The Nobbies Boardwalk

Phillip Island in Victoria, Australia has a lot to offer its visitors, like beautiful coastlines and the internationally-heralded Penguin Parade. Point Grant, the western tip of Phillip Island is just a few kilometers past the Penguin Parade facilities at Summerlands Beach and home to a seal colony, dramatic sea bluffs, and panoramic ocean views.

Point Grant is better known as the Nobbies, a name that comes either from the domes at the end of the point or from areas of cobblestone rocks that can poke out of the water like knobs when the tide is at the right level. A pair of small islands off the end of the point called the Seal Rocks provide a home to one of the largest fur seal populations in Australia. Explore Point Grant’s scenery on a one-kilometer walk (with 15 meters of elevation change) along a boardwalk that providing views of Seal Rocks, Nobbies, and the Nobbies Blowhole, a billowing sea cave along the coast.

The walk begins next to the Nobbies Centre, a large visitor center and cafe built at the end of the road to Point Grant. There are viewing scopes at the start, so bring a few coins and see if you can get a closer look at the fur seals on the Seal Rocks, about 1.5 kilometers off the coast.

Begin down the wide wooded boardwalk to a switchback where a plate describes the view over Western Port. Look up the north shore of Phillip Island, where grassy bluffs drop over rocky fingers to a bay of blue water. Western Port has important breeding and feeding waters for fur seals, whales, dolphins, and other animals. The plate on the railing explains that, “Western Port is part of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and has three marine national parks.”

After the short switchback, you will come a junction at the start of the loop in the boardwalk. You can continue in either direction from here, but if the Nobbies are calling you closer, turn right to proceed farther out on the point, saving the boardwalk to the right for the end of the loop after the side trail to the Nobbies Blowhole.