Penguin Parade

The Penguin Parade is a renowned wildlife attraction on Summerland Beach at the southwestern tip of Phillip Island in Victoria, Australia, managed by Phillip Island Nature Parks. It is famous for the nightly emergence of the world's smallest penguins, little penguins, as they return ashore in groups after feeding at sea. The site features tiered viewing stands, boardwalks, and a modern visitor centre focused on conservation and education.

Visitors can expect an evening wildlife viewing experience centred on Summerland Beach. After exploring the visitor centre with educational displays and cafe, visitors take tiered outdoor viewing stands and timber boardwalks overlooking the beach and dunes to watch little penguins waddle ashore at dusk and cross the beach to their burrows. The setting is coastal, exposed and often cold and windy, with interpretive talks by rangers.

Little penguins have been observed on Phillip Island for thousands of years. Organised tourism to view the parade began in the 1920s. The Summerland Peninsula was subdivided for housing in the 1950s-1980s, threatening habitat. The Victorian Government established Phillip Island Nature Parks in 1996 and undertook the Summerland Estate buyback program to return housing to penguin habitat, with major habitat restoration and a new visitor centre opened in 2019.

The area is part of Country of the Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation, for whom Phillip Island (Millowl) holds cultural significance. Today the Penguin Parade is an internationally recognised ecotourism and conservation icon for Victoria, representing protection of the little penguin and coastal environment through research, education and sustainable tourism.