The world's largest little penguin colony, on Phillip Island, 90 minutes south of Melbourne.
Wrap up on the stands at sunset, watch them surf ashore by the hundreds, then walk the boardwalk as they waddle home past your feet.
Viewing level namedGeneral, Plus or Underground, on every option
Real guest ratingsLive figures from GetYourGuide listings
Free cancellation2 days ahead on the ticket, 24 hours on tours
Secure checkoutBooked and paid on GetYourGuide
Tickets & tours
Choose your Penguin Parade ticket
In the centre, the full-day tour from Melbourne with the most reviews. Either side, the plain entry ticket for
drivers and a day trip that adds the Koala Reserve. Every card opens a full tour page.
The standard seat on the tiered stands above Summerlands Beach, sold by Phillip Island Nature Parks itself. You get yourself to the island, and you can cancel up to 2 days before.
A full day with koalas and kangaroos at Moonlit Sanctuary, The Nobbies boardwalks and the parade at sunset. Pickup from six central hotels; you are back between 9 pm and midnight.
Wild koalas on the treetop boardwalks of the Koala Conservation Reserve, The Nobbies and a break in Cowes. The only big tour here that offers a Penguins Plus upgrade at booking.
What's included
Penguin Parade entry (Penguins Plus upgrade optional)
Three questions sort it out. Do you have a car? Which stand do you want to sit on? And what else do you
want from the day: koalas, a steam train, a winery or a boat?
Day tours get back to Melbourne between about 9 pm and midnight, depending on the season. Tickets bought
from Phillip Island Nature Parks directly are non-refundable; the GetYourGuide ticket cancels free up to 2 days before.
Before you book
The seat is cheap. The day is long.
Every Penguin Parade ticket buys the same moment. At sunset, little penguins that have spent the day fishing at sea gather
in the surf off Summerlands Beach, then cross the sand in small groups to their burrows in the dunes. General Viewing puts you
on tiered stands above the beach. The upgrades move you closer: Penguins Plus to a smaller stand by the boardwalk,
Underground Viewing to a window at penguin eye level, Penguins Premium to a beachfront stand with a ranger.
What changes the price of your day is getting there. The parade sits 90 to 120 minutes' drive from Melbourne, plus
20 minutes from the bridge, and no bus goes to it or comes back afterwards. That is why most visitors take a day tour, and why a
tour runs 9 to 12 hours for about an hour of penguins. Almost every tour includes General Viewing only. Check before you pay
for an upgrade you assumed was included.
40,000
Little penguins nest on the Summerland Peninsula, the smallest penguin species at
about one kilogram. A winter night brings several hundred ashore. The record, set in 2022, is 5,440.
General ViewingPenguins PlusUndergroundDay tours
Slate-blue back, white front, about a kilogram: the little penguin, Eudyptula minor.
01
Do babies need a ticket?
Yes. Under 4s go free, but everyone, infants included, needs a ticket.
02
When do they arrive?
At sunset, every night of the year. Get there at least an hour before.
03
Can I take photos?
No photos or video after sunset, flash or not, phones included.
04
No car?
Take a tour. No public bus reaches the parade, and none returns to Melbourne.
Your evening
How the parade unfolds
About two hours on site, from the visitor centre to the last penguin beside the boardwalk.
01
The visitor centre
Displays on the colony, the Shearwater Restaurant and Chicks Café, and the last warm room of the night.
An hour before sunset
02
Take your seat
Walk the boardwalk down to your stand over Summerlands Beach and get the blanket out. The wind comes straight off Bass Strait.
30 minutes before
03
Sunset
Small groups bob in the surf, then rush the beach together, one raft at a time. Binoculars help from the back rows.
From sunset
04
The walk back
Go slowly. Penguins pass right beside the boardwalks on the way to their burrows, calling to their partners in the dunes.
Official prices, arrival times by season, what to bring, and access: one tab each.
General Viewing: A$34 adult, A$17 child (4 to 15), A$85 family. Under 4s free, with a ticket.
Penguins Plus: A$93. Underground Viewing: A$103.
Penguins Premium: A$85, ages 12 and up only. Guided Penguin Tour: A$108, also 12 and up.
3 Parks Pass: adds the Koala Reserve and Churchill Island (A$17.50 each on their own). On GetYourGuide from $41.
Day tours from Melbourne: $95 to $233 on GetYourGuide, with the parade ticket included.
Summer, December to February: the penguins arrive around 8:30 to 8:45 pm.
Autumn: about 8 pm in March, 7 pm and then 6 pm in April once the clocks go back, 5:30 pm in May.
Winter: about 5:15 pm in June, 5:45 pm in July, 6 pm in August.
Spring: about 6:15 pm in September, 6:45 pm and then 7:45 pm in October, 8:15 pm in November.
Arrive an hour early for General, Plus and Premium, 30 minutes early for Underground. Times by month in the arrival guide.
Warm layers, a beanie and a rain jacket, even in summer. It is an outdoor event, rain or shine.
A rug or blanket for the seats, and binoculars for the beach.
A card or phone to pay: the site is cashless, and food costs 10% more on Sundays, 15% on public holidays.
No camera use after sunset. Nature Parks has free professional photos to download instead. More in the rules guide.
Wide paths, ramps and wheelchair viewing areas in General, Penguins Plus and Underground, plus a Changing Places room.
Certified sensory-inclusive, with free sensory bags at the visitor centre.
Under 16s must be with an adult. Penguins Premium and the guided tours are for ages 12 and up.
Most day tours do not take wheelchair users or prams; check the tour page before you book.
From Melbourne90 to 120 minBy car, plus 20 minutes from the San Remo bridge to the parade.
Arrive1 hour earlyFor General, Plus and Premium. Underground needs 30 minutes.
On siteAbout 2 hoursVisitor centre, the crossing at sunset and the walk back.
PhotosNone after darkPhones included. Free official photos to download.
BabiesFree, ticketedUnder 4s pay nothing but still need their own ticket.
Refunds2 days or 24 hThe GetYourGuide ticket, then the day tours. Official tickets: none.
Where it happens
Where the parade is
Summerland Peninsula, Phillip Island
Penguin Parade Visitor Centre, 1019 Ventnor Rd, Summerlands VIC 3922
The parade is at the western tip of Phillip Island, across the bridge at San Remo and past the turn-offs to Cowes.
Parking is free. V/Line coaches from Southern Cross reach Cowes, but nothing runs on to the parade or back to Melbourne
afterwards, so without a car the answer is a tour or a taxi.
Melbourne to the bridge: 90 to 120 minutes by car
Bridge to the parade: about 20 minutes
Roads west of the parade close from sunset to sunrise
The other big day out of Melbourne runs west instead of south: surf beaches, rainforest at Maits Rest, the 12 Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge, in a minibus of up to 24. Book it for a different day from the penguins. Both are long, and both are worth it.
More than 700,000 people a year come to watch a beach at dusk. Here is what they are actually buying, and how to
get the most from it.
What you actually see
The birds are little penguins, Eudyptula minor, the smallest penguin in the world. They leave their burrows before dawn,
fish all day, sometimes 30 km out while they are feeding chicks, and come home after sunset.
They wait in the surf until there are enough of them, then cross the open sand together in a hurry. That is the parade: small,
quick groups, again and again, for most of an hour.
From the General stands they are close enough to watch without binoculars but too far to see detail. The magic happens later,
on the boardwalks, where penguins walk past within a metre or two on their way into the dunes. For many people that is the best part
of the night.
General Viewing is a tiered stand above Summerlands Beach. In summer, seats are not guaranteed.
General Viewing, or an upgrade?
General Viewing is fine for most people and it is what nearly every tour includes. In December and January it gets crowded,
seats are not guaranteed and some people stand, which is the best argument for arriving early. Penguins Plus is a
smaller stand closer to the action. Underground Viewing puts you behind glass at penguin height, which is great with
children. Penguins Premium adds a ranger and a beachfront stand with limited places, for ages 12 and up, and costs less
than Penguins Plus at the official price.
Buying tickets for a family? Under 4s are free but must have their own ticket, and the family ticket covers two adults and two
children. Nature Parks sells no student rate.
The small print people miss: official tickets are non-refundable and cannot be changed, even if it pours
or few penguins turn up. The General Viewing ticket on GetYourGuide is supplied by Nature Parks itself and cancels free up to
2 days before, which matters if you are watching the weather. See our ticket guide.
Drive yourself or take a tour
With a car, the plain ticket is the cheapest way in by a distance, and you can add Churchill Island or the Koala Reserve on the
way. The drive back is the catch: two hours in the dark after a long day, on roads where wildlife crosses. Without a car, you
need a tour. There is no bus to the parade and nothing back to Melbourne afterwards.
The tours differ more than their titles suggest. Bunyip Tours and Explore Australia stop at Moonlit Sanctuary for kangaroos
and koalas, Autopia goes to the Koala Conservation Reserve, and the Puffing Billy combos start with an hour on the steam train.
The small-group options cap the bus at 11 or 15. All of them end the same way, at sunset, on the same beach.
Most tours cross the bridge at San Remo in the afternoon and leave the island after dark.
The rules, and why they exist
No photos or video after sunset, with or without flash, phones included. Not everyone follows it, guests complain, and a
lit-up screen spoils the night for the rows behind. The rule protects birds with sensitive eyes that a sudden light can frighten or disorient.
Nature Parks puts free professional photos online, so you lose nothing by keeping the phone in your pocket.
The colony itself is a conservation story. By the 1980s a housing estate covered much of the peninsula and the colony was in trouble; the state
government spent decades buying back the Summerland Estate, removed the last house in 2010, and declared the island fox-free in
2017. The colony grew from about 12,000 in the mid-1980s to around 40,000 today. Your ticket pays for that work.
The burrows are in the dunes where the Summerland Estate houses used to stand.
Straight answers to what people ask most about the Penguin Parade.
Do you need tickets for the Penguin Parade?
Yes. Everyone needs a ticket, babies included: children under 4 go free but still need a ticket of their own. Bookings are essential, says Phillip Island Nature Parks, and every day tour from Melbourne includes one. The options are compared in our ticket guide.
How much are Penguin Parade tickets?
At the official site, General Viewing is A$34 for adults, A$17 for children aged 4 to 15 and A$85 for a family of four. Penguins Plus is A$93, Underground Viewing A$103 and Penguins Premium A$85 (ages 12 and up). On GetYourGuide the General Viewing ticket starts at about $24 in US dollars, with free cancellation up to 2 days before.
Does the Penguin Parade sell out?
Yes, in summer. There were 47 sold-out nights between December 2024 and February 2025, and from mid-December to late January even General Viewing seats are not guaranteed, so some people stand. Long weekends and school holidays fill up too. Book as soon as your date is fixed.
What time should you get to the Penguin Parade?
The penguins come ashore at sunset, so the time moves through the year: roughly 8:30 pm in December and January and about 5:15 pm in June. The official advice is to arrive at least an hour before (30 minutes for Underground Viewing). The full table is in arrival times by month.
How long does the Penguin Parade last?
Plan on about two hours on site. The crossing itself is fastest in the first hour after sunset: on the record night of 3 May 2022, 5,219 penguins crossed in about 50 minutes. After that you can walk back along the boardwalks while late arrivals head for their burrows beside you.
Can you take photos at the Penguin Parade?
No. There is no photography or filming after sunset, with or without flash, and that includes phones. Penguins have sensitive eyes and sudden light can frighten them. Nature Parks offers free professional photos to download instead. More in photos, food and what to bring.
Can you see the Penguin Parade without paying?
Not on Phillip Island: the beach is fenced off and the roads west of the parade close at sunset. In Melbourne, the little penguins at St Kilda Pier have free guided viewing sessions on the new platform, with booking required. See seeing penguins for free.
What is the best month to see penguins on Phillip Island?
The parade runs every night of the year, and numbers swing more by night than by month. Nights in spring and early summer tend to be busiest on the beach (an average of about 2,300 in November 2021, against about 700 in July), and winter arrivals are early and quiet. Summer brings the crowds.
What is the best way to see penguins on Phillip Island without a car?
A day tour. No public bus goes to the Penguin Parade and no bus returns to Melbourne after it; V/Line coaches only reach Cowes. Tours leave Melbourne between late morning and early afternoon and get back between 9 pm and midnight. Compare them in tours from Melbourne.
Can you buy Penguin Parade tickets on the day?
Sometimes, if seats are left: visitors without a pre-bought ticket pay the full entry price at the door. On summer nights and holidays it can be sold out, and Nature Parks always recommends booking ahead. Official tickets are non-refundable, so a ticket with free cancellation is the safer buy.
Is the Penguin Parade worth it?
For most visitors, yes, as long as you know what it is: a seat on a grandstand in the cold, at dusk, watching small birds cross a beach at a distance, then passing them close up from the boardwalk. No photos, no touching, and a long drive. The penguins do the rest.
Is the Nobbies Centre open?
No. The Nobbies Centre has been closed since storm damage in May 2025, with no reopening date. The boardwalks and car park are open, and tours still stop there for the views of Seal Rocks. Details in our Nobbies update.
Ready to book
Pick your seat, catch the sunset.
A ticket from the park itself or a full day from Melbourne, with free cancellation on every option here.
Lowest price
★ 4.22 hoursFree cancellation
