Just off Australia’s southern coast, Phillip Island is teeming with incredible bushland, pristine shores, and of course, Australia’s amazing wildlife. Its most popular wildlife is the Little Penguin, famous for nesting along the coast after sunset. Bringing over 3.5 million people annually, these little guys are the Island’s most popular attraction. The best way to these cute creatures is to visit the Penguin Parade, renowned for displaying the penguins in an easy and sustainable manner.

The name ‘little penguins’ is perfect fit for these creatures, as they are the world’s smallest penguins. Standing an average of 33 centimetres tall and only weighing around 1 kilogram. With dark blue feathers on their backs, white feather on their belly, and pink feet, these adorable animals will waddle into your heart. They live in colonies and spend majority of their time in the sea searching for food. However, they nest along the coast and always return to these nests at night to rest and rejuvenate. Waddling out of the sea as a group, over the sand to head off to bed.

This is how the penguin parade was established. Starting in the 1920s when the three Berts; Bert West, Bern Denham, and Bert Watchorn opened the Summerland Beach. The organised viewings of these penguins began as visitors headed to the beach at sunset to watch the colonies of penguins arrive home after a day of swimming in the deep blue sea. The number of visitors grew as travellers from all over flocked to see the cute little creatures march their way up the beach. After the development of the bridge to the mainland in the 1940s, the number of people visiting affected the penguins negatively. Introducing fences and viewing stands in the 1960s created a dramatic improvement to this issue. The area evolving throughout the years to create one of the best eco-tourism facilities in the world.

The Penguin Parade offers multiple viewing options as well as a diverse range of activities included. For a standard viewing, general viewing tickets involve your own self-guided sightseeing and the usual rows of seats that visitors can sit on to watch the parade take place. If you are interested in getting a bit closer to the action, the penguin provides an upgraded seating option, named Penguin Plus. This is a completely different viewing platform, which is closer to the penguin’s path, and therefore provides the design of the penguin plus platform has been inspired by the natural elements that surround the beach, resulting in a more natural viewing experience. This platform also includes a detailed commentary on the penguin’s lives, behaviours, habitats and history. A great addition for visitors who are interested in learning more about these cute little animals.

Phillip Island has a lot of exciting attractions to offer, but no visitor can miss the penguin parade at sunset. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience as these creatures are only found in a small portion of the world.

Related article: Can I Take Photos of the Penguins on Phillip Island?

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