Phillip Island Australia

Phillip Island Australia is a great place to visit! You come here for the wildlife and beautiful scenery. Unfortunately, in my opinion, it's become a little too touristy. There's now everything from ten pin bowling, helicopter rides to crazy golf, so it has lost its edge for me. But even saying all of that, I think it's still worth a visit.

If you have kids - they'll love it. If not, I'd probably come for the day, see the animals and then leave.

Where Is Phillip Island Australia?

The island itself is 24km by 9km. The best way to get here is by car. It's well signposted off the main Monash Freeway (M420 is the exit) and then there is a bridge that takes you straight onto the island.

You can get day tours from Melbourne of course.

It's not actually too far from the Mornington Peninsula and therefore the Great Ocean Drive. So you could incorporate a day trip to Phillip Island Australia as part of this trip if you so wished.

What Are The Best Things To Do on Phillip Island Australia?

And on top of all that, you get to see some lovely sandy beaches with a rugged coastline.

You can go further and enjoy a guided tour of the Grand Prix site, or visit the island's chocolate factory, but for me, it's all about the scenery and the animals

Meet the Penguins

The Phillip Island nature Park is where you get to see most of the animals. The reason this is so great is that they are all in their natural habitat - this is not a zoo.

So, you have to patiently wait until sunset and then you get to see these very cute penguins waddle out of the water and up the beach to the safety of their sand dunes. They really do look very funny waddling up the beach. It is a real treat to watch them.

There are three ways to see the Penguins. The first is from boardwalks (good to take your binoculars but you still get a good view.)

The second is to pay more and go to the viewing platform (limited to 150 people) - you get a bit closer.

The third is to go on a more exclusive tour (only 15) where they take you to a secluded beach and you see little penguins. We didn't do this. We did pay extra to go to the platform, which I think was worth it.

I'd recommend buying your tickets in advance though as in the summer there can be queues.

Koala Conservation Centre (near Cowes)

This gives you the chance to see Koalas in their natural habitat. You get to walk along boardwalks which are at the same levels as the tall trees so you get excellent viewing potential. It's seeing these lovely creatures in the wild.

The above experience is very different to the Maru Koala and Animal Park. Here, it's more like a small zoo with a chance to hand feed kangaroos and have your photo taken with a Koala. The Maru Animal Park encourages patting of Koalas . It depends how close you want to get to those Koalas.

Pelicans (San Remo)

The San Remo Fishing Port is a good place to see the Pelicans. It's also a good place to pick up some fish and try to eat it before the Pelicans do!

These are the best things to do on Phillip Island but even just stopping in a couple of the villages within the island is really good too. Newhaven is great if you fancy a bit of fishing.

Rhyll has a nice beach for you to stroll along

For more of an atmosphere and somewhere to eat/drink, head to Cowes.

Certainly one of the Australian Islands worth visiting.

Where To Stay

But if you do fancy staying here to make the most of seeing all the animals, then I'd recommend:

The Waves - good location, overlooking the beach. Near to everything in Cowes but still far enough for it not to be too noisy. Layout of the rooms can be a little strange and depending on the season, it can be a bit overpriced.

Tropicana Motor Inn - this is a good budget option. It's 5 mins by car to the centre of Cowes. The rooms are a decent size and are clean.

Take me to the top of Phillip Island Australia

Sydney to Melbourne Road Trip

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