The Nobbies Centre closure

Why is the Nobbies Centre closed?

Storm damage in May 2025 exposed structural problems, and Nature Parks decided not to sink major money into a building at the end of its life.

The centre shut in May 2025 "due to identified structural issues", according to the Nature Parks board update for May and June 2025. The board agreed to hold off on any decision about the building until the community had been consulted on the wider Summerland Peninsula plan. By June 2026 the line was blunter: the building "has reached the end of its useful life" and keeping it in its current state would need major investment, as the South Gippsland Sentinel-Times reported.

It did not stop there. Strong winds in early October 2025 damaged the roof and solar panels, and the whole precinct, boardwalks and car park included, closed through the MotoGP weekend while it was made safe (Sentinel-Times, 16 October 2025). In December 2025 Nature Parks said the building stays shut for public safety after two separate structural incidents during high winds. Essential repairs were finished in March 2026, the projects page says, but the doors stayed closed.

Locals are not thrilled. One June 2026 report counted about 2,000 tourists in the car park on a single Friday, with no toilets, and a commenter called the situation "not bloody good enough".

What is still open at the Nobbies?

The boardwalks and the car park. The Nobbies Centre, its café and its toilets are closed, and the nearest toilets are at the Penguin Parade.

The official Nobbies page is short and clear: "The Nobbies boardwalks and car park are open" and "The Nobbies Centre, café and toilets are closed." The Nobbies fish and chip café is listed as temporarily closed too. For food, a shop and bathrooms, Nature Parks points you to the Penguin Parade Visitor Centre, open daily from midday, with public toilets in its car park.

The walk itself is untouched. Visit Phillip Island describes it as 500 metres return, about 20 minutes, on clifftop boardwalks over Bass Strait, with Seal Rocks offshore and the blowhole firing "if the weather is right". Ignore the public toilet that page still lists. It is closed.

Two more things for drivers. The Boulevard, the coast road between the Nobbies and the Penguin Parade, stays open to moving traffic but you cannot park along it. And Nature Parks has scheduled Nobbies boardwalk decking works for late November to early December 2026, weather permitting, with possible temporary closures.

What is the Summerland Peninsula Master Plan?

A long-term plan for the whole western end of Phillip Island, from the Penguin Parade to the Nobbies. For the Nobbies it proposes a smaller building, a new lookout and a moved car park.

The plan replaces the 2012 master plan, the one that produced the new Penguin Parade Visitor Centre and the Penguins Plus stands. It covers Summerland Farm, the Penguin Parade, the Nobbies, Right Point, Shelly Beach, Cowries Beach and South Coast Road, according to the Nature Parks engagement page. The stated drivers are rising visitor numbers, climate change and ageing boardwalks, lookouts and roads.

The Nobbies ideas are concepts, still open to feedback:

• A smaller building, set into the landscape, with a café, shelter, amenities and displays on culture and marine life.
• A new lookout near the blowhole, with upgraded boardwalks.
• A moved car park and access road, pulled back from the building and the coastal edge.
• Paid parking for visitors in both options, with free parking for locals in one, and tour buses ending at the Penguin Parade in the other.

Consultation feedback leaned hard towards a low-rise, eco-minded rebuild with better seating and shelter, and against a big dining or events venue. The consultation notes say the current building is "widely criticised as an eyesore". We agree with the majority: the wind and the view are the attraction, not the roof.

When will the Nobbies Centre reopen?

No date has been given. The current building stays closed, and any replacement only reaches detailed design in mid 2027.

Nature Parks says the centre "remains closed for now" and that its future will be decided through the master plan. The engagement page puts the draft plan out for public comment in late 2026 and the final plan in early 2027. Construction of anything new can only follow the detailed design stage in mid 2027.

Plan your trip on the basis that there is no building at the Nobbies through summer 2026-27 and the whole of 2027. If you want to comment on the draft, watch the engagement page; that is where it will be posted.

What does the closure mean for tours that visit The Nobbies?

The stop still happens, as a boardwalk walk and photo stop. There is no café or toilet, so use the stop before it, and dress for wind.

Every tour on this site still lists the Nobbies, and the boardwalks are open, so nothing is being skipped. What changed is the length of time that makes sense there. A 20 to 45-minute walk on the cliffs is about right. Longer stops lean on a building that is not there.

One listing to read closely: the Penguins & Koalas tour still names "The Nobbies Tourist Centre (1 hour)" in its itinerary. The centre is closed, so expect that hour outdoors, with a break in Cowes to follow. The wine, dine & penguin tour and the seal cruise tour pour sparkling wine on the headland at golden hour, which needs no building at all. The Eco Tour and the afternoon tour both list free time on the boardwalks.

Practical bit: go to the toilet at the stop before the Nobbies, often Cowes or a sanctuary, and the next ones are at the Penguin Parade, roughly 20 minutes' drive away. Bring the jacket you planned for the parade. The headland faces Bass Strait and it is cold up there even in summer.

The flagship day: hotel pickup, Moonlit Sanctuary, a walk on the Nobbies boardwalks and the parade at sunset with General Viewing.

★ 4.8 · 12 hours · from $112

Explore the Penguin Parade Eco Tour → Tour details

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