Guide to Phillip Island Victoria Australia

Phillip Island is a great destination for a family getaway. Under two hours’ drive from Melbourne, it offers diverse accommodation to choose from, wildlife experiences, and plenty of opportunities to get into the water. The region also takes in the Bass Coast, from the fishing town of San Remo and the quiet villages of Western Port to Wonthaggi, Inverloch and the dinosaur coast of the Bunurong.

Known For

• The Penguin Parade, seals and koalas
• Surf beaches, bays and the Bunurong coast
• Seaside towns, fish and chips and motor racing

San Remo is the last town before leaving the mainland and the gateway to Phillip Island. Drop into the famous local fishing co-op to pick up fresh seafood and watch the local pelicans gather on the beach beside the San Remo pier for their daily feed at 12 noon. The first town on the island is the small fishing village of Newhaven, a popular place for fishing from the pier, surfing one of the best surf beaches in Victoria, walking along the beautiful Cape Woolamai or exploring nearby historic Churchill Island.

On the north-east coast of the island is the quiet village of Rhyll. Wander through the nearby Koala Conservation Reserve to see koalas at close range or view birds as you walk through the famous wetlands at Rhyll Inlet. Cowes, the main commercial centre on Phillip Island, has a wealth of charming cafes and upmarket restaurants for visitors to enjoy. Take a wildlife cruise to the large fur seal colony on Seal Rocks or enjoy watching hundreds of little penguins returning to their burrows at the nightly Penguin Parade at nearby Summerland Beach.

Places to Visit

The region falls into three parts: Phillip Island itself, San Remo and the quiet villages of the Western Port shore, and the Bass Coast around Wonthaggi and Inverloch.

Phillip Island

Cowes is the island’s main town, and Summerlands and the Nobbies are home to the Penguin Parade and the clifftop boardwalks. Ventnor is a quiet north-coast village near the Grand Prix circuit, Rhyll looks over its wetlands, and the south coast has the surf of Smiths Beach and Sunderland Bay. At the eastern end, Newhaven, Cape Woolamai and Churchill Island are just over the bridge.

San Remo and the Western Port Shore

San Remo is the gateway to the island, and the small village of Bass sits on the river named after George Bass. Along the eastern shore of Western Port, Grantville, Corinella, Coronet Bay and Pioneer Bay and Tenby Point are quiet villages of boat ramps and mangroves, and inland Glen Forbes and The Gurdies have wineries and a cheese factory.

Wonthaggi, Inverloch and the Bass Coast

Wonthaggi, the old coal town, is the Bass Coast’s main centre, and Inverloch is its favourite seaside town. Between them, Cape Paterson, Harmers Haven and the Bunurong Marine National Park line a coast of rock pools and dinosaur fossils, while Kilcunda and Dalyston sit on the Bass Coast Rail Trail.

Things To Do

The Penguin Parade and Wildlife

Located some 140 kilometres south-east of Melbourne, Phillip Island is best known for its Penguin Parade, featuring hundreds of little penguins, once called fairy penguins, which shuffle up from the sea at dusk on their way to their burrows; about 40,000 live on the island. Also popular with visitors are the koalas at the Koala Conservation Reserve, where a treetop boardwalk lets you glimpse the koalas in their tree-top home.

The western tip of the island ends in The Nobbies, a strange-looking rock formation reached at low tide by a basalt causeway. Two offshore islands nearby, Seal Rocks, offer fabulous views from the boardwalks, and the furthest is home to Australia’s largest fur seal colony, up to about 25,000 seals in the breeding season. Birdwatchers will love Rhyll Inlet on the north coast, where you can spot a host of wading birds such as spoonbills, oystercatchers, herons and egrets, as well as rare birdlife. Swan Lake is an important habitat for black swans. At Cape Woolamai you’ll find walking tracks leading through heathland and pink granite to spectacular coastal cliffs, and from September to April it is home to up to a million short-tailed shearwaters, also called mutton birds.

The Nobbies and the Seals

In 1998 a hi-tech seal centre opened at the Nobbies, beaming live pictures of the seals at Seal Rocks to visitors on a large indoor screen. The seal attraction later closed, and the building became the Nobbies Centre, home for a time to the Antarctic Journey, which closed in 2024. The centre itself has been closed since 2025 while a new master plan is prepared, but the boardwalks and car park remain open, and cruises from Cowes still take visitors to see the seals up close.

Phillip Island attracts more than a million visitors a year to its nature parks. Most come to see the world-renowned penguin parade, but once here you’ll be amazed by how much more there is to see and do. As well as seals and penguins, the island is a major breeding ground for sea birds and home to a thriving community of koalas. Make sure you visit the Koala Conservation Reserve, established in a remnant eucalypt woodland to provide koalas with a natural habitat protected against future development.

Diving

Victoria offers some of the finest temperate diving in the world. The crisp waters of Western Port and Bass Strait which surround Phillip Island feature some of the most outstanding scuba diving. One of the most popular diving spots, particularly among advanced divers, is the Pinnacle, a towering kelp-covered granite rock which rises from a depth of 50 metres to within 10 metres of the surface; boats leave from San Remo. Another favourite is Collins Cave, a small reef with towering vertical walls, swim-throughs and an endless variety of colourful fish and crayfish. Don’t be surprised if you’re approached by a curious fur seal; the island is home to Australia’s largest colony of these wild animals.

Many divers come to explore the wreck of the George Kermode, a bucket dredge scuttled in 1976 to form an artificial reef about a nautical mile south of Cunningham Bay, near Pyramid Rock. The vessel lies upside down in 12 to 20 metres of water, about 60 metres long, and is still in excellent condition. Night diving on this wreck is excellent when there is a full moon and calm conditions.

Motor Racing

The Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, on the island’s south coast, hosts World Superbikes each February and historic racing in March. The Australian MotoGP on 23 to 25 October 2026 is the last at Phillip Island, as the race moves to Adelaide from 2027. The circuit’s visitor centre has go-karts, simulators and a motorsport museum.

Beaches

Cowes and the north-coast beaches are calm and family friendly, while Woolamai, Smiths Beach, Kilcunda and Inverloch face the surf of Bass Strait; swim between the flags at patrolled beaches. Inverloch’s Anderson Inlet and Cape Paterson’s rock pool are good for children.

The Bass Coast

Go underground at the State Coal Mine in Wonthaggi, ride the Bass Coast Rail Trail across the Kilcunda trestle bridge, walk the George Bass Coastal Walk from San Remo, explore the rock pools and dinosaur fossil sites of the Bunurong coast, and catch the barge from Corinella to French Island.

Festivals

Highlights include World Superbikes in February, the San Remo Channel Challenge in February, the Inverloch Jazz Festival in August, the TIDAL Seafood Festival at San Remo in September, the Corinella bicentenary in December 2026 and the Kilcunda Lobster Festival in January.

Where To Stay

Cowes has the widest choice of hotels, motels, apartments and resorts, and there are B&Bs, holiday houses and a YHA across the island and the coast. Book well ahead for summer, Easter and race weekends.

Eat & Drink

The San Remo Fishermen’s Co-op is famous for its fish and chips, and Cowes has the island’s best range of restaurants, from Hotel Phillip Island on the foreshore to long-running Italian trattorias. Look out too for Panny’s chocolate factory at Newhaven, the Phillip Island Winery, Rusty Water Brewery, the Killy pub at Kilcunda, Bassine cheese at Glen Forbes, and the cafes and pubs of Inverloch.

When To Visit

Summer is the peak season, when the beaches are warm and the Penguin Parade sells out, so book ahead. Autumn often has the best weather, with warm water and fewer crowds, and spring brings wildflowers and the return of the shearwaters. Winter is cool and wild on the coast, but the penguins come ashore all year, and it is the quietest time to visit.

Getting There and Around

Cowes is about 140 km south-east of Melbourne, around two hours’ drive via the Monash Freeway, the South Gippsland Freeway and the Bass Highway, crossing to the island on the bridge at San Remo. V/Line coaches run to Cowes, Wonthaggi and Inverloch from Dandenong station, and Western Port Ferries link Cowes with Stony Point and French Island. A car is the easiest way to get around the island and the coast.

History

The island and coast are the Country of the Bunurong people, whose middens line the shore. George Bass sailed into Western Port in 1798, Lieutenant James Grant planted Victoria’s first European garden on Churchill Island in 1801, and a short-lived settlement was made at Fort Dumaresq and Corinella in 1826. Phillip Island was opened to farmers in 1868, coal brought Wonthaggi to life in 1909, and the bridge from San Remo opened in 1940. From 1985 the Summerland Estate was bought back to protect the penguins, and Phillip Island Nature Parks now cares for the island’s wildlife.