We’ll take you to the penguins!

The Little Penguin Bus departs Melbourne for the Phillip Island Penguin Parade every day except Saturday and Sunday. To save travel time and keep costs down we depart from one central city location, and St Kilda, but at the end of the day we will take you home to any accommodation in Melbourne’s city centre or St Kilda. Because the penguins appearance time always changes, earlier in winter and later in summer, we change our departure times with the seasons.

You just have to think like a penguin!

From April to September we leave the city for the Penguin Parade at 2pm. From October to March we leave at 4pm. Enjoy a two hour scenic drive to Phillip Island, with a short break halfway, arriving at the Penguin Parade about one hour before the penguins are due to appear. (If we have some extra time we will take a scenic drive around the beautiful Summerland Peninsula). Learn all about the life of the Little Penguin in the award winning Visitor Centre, get into some souvenir shopping or a meal at the Boardwalk Cafe. Then take a seat for the main event, the Little Penguins emerging from the sea and marching across the beach to their sand dune burrows. Enjoy an hour of penguin watching before the return drive to Melbourne.

We also offer the full selection of Penguin Parade guided ranger tours and penguin viewing upgrades. See our Tours and Bookings page for more information.