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Visit the Little Penguins

Announcement

Access to the Penguin Observation Centre is available via the West Park traffic lights. Continue to the foreshore past the University of Tasmania Campus.
Access by the cities boardwalk from the CBD is currently closed while landscaping is finalised for the precinct.

Friends of Burnie Penguins provide a free interpretative guided experience to visitors to the Burnie Little Penguin colony. You will have an opportunity for an intimate view into the seasonal life of penguin families from courtship, through to chick rearing and to moulting adults at the end of the breeding season.

The colony is located along the foreshore in Burnie a very short distance from the city centre, you can walk to the Penguin Observation Centre along a boardwalk from your hotel, or park in the area behind the Makers' Workshop. The viewing area is level with wheelchair access and is child friendly.

Knowledgeable volunteer guides talk to you about the penguins, answer questions and help you view and photograph - without flashes!- penguins as they go about their normal activities.

You will find the guides for the evening at the Burnie Penguin Observation Centre at dusk, nightly from October 1st until March 31st, regardless of the weather.

The Little Penguins might be cosy in their snug feathers, but humans do need to be warmly wrapped as our viewing area is exposed to the weather, fair or foul.

Donations are welcome and are used to protect penguins and their habitat.
Guided Penguin Viewing operates October to March each year. Starting at dusk from the Penguin Observation Centre, with penguins starting to come ashore shortly after.