nobbie Centre do a great job of providing tourists and visitors with the current lifecycle of the penguins and how to identify their scurry towards land. I was very impressed with their knowledge and efforts to keep the excited, large crowd controlled during the penguin parade.

It’s important to note, that no matter what tour you book on with, you cannot take iPhone photos, or any photos of the penguins while they approach land. To protect the penguins from being blinded by the flash, photography is strictly prohibited.

The photo you see below was taken by a professional and posted on the Nobbie Centre page for me to download and share with you.

Why should you visit Phillip Island? And why should you book this tour specifically?

Phillip Island represents some of the most beautiful oceanic scenery and wildlife that this portion of Victoria has to offer. It’s challenging for tourists without cars to access and enjoy this area without the help of a local.

If you’re especially curious about the wildlife engulfed in this region of Victoria, I recommend this tour specifically! Pete and the other tour guides have extensive knowledge on the nature and wildlife that you’ll drive by, visit at the Moonlit Sanctuary and see on the cliffs of Cape Woolamai.

The tour leaves at a reasonable time in the early morning between 8 and 9 am, and returns late in the evening in Central Melbourne, just in case you have enough pep in your step to enjoy a night out in the CBD.

What you need to bring?

I recommend bringing 2 pairs of shoes: one for walking and the sanctuary, and one for the beach, as well as a few layers for the chilly evening to bundle up when you watch the penguin parade at the very end of your day!

I found myself wanting more layers and more options for shoes. Additionally, make sure you bring plenty of water to hydrate throughout the day.

Conclusion: The Best of Phillip Island: Wildlife and Penguin Tour

This tour of Phillip Island quickly became one of my very favorite days away from Melbourne. It provided the perfect escape from the city with enough time to take in each sight and different interactions with the nature and wildlife. It is also one of the most cost friendly options.

My tour guide Pete and his knowledge and upbeat energy certainly added to the Aussie experience as well! I can’t recommend a day well spent at Phillip Island enough.

If you happen to miss your pet at home as much as I have been missing Sheila, my world traveling yorkipoo, then it will also provide the perfect cute animal fix to soothe your animal loving soul.