Phillip Island Penguin Parade Viewing Tiers: General Viewing, the Upgrades and the Ranger Tours

The reserve does not sell four prices for one seat. It sells four different places to stand, and the gap between them is distance rather than comfort.

Four different places, not four prices for one

The mistake almost everybody makes is reading the Penguin Parade's ticket list as a price ladder for the same seat. It is not. The reserve sells access to genuinely different parts of the beach, and the difference between the cheapest and the dearest is not comfort. It is distance.

Here is the whole list as Phillip Island Nature Parks publishes it, in Australian dollars.

What does General Viewing actually show you?

A wide set of tiered timber stands above the beach, holding several hundred people, looking down and along the sand. You see the whole scene: groups massing in the surf, the first birds committing to the beach, the rest following.

What you do not get is proximity. The stands sit back from the landing point, and the most common note in the review pool is that the birds were further away than the photographs suggested. Two things help, and neither costs anything: take binoculars, and sit to one side rather than dead centre.

Is Penguins Plus worth nearly three times the price?

For most first-time visitors, yes, and the review pool is close to unanimous on it. Penguins Plus is a smaller elevated platform much closer to where the birds land, capped at far fewer people, and it sits beside the boardwalks the penguins use on their way inland. You watch the crossing, and then you watch them walk past you.

The gap in Australian dollars is A$34 against A$93. Set against the cost of getting to Victoria at all, that is a rounding error on the trip and the difference between seeing a colony and seeing penguins.

Who should choose Underground Viewing?

Anyone who wants the birds at arm's length rather than the spectacle. Underground Viewing is a window at the level of the sand, reached by a ramp, with penguins passing at eye height on the other side of the glass. You see fewer of them, far more closely, and out of the wind.

It carries a different arrival instruction: 30 minutes before the published time rather than the usual hour. It is also the only area with any shelter, which on a July evening in Bass Strait is worth something on its own.

What do the ranger-guided tours add?

Context, and a small group. The Guided Penguin Tour at A$108 takes a handful of people out with a ranger to watch from a spot away from the main stands, with somebody explaining what the birds are doing and why. The Ultimate Adventure Tour at A$129 goes further from the crossing again.

Both walk on uneven ground and carry a minimum age, so neither suits anybody who needs a level surface. The accessibility page sets out what each area involves underfoot.

Which tours include which tier?

This is where the money is won and lost. Almost every tour fare buys general viewing. One group coach here includes Penguins Plus in the price. A handful of private days let you choose any tier at booking, including Underground and the ranger tour.

The clearest illustration comes from a single operator. It runs the same route, in the same vehicle, with the same stops and the same guide, at two fares fifty-one US dollars apart. The cheaper one hands over general viewing at the gate and the dearer one hands over Penguins Plus. Everything that money buys happens in the final two hours.

Can you upgrade after you have booked?

Not reliably, and not at the gate on a busy night. Every area is capped, the upgraded ones are capped hardest, and they sell out before general viewing does. If you are travelling between December and February, treat the decision as final when you book.

If you are on a tour whose fare includes general viewing, ask the operator rather than the reserve: some sell the upgrade as a booking option and some cannot sell it at all. The tour options page sets out which fares do what.

Does the upgrade matter on a quiet night?

More, not less. Numbers vary with the colony's year — highest through the breeding season from August to February, lowest during the moult — and on a thin night the difference between a close platform and a distant stand is the difference between watching penguins and watching a dark beach.

That is the strongest argument for the upgrade, and it is the one nobody makes at the point of sale. You cannot control how many birds come in. You can control how far away you are when they do.

What do concessions and family fares cover?

Australian pensioners pay A$23.80 for general viewing, and the reserve accepts Australian Pensioner, DVA, Seniors and Carer cards. Companion Card holders are admitted free. Family tickets cover two adults and two children at A$85 for general viewing, A$232.50 for Penguins Plus and A$257.50 for Underground.

Bring the physical card; a photograph of one is not accepted at the gate. Everyone needs a ticket, infants included.

Is there a cheaper way to see more?

One, and it is not a viewing upgrade. Phillip Island Nature Parks sells a 3 Parks Pass covering the Penguin Parade, the Koala Conservation Reserve and Churchill Island at a discount on buying them separately. The reserve does not publish the pass price on the pages we can read, so buy it through their own booking system rather than from a figure quoted second hand.

It does not upgrade your viewing area. What it does is make the daylight half of the day considerably cheaper, which is a better use of the money than most things on the island.

The one caveat is timing. The Koala Conservation Reserve takes its last entry at 4.30pm and Churchill Island at 4pm, so in winter a pass you buy for the evening leaves you two parks you cannot reach the same day. It is valid for months rather than for one date, so it works best across an overnight stay.

What does every ticket include?

More than people realise, and it is the same for all of them. Entry to the Visitor Centre from 12pm with its displays, cafe and bathrooms. Free parking. Access to the boardwalks over the dunes before the crossing and after it. And rangers on the beach who will answer anything you ask.

That last list matters because it is where a good deal of the evening actually happens. The hour before dusk on the boardwalks, with wallabies on the slope and burrows under your feet, is included with the A$34 ticket and with the A$129 one alike.

What no ticket includes is photography after sunset, at any price, and no ticket guarantees a number of birds. Both of those are the same for everyone on the beach.

How early should you arrive for each area?

An hour before the published arrival time for general viewing and Penguins Plus, and 30 minutes for Underground Viewing, which has a fixed session. The guided tours meet earlier still and the reserve tells you when at booking.

Arriving on time is not the same as arriving early, and on the capped platforms it matters. Penguins Plus is unallocated: whoever is up first takes the rail nearest the water, and whoever is last takes the back. On a busy evening that is the difference between the two tickets you were choosing between in the first place.

Late arrivals fare worst of all. The reserve is explicit that arriving after your session time may mean standing room, or a forfeited ticket.

The recommendation, plainly

If this is a one-off evening on a trip to Australia, buy Penguins Plus or a fare that includes it. If you are visiting with restless children, buy general viewing and spend the difference on the daytime parks. If you want the birds close and the wind off your neck, buy Underground.

And whichever you buy, stay on the boardwalks afterwards. That part is included with every ticket, costs nothing, and is what a great many travellers describe as the best ten minutes of the night. Phillip Island Penguin Parade Tours lists which viewing area each fare includes, on every card.

Frequently asked questions

Fares sorted by the seat they buy

Phillip Island Penguin Parade and Koala Reserve Tour from Melbourne

The one group coach with Penguins Plus in the fare, plus the Koala Conservation Reserve in daylight.

From $182 per person

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Phillip Island Private Experience

A private day where the viewing tier is a booking option, from general through to the ranger-guided tour.

From $671 per person

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Phillip Island Penguin Parade: General Viewing Ticket

General viewing on its own, from the reserve, for anyone driving themselves.

From $24 per person

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