French & Phillip Island Wildlife Expedition

Overview

Most Phillip Island tours do one island. This one does two, starting with the one almost nobody visits. French Island has no bridge, few residents and one of Australia's healthiest wild koala populations, and you explore it by guided 4WD after a ferry crossing where seals and pelicans often see you off. A seasonal farm-gate lunch or afternoon tea on the island keeps it local, then it's across to Phillip Island for the famous half: free time in Cowes for the shops and cafés, the Nobbies Boardwalk with its sea bluffs and seal colony, and then the main event, the Penguin Parade at Summerlands Beach, as the world's smallest penguins pour out of the surf at dusk and waddle home past the viewing stands. General entry is included; upgrades like Penguins Plus are available. It's a small-group day with expert guides, coach transport from Melbourne, and a long, worth-it runtime, grab dinner at a local venue before the penguins clock on.