Philip Island Penguin Parade And Koala Reserve From Melbourne

Had a great experience, from pick-up to drop-off with Anthony from Autopia tours. Wonderful and knowledgable guide, great experience.

Long day but well worth it. Had a fantastic driver/tour guide Vicki who was knowledgeable and fun. She provided great viewing tips for the Penguin Parade.

What a fantastic trip, made all the better by our driver/guide Anthony, who ensured that everything ran to time, despite a full coach load and got the balance just right in giving us information about each of the places we visited and the wildlfe we saw. The inclement weather could not dampen our spirits, and everywhere we stopped on Phillip Island had a wow factor from the koala sanctuary, to the boardwalk at the Nobbies and of course the privilege of seeing so many little penguins, close up, returning from the sea after sunset a.nd starting their arduous walk to their burrows inland. If you are in Melbourne and like wildlife, this is a trip you must do, particularly if Anthony is your guide. Dont hesitate, book it! Sorry, no.pictures of the little penguins as filing is not allowed.

Awsome tour went to a lot a new places that were I tersting even as someone from Melbourne. The tour guide Joe was really nice and funny and gave insight full tips for the Penguin parade.

Penguin Parade was such an amazing experience, watching hundreds of penguins walking from beach shore back to their home. Definitely not be missed if in Melbourne. The tour covered a walk in the Koala conservation center and we saw some Koala babies as well. Nobby’s point is also included as part of the tour, one of the most picturesque location in the entire travel. Anthony our tour guide was helpful, informative and supportive during the entire tour.

What a great day! Our tour guide was really nice and knowledgeable with just the right amount of scenery info & chatting along the way (I don't remember his name, sorry!) We saw several Koalas at the reserve along with wild wallabees. Lots of awesome wildlife on the island. The penguin parade experience is once in a lifetime unless you live in a country with penguins :-). Highly recommend this tour!

From the moment we stepped on the bus, Ben M. our guide helped make our trip fantastic. Ben shared his knowledge of the history of Australia and Melbourne. The stop at the koala preserve was wonderful to see them enjoying their sanctuary. On Phillip Island the stop along the coast was spectacular. The highlight of course was the amazing penguin march. There was a motorcycle race on the island with thousands of extra visitors and cars. Ben skillfully got us around the traffic. When we arrived back in Melbourne it was raining so Ben dropped each of us close to our hotels. It was an exceptional day and if you're lucky Ben will be your guide!

Tip 1. Spend the extra for Penguin Plus ticket. Makes all the difference. Tip 2. If you are lucky you will get driver Joe. He’s knowledgeable, friendly, fun, and knew all our names quickly and made the entire bus feel like he knew us. He also gives tips for seeing koalas, wallaby, penguin burrows, etc which were invaluable. Tip 3. In Cowes (where we quickly stop for dinner, I really liked the fish and chip place on beach walk next to Mexican place. Fresh, fast, busy with locals. Just watch out for thieving seagulls. Tip 4. Koala sanctuary was magical. Go slow or you’ll miss something cool. Also wear bug spray. A lot of bug spray. Pros of this trip: Joe, all stops were great and different. Coach is comfortable and has wifi and AC. Penguins and Koalas are amazing. 100% must see. Negatives: in my opinion we had too short time at koala sanctuary, and I was racing to get my food in Cowes and get back to bus. I set a timer on my phone so I made it back to bus on time for each stop. Also be prepared for a long bus ride to get to the island. It’s just how it is. We were picked up at 1:45 pm at Immigration museum , and should be back there by 11:30pm. It all depends on when sunset is because that is when the penguins begin their parade, and that will change with the seasons. So bottom line… would I recommend this trip to friends and family? Absolutely. Especially with Joe as your guide. Thanks Joe. 🇨🇦xx

Pleasant experience to Philip Island. Koala reserve - 50 min, Cowes - 60 min, Nobbies - 30 min, Penguins - 105 min to 21:15. Our tour guide (aka the driver) Joe is friendly and professional, giving guides on the following destination during bus travels. Would be better if we are able to depart earlier and spend more time in Nobbies. Generally very satisfying trip and worth the price.

Joe was a fantastic guide! Great advice and knowledge. He's a keeper.

Joe was very informative during the journey, he had a pleasant nature.

Exceptional experience, everything was very well organised

I had a wonderful tour with Anthony on Audopia Tours and Wildlife Tours Australia. Anthony is very pationate and knowledgeable about the wildlife we encountered. The calm nature sounds playing on the bus was a great addition. The Koala reserve was awesome because we saw so many Koalas and Wallabies. Watching the penguins come up to shore was a once in a lifetime experience. Thanks for a great tour.

Anthony is a great guide! I’m grateful for his humor and way of showing us things. We had amazing weather so nothing to complain about. The tour is complete and filled with both wildlife and landscapes. Lucky us! ☀️

Absolutely awesome day with Autopia Tours to Phillip Island! Fiona was a fantastic guide, friendly, knowledgeable, funny and made the whole trip enjoyable from start to finish. Seeing the koalas up close was brilliant, and finishing the day with the Penguin Parade was something really special. 🐨🐧 Fiona kept us entertained and informed throughout the journey and made sure everything ran smoothly. A fantastic way to experience Phillip Island without having to worry about driving or organising anything yourself. Highly recommend Autopia Tours, and if you get Fiona as your guide, you’re in great hands! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Penguins were very cute and our guide Fiona was informative, knowledgeable and very helpful.

The tour was comfortable and ran very smoothly. Our guide and driver was incredibly thoughtful and helpful throughout the day, which made the whole experience enjoyable and reassuring. Each of the stops — the Koala Conservation Reserve, The Nobbies, and the Penguin Parade — was well worth visiting on its own. However, our guide made the experience even better by sharing interesting information and helpful tips along the way. Thanks to him, we were able to learn and notice so many things that we probably would have missed if we had visited on our own. I think this is one of the great advantages of joining a guided tour. As a visitor from overseas travelling with children, I especially appreciated how considerate our guide was towards us. At each stop, he often came over to explain things and point out things to look for. When one of my children felt a little carsick, he checked to make sure she was okay, and he even offered the children some Australian animal soft toys to play with during the journey so they wouldn’t get bored. Thanks to his kindness, my children stayed happy and really enjoyed the whole day. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch our guide’s name properly, but I would really like to thank him again for taking such good care of us and making our day so enjoyable. And of course, the koalas and little penguins were absolutely adorable! It was wonderful to see them behaving so naturally in their environment, and just watching them was such a heartwarming experience. We are very happy that we joined this tour and would definitely recommend it.

Guide was informative on time easy to ask questions overall great experience Bring a blanket and warm clothing gloves scarf it is cold worth it

Wonderful experience seeing the penguins come marching from the sea. It is the highlight of the entire tour. The koala reserve is very basic. You see koalas on trees sleeping. The worst part is the 30 minutes stop at a small town to buy food. The options are super basic and tasteless. Meat pies and meat pies. No time to eat. You have to buy extra for dinner since there will not be anytime to stop later. The guide was great. Kiwi. Do take a lot of warm clothes, gloves, hats, scarf because it get extremely cold at night waiting for the penguins.

Our driver, Kiwi, was the best. Very friendly and very knowledgeable about Australia and the sites that we went to.

Our driver/guide Peter was very knowledgeable, funny and kind. We had a great day. I would highly recommend this tour.

Kiwi was knowledgeable and accommodating. It was an enjoyable, relaxed pace tour. Plenty of time at each stop. The penguin parade is magical. … and COLD! Bring WARM clothes! Great tour.

It was a beautiful day. Our guide was very informative. Excellent driver, especially when you’re not use driving on the opposite side of the street!!

Joe, the driver and guide, was very professional, courteous, and helpful.

Joe was the best tour guide and driver! Very informative and fun. You can tell he really loves his job and it made the tour even more enjoyable!

Great experience with a very awesome host. Safari Pete was AWESOME!!!

This is an amazing day trip to the koala reserve where we saw lots of different animals, the Nettles, and the penguin parade - definitely go with penguins plus, it’s worth it!

I was in town with my friend for the USA NFL game (Los Angeles RAMS vs San Francisco 49ers) and booked the Koala & Penguin Parade on Phillip Island. Anthony was GREAT! Calm, informative on the plan for each section, and provided wildlife facts, details and sound effects! Each stop was perfectly timed, allowing enough time to see the purpose of each trip (koalas sleeping and eating to beautiful boardwalk views of southeast Phillip Island and finally arrived early for dinner before seeing the penguin parade! Ant-man had us prepared, on-time if not early to each location, and safely traveled us from Melbourne and through Phillip Island. Helped that the day was gorgeous for it being wintertime! Highly recommend!! - Beth & Rane

Awesome tour guide! Anthony was very knowledgeable about both the animals we encountered and Australia. He made the 10 hour experience fun! The tour consisted of a small group of about 20 people. The tour bus was clean and comfortable. We had a wonderful time exploring the koala sanctuary, Philip Island penguin parade and a bonus lookout spot along the water. It was a bit chilly, so bring a coat! Loved this experience and would recommend!

Beautiful trip from the CBD through the country to Phillip Island. Saw plenty of koalas eating and climbing. I've never seen a wallabie, until today. Dress warm for the nobbies then enjoy the hundreds of cute little blue penguins running up the beach. Great day with a great host, thanks Craig.

I had the best time on the Philip Island tour today. Kiwi was a great host and shared so much during the trip with us. The Koala reserve was wonderful and penguin parade is beyond words.

Kiwi was a great guide! He was entertaining with his knowledge about the area and of course the koalas and penguins stole the show! He effectively handled all of the guests and kept us on time. Our favorite day in Melbourne!

Excellent day with our guide Kiwi. Plenty of interesting information. Koalas and penguin parade were fantastic.

A great day. Ant-man was the perfect host and guide.

Wonderful tour! The penguin parade was the highlight but the koala encounter was memorable as well. Our guide was great and very knowledgeable.

Had a fantastic day out to Phillip Island with guide and driver Lauren who was excellent at both. Perfect amount of information to process and highly personable chat too. Koalas were adorable and was able to get very close to them. The little penguins experience was amazing - highly recommend the ‘penguin plus’ option if possible. Thank you for a great time.

This was a great full day (11:45am - 8:45pm) tour that packed four great stops in with time to explore each on our own. Note that is almost a 2 hr journey each way, but our guide, Joe sprinkled in fun and informative stories along the way. He kept us entertained, was safe, and clear with what to expect each step of the tour. We did the Penguins Plus viewing platform and it was great. We were shocked how many people (not from our group) were ignoring the no phones/photos after dark rules. The ranger had to keep reminding people. That said, the scenery all day was gorgeous and the penguins were the stars of the show. Don’t worry if you don’t get a front row seat…after 15 min they let everyone move around. There are many waves of penguins that come in. Do bring layers for the weather and some snacks since you have lunch toward the beginning of the afternoon. You can buy food and drink at the penguin visitor center. We and our 12 year old daughter had an amazing day. Thank you, Joe!

The trip was smooth and informative. We enjoyed our driver Joe's very accommodating attitude and ease on answering our questions.

Fiona was an excellent driver and guide. Penguin viewing was incredible - fabulous day!

Penguins and koalas were amazing. Giving 4 stars because the stop in torradin was a waste of time. Tour could start 2 hrs later and tell people to eat lunch before and go straight to the activities.

Wonderful guide and great tour! Our guide was GREAT, he drove the bus safely while explaining our itinerary and the sites. He gave us great tips on how to make the most of our day. The Penguin Plus seating was worth the extra money. The penguin viewing was completely sold out on the night we went and the "plus" seating helped us get the best views. Make sure to bring warm gear, be prepared to sit outside.

It was a great trip, loved the koala reserve and penguin parade. Kiwi was super helpful and his tips helped get an amazing view. Thank you team.

We really enjoyed our tour. Kiwi was a great tour guide and provided excellent commentary along our trip. He was friendly, helpful, and professional. The tour bus was comfortable, and the stops were all worthwhile. We saw tons of koalas and penguins. We’re glad to have brought warm clothes (including hat and gloves) for the penguin viewing, as it was pretty chilly. The tour was definitely worth the money, and I would highly recommend it.

A fab experience with the perfect amount of time at the koala conservation centre before heading to see the penguins. Joel was very informative at the right level for adults and children.

The Penguin Parade at Phillip Island was a wonderful experience and one we would definitely recommend to anyone visiting Melbourne. Watching the little penguins emerge from the ocean at sunset and make their way across the beach to their burrows was something we’ll remember for a long time. The whole experience is very well organised, with excellent viewing areas and knowledgeable staff helping visitors appreciate the importance of protecting this unique wildlife. One piece of advice for anyone booking tickets: we chose the VIP Underground Viewing experience, but in hindsight we don’t feel it offered enough extra value over the Premier Viewing tickets. The Premier option provides an excellent view, and we think it offers the best balance of experience and value. If we visited again, we’d happily choose Premier Viewing. Overall, this was a fantastic wildlife experience and a real highlight of our time in Victoria. It’s a must-do if you’re travelling to Melbourne or the surrounding area.

Excellent guide. Knowledgeable and more importantly fun.

The penguins are adorable and it is so fun to watch for them coming out of the surf and heading to their burrows. Highly recommend upgrading to the premium plus as they waddle right by you!! Please note there is no photography after the sun goes down (do not be that person they have to remind to put your camera away and annoy your neighbors 😡). Also children under 12 aren’t supposed to be allowed in the premium area (please don’t lie, the children under 5 who were there had a hard time sitting still when nothing was happening (again don’t annoy your neighbors). Getting there was nice, the driver was knowledgeable and passionate about the koala conservation as well as the penguins. Enjoyed the stop to see the koalas and the Nobbies and the drive along the waters edge was beautiful. To Autopia: Would highly recommend that this tour just stop in the Aldi parking lot in Cowes and let people get food then take them to the beach to eat or raise the price and pass out a sack lunch. Too many options allowed people to be late returning which made our stop at the Nobbies to be shorter.

Definitely upgrade to the Penguin Plus viewing. That’s the reason we chose this tour. I’ve seen the penguins twice and if you really want to see them close the upgrade is worth it.

Our tour guide, Fiona, took a great trip and made it amazing! She clearly loves nature, people, her job, and this tour area specifically. She was so warm and joyful, and she made sure we were smiling from the moment we got on the bus. And the bus itself was fantastic. The seats were comfortable, there were charging stations at each one, and there was WiFi on-board. The semi long drive was an ease for me and my kids. The bus size was also great because it was large enough to be a tour, but not so big you felt like cattle. The whole experience still felt really intimate. We had a great day.