Phillip Island Penguins & Wildlife Day Tour From Melbourne

The entire tour was amazing, including our guide Madeline, who told us exactly where to sit during the penguin parade so that we were able to see the tiny penguins coming out of the ocean. It was an experience of a lifetime. Dress warmly.

The trip was well planned and we saw many things. Jacqui was very entertaining and informative. It does get back to Melbourne late so plan ahead for that. Loved seeing the animals up close at Moonlit and the penguins are unforgettable.

Tour guide Jackie is awesome. Had a chance to internet with koalas and kangoroos. The penguins were so adorable. Totally worth it!

We had a great experience with our guide, Simon. Even though the weather was not ideal he managed our trip well and provided a comfortable, memorable and, entertaining experience. Additionally, our smaller group size meant each of us received personalized attention. We highly recommend Go West!

Robbo was a great driver/guide. Went above and beyond. Was a thrill to pet a koala and see the penguin raft come in.

It was an awesome experience and Jon was a very knowledgeable tour guide with a lot of information about places along the tour Phillip Island and the best spot at the Pinguine parade. His co guide Will was also very friendly :) All in all a nice day

Just a wonderful day from start to finish !!! We loved all the stops - the sanctuary was so special !! The penguin parade unforgettable ! Our guide Lucy was the best !!!

Very positive experience, our guide was nice and helpful. Got to see so much wildlife and some beautiful scenery.

Sherif was a fantastic tour guide and the day was well thought out. Only thing I would say is to plan food for your day ahead of time.

First time using this site to book a day tour outside of US. Easy to use and navigate. It is confusing as we were not told in advance what is the name of the local tour company. At pick up site, there were at least 10 tour buses showed up and we had to keep showing our passes until the correct guide/driver was met. The day tour is worth it if you stayed in city center without a rental car. All the sites visited were lovely, but not enough time was given at each site, understandably due to distance travelled and time limits. Mike our driver/guide was very knowledgeable and informative. Too bad of the 22 of us on the bus, only us and one other party of 2 gave him a tip😞

It was a comfortable journey. Guide explained places en route and we enjoyed the trip. Tour operator maintained pickup and drop as planned.

It was a great tour with my kids. Our guide, Chris W, was amazing. Throughout the trip, he stayed connected with us, cared about us, and always provided pickup/drop-off information and directions. Next time if I make a plan obviously it will be with Bunyip. One of my little suggestions is that the seating arrangement should be more comfortable. The space was congested. That's it.

The Penguin Parade was a fun experience. Seeing the penguins close up was very special. The only drawback was the very cold weather, which obviously couldn’t be avoided.

Nice weather and enthusiastic tour guide！

Great day trip with Go West! The stops at Brighton Beach, Moonlit Sanctuary, Woolamai Beach and Nobbies Boardwalk were all beautiful, before the amazing Penguin Parade. A big thank you to our guide, Chris N. He was friendly, knowledgeable and shared lots of interesting information throughout the day. I really enjoyed the whole experience and would highly recommend Go West Tours, especially with Chris N! Thanks again Chris N :-) Amira!

Amazing day. Chris N gave us a memorable experience day. Definitely recommend this tour to everyone who want to know more about wildlife.

Awesome experience.. Great driver and guide, great information provided overall and on the little penguins.. Additional spots covered..

Probably one of the best trips of the year for us. Woody was exceptional, very friendly and funny though out the whole journey and gave us plenty of time at each stop to look around and take photos too. Definitely recommend to every one.

Penguin experience was disappointing. First thing to know is that no photos or filming are allowed at night. Second thing to know is that you should only do underground experience. Finally bring warm clothing as it is very windy and cold. Pack hat, gloves, and wind/rain jacket as we experienced high winds and unexpected rain. What they don't tell you is that penguins have a certain area that they like to funnel to. That is where the underground is. Guest we talked to saw hundreds of penguins there In general seating we only saw 15 penguins come to the beach and difficult to see since approx 2k people in the stands so have to be in front rows which we were in. Others in Penguins + area also said viewing was very limited unless in front and corner row near underground.

It is a once in a lifetime experience! Our tour by Rhys was amazing! The experience with the koala at the Monastery was just so enjoyable

The tour was ok but in August some of the sites were chilly and it could have been skipped totally ( beach ones). The Sanctuary was good. Get the animal Experience tickets. But we went late afternoon and animals were in not interested in food. Penguin Parade was the highlight. It would be nice if tour operators could suggest warm clothing for this outing as you sit outside to view the penguins return from sea. They did come right by you. Be respectful of this time and enjoy up close view of this. Most of the tourist were unruly and disturbing the penguins as they returned. It would be good to simply enjoy the sight without disturbing the environment.

The tour was excellent. Peter our guide was constantly telling us about local bits of history of facts. That was very informative and fun to hear. Phillips Island was beautiful.

Incredible experience, Robbo was the perfect guide. Had plenty of knowledge to share and is a funny, easy to get along with guy. Also had all the inside knowledge for how to get the best experience

What a fantastic day! Our guide Kevin helped us feel welcome from the first hello, gave excellent narrative, brought all of us 'bus people' together despite any language barriers. He truly loves Melbourne and wanted us to appreciate the city and environs through his eyes. The music playlist an entertaining touch... I enjoyed his playful yet passionate approach to his work, clearly his calling, and his expertise throughout the day as we anticipated the penguin experience. The crowds there were less daunting thanks to Kevin's skillful navigation and artistic white board visuals! This was a day and night to remember, made even more memorable thanks to Kevin’s first-rate guiding and of course innate GENIUS!!

This was a wonderful tour. Kevin was a great guide, full of information about what we were seeing. He also gave us great tips to get the most out of our penguin parade experience. One thing to be prepared for- the penguin parade is very popular and they sell thousands of tickets per night. I didn’t realize it would be so crowded. But thanks to Kevin, I had good seats and knew where to go on the boardwalks to see them waddling to their burrows. I would definitely recommend this tour.

Good experience. Listened to quiet music on the way. Kevin did a good job communicating what we r going to see and some background information.

My friend and I had a lovely day on this tour. It was a great opportunity to see a variety of native Australian wildlife. Mark K was a great tour guide, he was very knowledgeable about the animals and general Australian history. He also gave us some very helpful tips and tricks when it came to the penguin parade.

Angel (Sophia) was the BEST! She was definitely the highlight of our whole Australia trip. I would take literally any tour she was guiding. The tour was very informational, well timed, organized, and Sophia was very attentive to everyone’s needs.

As a newcomer to Melbourne, this was one of the best ways to get to know the beautiful landscapes and fauna this place has to offer. Also a special mention of Mr David N. who was an incredible tour guide, so caring and very very cultured, always telling facts about the environment. I’m grateful I had the chance to learn, know and enjoy what Victoria is, and this is just the beginning…

Driver was fantastic Due to a bad storm with lightning they had to close the penguin viewing areas when the penguins started coming ashore We only got to see 2 penguins

I had an amazing day and the tour was planned professionally and well with amazing time planning and organisation. The fee was absolutely worth it, given the amazing tour guide Ben (Benjamin) who was not only funny and extremely kind and thoughtful, but also became the first tour guide I have ever listened to who could share interesting facts and knowledge without being boring. It takes a lot of talent to get a whole bus of university students chatting away to stop and listen in on facts about Melbourne and its wildlife, Benjamin has clearly mastered this skill. The bus itself seemed old at first sight, but had functioning wifi and aircon/heaters throughout the day and the seats were comfy enough to even have a nap. Honestly this has been the best guided day trip I have ever experienced and I especially thank Benjamin for being an amazing tour guide and making this trip memorable and highly recommendable.

Absolutely amazing day trip!!! Our guide Ben was excellent - so warm and kind and knowledgeable. We were all so impressed by him!!! Would totally recommend.

Bob the guide was fun and nice.

Angel was our tour guide for our day trip to Phillips Island. It was a great experience visiting phillips Island once again after 16 years.

Amazing time and experience. Sophia/angel was the best guide! She provided us with so much information throughout, and lots of laughs and singing too!

We had an amazing time on all of these excursions! Our tour guide Angel was the absolute best, from her stories about Melbourne to the tips she gave for the best experiences throughout the day, she was an immense help and completely leveled the trip up.

Fun and a great way to spend the day saw the beautiful Nobbies and the cute little penguins as well as some fun outings before which included a koalas at a wildlife sanctuary and walk on the beach. Our guide Woody was wonderful.

The tour guide/driver is really nice and funny, the trip itself is very chill, the sceneries are breathtaking, highly recommended. Good thing the tour has multiple pickup spots instead 1 fixed one, so we can choose the nearest to our place

Benjamin was an excellent guide who also drove the small bus we were riding in. There were about 20 people but Benjamin made sure we all knew what we were doing and when to return to the bus. He also gave us lots of information about the sights and the animals that we were seeing. Excellent value for the price paid. I f I did it again I would definitely pay for the premium seats for the Penguin Parade.

Great tour. Got to see a lot of wildlife on the tour and the Penguin Parade on Phillip Island was the best part! Amazing! Robbo, our guide, was super! He was very knowledgeable and made the tour even better.

Great tour. The wildlife sanctuary was great, and the views at the Nobbies spectacular. Our guide Ben was awesome. Very informative and happy to answer any questions. Also gave some great tips to help us make the most of the day. He clearly loves what he does.

Phillip Island is worth going to see, and I have learnt a lot about Melbourne because of Ben. Thanks for all the info and trivia you shared.

We were comfortable and entertained the entire time. Rhys was a great guide. I highly recommend this tour!

A nice day seeing the sights at Brighton Beach, the Moonlit Sanctuary, and Phillip Island. The sanctuary was my favorite, getting to see the animals close up. Not too many penguins, so that was a little disappointing, but you can’t control Mother Nature. Our guide was terrific!

It was a wonderful experience from start to finish. I had the opportunity to see Australia’s unique wildlife and visit some truly breathtaking scenic locations. The Penguin Parade was an unforgettable highlight, and the entire experience was made even more enjoyable thanks to our tour guide, Tim. His insightful commentary and interesting information about the places we visited added great value to the tour and made it both engaging and memorable.

Woody, our tour operator, was a dynamo: a skilled driver, knowledgeable guide, and clear communicator for a group representing visitors from Asia, Europe, and North America. He clearly loves Melbourne, Phillip Island, Victoria, and Australia, and has a real passion for conservation, especially the native animals and the penguins of Phillip Island. The wildlife sanctuary was such a hands-on treat. You walk freely among a few dozen kangaroos and wallabies (some areas are off limits so they can rest and get away from us pesky humans), and you can buy food to feed them straight from your palm, which was an amazing experience. I expected to view wildlife from a distance, not interact with it this closely. We upgraded to the on-site koala experience (it was off-season, so they had room), and got to take pictures with and pet the back of “Cyclops,” a female koala. The seven-minute session moved fast: the staff are pros at snapping a ton of photos in both portrait and landscape, and even managed to sneak in a short video. Note: Victoria state law doesn’t allow picking up or holding a koala, so if that’s on your list, you’ll need to do it in another Australian state. It’s hard to put into words what it’s like watching the penguins come ashore. As we settled into our seats, they were already arriving in waves, and it’s startling how close you are to them. The board at the entrance reported 860 penguins the previous night, and there were at least that many the night we visited. They keep coming in waves, and just when you think it’s over, another group arrives. We upgraded to the Penguins Plus tour, which gave us a smaller platform with fewer seats on the right-hand side of the bay, closer to where the penguins come ashore. The platform was lower to the ground, and there wasn’t a bad seat in the house; we had a clear view of the water and the shoreline. The boardwalk ramp up to the Penguins Plus seating area is barely three feet off the ground and well lit. After the waves of penguins came in, we watched them cuddle together and waddle into their little burrows.

The bus ride takes you on a scenic tour of Melbourne’s southern suburbs and deposits you on boardwalks for grand walk-abouts of Phillip Island. The Brighton Beach Bathing Boxes are a cool sight to behold. It’s nice knowing they’re being preserved as part of Australia’s cultural heritage. Viewing the small penguin parade is for sure a major highlight of one’s visit to Phillip Island. Our Go West driver/guide Tom is well-versed on the more distant and contemporary history of Melbourne / Phillip Island. Tom is a knowledgeable, friendly chap who made for a wonderful tour host. Try to pick a warmer, sunnier day, if you can. Overcast skies and southerly winds can make for a cold, uncomfortable evening on the island if you’re unprepared for such weather conditions. All in all, well-worth the time and money!

Look, the tour guide Riquell was amazing, friendly, passionate and engaging no problems at all with her. However, this tour is marketed as a Phillip island tour and we barely spent much time at all there. Just a quick look at the Nobbies then watched the penguins from so far away you can barely see them. Except on the penguin highway or whatever. But you don’t even have much time there to look at them. Plus, earlier in the day we wasted probably 3 hours looking at the beach huts, and a disappointing Australian animal zoo. Why did these places have to be included, if you’re interested you can just go there on your own. Overall, pretty disappointing tour for the price, so I would just recommend this company to prioritise Phillip Island over other things if the tour is marketed as a Phillip island tour.

Our guide/driver David N is great. The trip is also well planned