What Else to Do Near the Phillip Island Penguin Parade
The crossing takes two hours of a day that runs to twelve. These are the places worth the other ten. The opening times decide the order you do them in, because two of the island's best close well before the penguins arrive.
The daylight hours are the part people under-plan
Almost everyone books the evening first and then wonders what to do with the afternoon. On the island that question has a hard edge. The Koala Conservation Reserve takes its last entry at 4.30pm and Churchill Island at 4pm. In winter the birds come ashore at a quarter past five, so you cannot do both ends of the day unless you start early.
In summer it is the opposite problem — an 8:45pm crossing leaves a whole afternoon to fill. Work backwards from the arrival time for your month and the order sorts itself out.
| Place | Hours | Adult | Child 4–15 | Where |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Koala Conservation Reserve | 10am–5pm, last entry 4.30pm | $17.50 | $8.75 | 1810 Phillip Island Road |
| Churchill Island Heritage Farm | 10am–4.30pm, last entry 4pm | $17.50 | $8.75 | 246 Samuel Amess Drive, Newhaven |
| The Nobbies boardwalks | Open daily, no ticket | Free | Free | Summerland Peninsula |
Koala Conservation Reserve
Two treetop boardwalks through six hectares of bushland, built at the height the koalas actually sit at, so you look across at them rather than up. Wallabies, echidnas and native birds use the same bush, and the reserve has a visitor centre, a cafe and a nature play area. Adult entry is A$17.50 and a guided koala tour is A$60. Allow an hour; several coach days already include it.
Churchill Island Heritage Farm
A small island off Newhaven, reached by its own bridge, with a working heritage farm on it. Sheep shearing, cow milking, working dogs and blacksmithing run through the day, and walking trails loop the shoreline. Adult entry is A$17.50 and the farm opens 10am–4.30pm. No tour we list calls here, which is exactly why a self-driver should.
The Nobbies and the Summerland Peninsula boardwalks
A few minutes west of the Penguin Parade, where the peninsula runs out into Bass Strait and the boardwalks loop above the cliffs. Little penguins nest in burrows in the slope, seabirds work the swell, and the rocks offshore are the seal colony. It is free, it is open, and nearly every coach day stops here before dinner.
The Nobbies Centre building is closed. The reserve confirms that the centre, its cafe and its toilets are shut while planning work continues under the Summerland Peninsula Master Plan. No reopening date has been published. The boardwalks, the car park and the road along the peninsula stay open as usual. The nearest toilets and cafe are at the Penguin Parade Visitor Centre from 12pm.
Cape Woolamai and the pink granite
The island's highest point and its biggest surf beach, with a circuit walk of about seven kilometres out to the granite stacks at the tip. It is the one part of the island that feels genuinely remote. It is also why one operator builds its whole day around a walk instead of a coach.
Cowes, and the beach the ferry lands on
The island's main town, on the sheltered northern shore, with a jetty, a swimming beach that faces the mainland and the only real choice of food on the island. Most coach days stop here for an hour before the parade. Eat early rather than late: out of season, travellers arriving after dark have found much of the main street already shut.
Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
The island's other famous name, on the road between Cowes and The Nobbies. The circuit runs a visitor centre, guided track tours and a go-kart track built on a scale model of the course. It opens through the day whenever there is no race meeting on, and it is the one attraction here with nothing to do with wildlife.
Seal Rocks and the fur seal colony
The rocks you can see from The Nobbies carry one of Australia's largest Australian fur seal colonies. The only way to see them properly is from the water, and Phillip Island Nature Parks runs its own seal cruise out of Cowes. From the clifftop the haul-out is a dark line on the rock, and you hear it before you see it.
The 3 Parks Pass, and what it bundles
Phillip Island Nature Parks sells a 3 Parks Pass covering the Penguin Parade, the Koala Conservation Reserve and Churchill Island for less than buying the three separately. It does not publish the pass price anywhere we can read it. Buy it through their own booking system rather than from a figure quoted second hand: several sites print a A$25 adult price that belongs to a different product altogether.
Fitting it around a sunset that moves
One rule covers the whole day. The parade is fixed to the sun; everything else is fixed to a clock. Check the arrival time for your month on the arrival-times page, take off an hour for being seated, then take off the drive. Fill what is left.
Want the daylight half handled for you?
Several tours put a wildlife park in the fare and time the rest of the day around the crossing, so the clock is somebody else's problem.
Sources, and what to check before you travel
Hours, prices and access below were read from the operator of record on 12 September 2026. Prices are in Australian dollars and belong to Phillip Island Nature Parks. Check them again close to your date, because a reserve can change an opening time without changing a web page.
- Koala Conservation Reserve — hours and prices — penguins.org.au
- Churchill Island Heritage Farm — hours, prices and the 3 Parks Pass — penguins.org.au
- The Nobbies — what is open and what is closed — penguins.org.au
Phillip Island day tours differ mostly in which of these places they put in the fare, and Phillip Island Penguin Parade Tours sets them out side by side.