Penguin Island — Attraction in Western Australia

We came up on the day and managed to get tickets for the cruise on the day. I checked online for the times but it was different on the day, possibly because it was late in the season. We were on the ferry which immediately went for the cruise and then returned to penguin island for the feeding. The cruise was amazing. I quite enjoyed the boat ride to the different islands around Shoalwater marine park. There was plenty of bird life around in the water as well as on the islands. I thought it was quite interesting that the islands were once part of the mainland and that they are the remnants of fossilised tree roots.. Even more interesting is that they all could connect to each other through secret tunnels under the water. We also saw a couple of seals on seal island as well as dolphins with a calf. After the cruise, we headed to the discovery center to watch the penguin feeding. The center isn't very big but did have 2 viewing areas around the pool. It was nice to learn a bit about the penguins as you watch them gulp down fish. We then hiked around the island, which isn't very big. It probably took around 30 minutes to get to the Northern lookout on the boardwalk. We managed to see a seal on the beach as well as many nesting birds. The tide was in so we couldn't walk down to the Western beach to the other lookout closer to the pier. It took about an hour to head to the two observation points and walk around the entire island. There are toilets here but no other shops. There are also a few beaches but it did sound like it wasn't really there for swimming to preserve the area for the wildlife. It was a nice, fairly short adventure...

Came here a few years ago. This little island is only 5 minutes by ferry (it's so close that some people walk across the sandbar although that is potentially dangerous). There is a small beach suitable for swimming, a picnic area, a tiny "penguin discovery centre" where penguins are cared for and put on show, a basic toilet, and a boardwalk around the island. Nothing else.

Bring your own food, water and sunscreen, there is no shop or running water on the island. There is a shop at the ferry terminal on the mainland though for any last-minute pickups.

The real joy of this island is going around the boardwalk and looking at Perth from a different point of view, and also being able to see seagull nests aplenty. I highly recommend coming to Penguin Island as it's so quick and easy to do, and quite a relaxing place. Note that the boardwalk is not suitable for wheelchairs or people with lower body mobility problems; if that's you, you won't be able to go very far here.

To recap: There's not a lot to do here, but it's very relaxing indeed. And so...

The name is a bit deceiving, because it is very likely that you won't see any penguins on the island - partially because you are not allowed to go everywhere on the island, and mostly because they come back to the island at nights, when you have already taken your last ferry back...

What you DO get, though, if you throw in a few dollars extra, is to see injured penguins in their sanctuary, and you get them really close-up, much better than you'd get them in a zoo. There are feedings at fixed times, and especially if you go to the 2nd or 3rd of them, it is not so crowded.

I'd also recommend to do this in combination with the dolphin cruise, they drop you off at the island afterwards, and the dolphin encounter is really great, you will see them up-close, and also jumping through the waves of...