Begin your adventure with convenient pickup from your nominated accommodation. Board your premium midi coach, meet your expert local guide, and settle into your guaranteed window seat for every booking with WiFi access for the journey ahead.
Explore the charming seaside village of Cowes on the shores of Western Port Bay. Stroll the sandy beach along The Esplanade, browse local shops and boutiques, and experience the relaxed island village atmosphere. There's time for optional refreshments at local cafes if desired.
Arrive at golden hour as the sun descends over Bass Strait and walk the elevated boardwalks offering spectacular 360-degree ocean views. Watch for wallabies grazing on clifftops, Cape Barren geese (one of Australia's rarest waterbirds), seabirds, and echidnas in coastal vegetation. View the Australian fur seal colony on Seal Rocks, with up to 16,000 seals visible from the boardwalk. Capture stunning golden hour photography before returning to your coach for complimentary sparkling wine as the sun sets over the Southern Ocean
Drive through one of Phillip Island's most picturesque and wildlife-rich regions as twilight descends. Spot wallabies and native animals becoming active at dusk in their natural surroundings while enjoying the scenic coastal views from your comfortable window seat. Your guide shares insights about the nocturnal wildlife that calls this area home.
Arrive at the world-renowned Penguin Parade as dusk settles over Summerland Beach. Explore the excellent Visitor Centre facilities and take time have a meal (own cost) at the onsite restaurant. Then settle into the general viewing platform to witness one of nature's most enchanting spectacles as hundreds to thousands of Little Penguins emerge from Bass Strait and waddle across the sand to their burrows. Your guide provides expert commentary about penguin behavior and the important conservation work protecting Victoria's largest Little Penguin colony.
Relax and reflect on your unforgettable wildlife encounters as your guide returns you to your original Phillip Island or San Remo pickup point, completing a perfect golden-hour adventure.
Michael the tour guide was extremely great with all his local knowledge and tips of where to look for the penguins, he picked us up where we were staying and dropped us back at the end the evening
Really enjoyed this. Our guide, Rod was fantastic, funny and knowledgeable. He knew the right places for us to stop and great advice on the best way to see the penguins.
Great tour, Rod out driver and tour guide was fantastic. Friendly, informative and fun. Highly recommend,
I wrote this all already on this site and couldn't send it. Hope it won't happen again. This wasn't a great tour. It was quite disorganized, sending me texts that I would reply to but they couldn't receive. Finally got through and they sent a reminder for the wrong time. We got to Cowes and met our driver, Al, who was quite confused also about our names and what we were signed up for. His next pickup wasn't there, when he called them, they had been given the wrong time. He had to pick them up at their home. Then we picked up people at a vineyard and had to wait 15 minutes for them. Al gave us our tickets, then later had to change them because the penguin parade wasn't included. He kept blaming "ops" for all the mistakes, but he was great at getting it all straightened out. Then he said he was returning to Melbourne and could save us the UBER fee back and drop us off close to Oakleigh. I really would have given this tour a 1 if it hadn't been for this wonderful driver. Oh, the promised glass of wine was canned, out of a cooler, and tacky terrible.
Absolutely amazing our tour guide sue was awesome . Highly recommend booking threw this company customer service easy booking fantastic trip xx deb matt
Our guide Yuri was terrific and knew a lot about Phillip Island and the area. He chatted to passengers and made sure we knew what we were doing, where we were going and times etc at our various stops. He also gave us some helpful tips about where best to see the penguins and other wildlife. It was a terrific tour.
We booked this tour through Luxury Escapes and we were so glad we added it to our trip. It was a highlight, very well organised, communication with our driver was excellent, and the Nobbys beach walk at golden hour was amazing. There was a perfect amount of time spent at the penguins, and our driver shared many local tips to enhance our experience.
I know it wasn’t the company or Drivers fault We were 15 minutes late being picked up then lost another 15 plus minutes waiting for some missing guests which meant our two stops before the Penguin experience was rushed and we were not given the tips for seeing the penguins. I booked Penguin plus which was cancelled the evening before so had to in general viewing, with not good eye sight I had problems seeing the penguins from seagulls. ( My Tip after seeing the first Penguin leave the safety of the sea head left along board walk to the toilet area and all the little penguins walk along close up. We discovered this too late and it was 10 deep with people, get there first)
It was a enjoyable experience! The driver of the comfortable bus picked us up at the hotel on time, he was very friendly and told a lot of interesting facts and gave us good advices during the drive. He even offered some sparkling wine to all of the guests. The Penguine Parade itself is very touristic, but well organised.
Very good. Wonderful guide. Michael was very attentive. .............................................
Avoid this tour operator for Philip Island: Golden Hour Penguin Express tour. We booked this tour in December for today. 48 hours before the tour was due to start, Local Way Tours reached out to let us know they had recieved less tickets than they had booked and could not confirm our tour. They were then hard to communicate with and unclear - not responding to myself or Get Your Guide. I used both Get Your Guide messaging and whatsapp. We have lost out on our accomodation ($177) as this was non-refundable and we were only coming to Philips Island for this tour. We were NOT made aware when booking that the operator are only allocated a small number of tickets and rely on Penguin Parade giving them extras closer to the time. They admitted to me it had been sold out for 3 months - we booked 2 months in advance so they sold tickets knowing this. They tried to rebook us on an alternative day but as we have come from the UK and are here for a limited time this was not possible for us. I am incredibily disappointed to have missed out on both this experience and accomodation.
Wonderful tour! We had a great evening with Sue! She gave us lots of local history and fun facts about the penguins! Seeing the penguin parade was amazing! Being picked up at our lodging was an added bonus. No need to stress about parking or crowds!
Fantastic experience the driver (Sue) was very knowledgeable about the history and the different wild life on Phillip Island.
Overall a great tour. We were collected on time and by our lovely tour guide, Mike, who sent a text confirming details of pickup, etc on the day. The extra for the premium viewing of the penguins was worth it and delivered us a fabulous viewing and rewarding evening. Thanks to Mike for delivering great, respectful service. Our experience was all the better due to your enthusiasm and ability to welcome your guests. A wonderful memory and the penguins delighted us with wonderful memories.
Great guide and really nice stops with magnificent views. We saw a lot of different animals and enjoyed the stunning views.
The communication for the pick up and tour was excellent. Jenny was very knowledgeable and friendly. She made the trip almost as worthwhile as seeing those adorable penguins. We also saw wild wallabies and bandicoots!
Very pleasant and absolutely refreshing experience. The tour guide had a lot of experience and was very easy to talk to and made our half day tour perfect.
The driver we had was great easy to talk to, polite friendly. Tour was wonderful. On time small group which was nice
We did this tour on busiest day of year. Mike the guide was great and the visiting of nobbies before hand was stunning but seeing the penguins in their natural habitat was the highlight
Incredible. Cannot recommend enough. Filip from local way tour added to the experience by making us feel comfortable and explaining everything during the tour so well. My 8 year old got to ride at the front of the bus and ask all her questions. Something she will never forget. Thankyou again for such an amazing experience
The driver was attentive and informative about the history the penguins 🐧 as well as the wildlife on the island. He offered everyone in the a champagne 🍾 toast 🥂.
Had the best time even tho the weather wasn't the greatest. Cloudy,windy,miserable sky. Mike collected us from our accommodation on Phillip Island. Mike was very polite,friendly and welcomed us on to his bus with a cheery smile. We collected the remainder of our tour guests from around the Island and the tour began. We were extremely fortunate to be sharing our tour with 6 lovely overseas tourists who were the best people. Cheery,happy,bubbly,friendly. An all round great small group. Mike is very knowledgeable and is great at his job. I would highly recommend this tour and company to anyone wanting value for money and a fun time. Was one of the highlights of my vacation.
Pickup and return was excellent. Penguins and wildlife were great. Crew were friendly and helpful. Well worth the cash.
We were so well looked after by both coordinator Filip and tour guide Yuri. We had a large group including a number of kids - this entailed a little chaos than perhaps normal. Yuri handled us all with grace and good humour, even when a few of the group got lost and meant we had a leave much later than planned! Highly recommend this company - honest, straight forward and a pleasure to deal with!
Great service. Easy pick up and drop off. Ample time to explore Nobbies Point before entry to Penguin parade. Great seats attained due to early drop off however the rudeness of people standing and taking photos spoilt the night. Really needed longer at the penguins as the rude people rushed to the boardwalk. The opportunity to view was hastily done as we were due back to the bus. No opportunity to explore the shops surrounding complex. Glad we went with this tour and recommend it to any traveller.
Excellent service, the driver given his service to customers beyond his limits. I highly recommend this friendly service to everyone
This was such a lovely experience. Our guide, Jordan, was cheerful, knowledgeable and helpful. Long Ways Travel even agreed to move our booking forward by one day when we were delayed and couldn’t make the booked date and time. It was absolutely fascinating to see the little penguins wash up on the beach by the surf, gather in numbers before rushing up the sandbanks to meet their awaiting partners. It was so lovely to hear all the happy chirping when they were reunited. Highly recommend this tour and company. Thank you so much for accommodating us! 😀
Very nice tour, well organized, the landscapes are beautiful, we saw many amazing animals and our guide Russell was great
We enjoyed this tour, from the first note we received clear, well-timed instructions for pick-up, no missed beats. Rod was quickly in-tune with the type of people we are and it was obvious he likes to conduct his tours with passion and energy. Michael joined the tour as a guide in training. His calm demeanour balanced well against Rod's energy. Michael spotted a penguin in its own burrow (on the side of the road) and allowed us to get unique photos that no other tour buses before or after us noticed. The tempo of the tour was just right with no rushing between locations and plenty of time to compose our photos. This penguin tour hits all the right notes and we highly recommend it
As a family of 5 with 3 small children this tour was a perfect way for us to see the highlights of Phillip Island. Ray, our tour guide, was insightful with lots of local knowledge. The pick up and drop off to our accommodation was super convenient. Highly recommend.
Ray was an excellent guide with a big smile, great humour and just everything we could’ve wanted for our evening 😄 10/10 experience
Very friendly and informative guide/driver. Door to door pick was very convenient and we were well looked after. Definitely recommend, Ange
Great tour, our tour guide picked us up on time at our accommodation and was very informative about the region. Took us to other locations of interest prior to the Penguin show. Unfortunately, the Penguins didn't want to cooperate on this particular evening. Only saw 6 of the little critters come out of the ocean before we had to leave, whereas there were supposed to be 184 the night before. Would definitely recommend this tour though.
Booked 1 month ahead, only to be cancelled 5 days before our tour due to so called tour guide being sick. Tried to rebook for the next night only to be told the same.
Yuri was an excellent host. Patient, enthusiastic and knowledgeable. A very enjoyable experience for us.
We were picked up from central location - great driver and guide Jordan. Stopped at magical places, saw fab wildlife and loved the penguin march, such an amazing experience. Just reccommend to bring own food or snacks and a jacket as gets chilly at night.
Remember to bring jacket! In general the time frame for viewing is just nice, the dinner was a bit rushed so I would suggest to bring your own food instead (dinner is not provided anyway)
Great experience. Cute penguuns!!! However, i was not able to reach the operator day-of to coordinate pickup location, which was highly stressful and caused us to have to do extra driving. Be sure to try to coordinate pickup days in advance to avoid the issue i had.
Fantastic tour Local knowledge and great guide Jordy meant that we got a fun and interesting experience The nobbys and the penguins were fabulous highlights and our guide’s tips got us up close to everything Brilliant tour
Fantastic exursion. Tour guide, Jordan was great. Lots of information about the area. Saw wallabies, echidna and finally the parade
Great way to see the island and finish at the penguin parade. Having a guide made the experience much more enjoyable and educational.
Penguins were fabulous. Guide was very good especially in terms of answering lots of questions from kids. First stop (lookout) could be skipped
It was great tour with convenient pick up an drop off. The tour guide, Jordan from Local Way tours was great and well informed. The penguin parade was the highlight but there were many other interesting stops on the tour.
The tour is well structured, time to explore everything without being to long… & BTW Sue is amazing!!
Sue was incredible, such a lovely tour guide, she made the experience worth while! Penguins were adorable, we all loved it.
We didn’t get the return shuttle bus and there’s no one we can contact… Finally we randomly found another agency at parking lots and the tour guide is very nice and gave us a ride…
Jordan was an excellent and knowledgeable guide. The whole experience went very quickly. Good pick up and drop off. Seeing animals in the wild was totally worth it
Pick up spot wasn’t clearly communicated and driver was fifteen minutes late arriving. Bus needed to return to starting point to pick up other customers so trip start was delayed by a total of thirty minutes. Promotional material mentioned max. of 15 participants but there were around 20 people on the bus. Driver‘s commentary was mostly inaudible although the issue was communicated to him more than once. He didn’t conduct a sound check. Driver suggested participants should eat upon arrival at Penguin Parade. He should have advised that best viewing areas fill up quickly so customers may wish to go directly to grandstands. Complimentary wine served wasn’t properly chilled.
This was a great tour. Sue, our driver and guide was friendly, knowledgeable and fun. Fantastic! We saw numerous animals including wallabies, geese, and echidnas. Beautiful scenery by the coast.
Tour was fantastic Our tour guide was Ray been doing it for around 15 years and also a local he just the best. If you use another tour operator you will miss the mark. Ray is Funny He So knowledgeable Just a pleasure to deal with, and be part of his tour.
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