A large country town on the north west coast 31 Km west of Devonport, just off the Bass Highway.

It was one of the last coastal towns to be settled about 1860. The Victorian gold rush created a demand for housing timber and a large number of cutters and splitters moved in to supply the demand and created the town site of Penguin.

It was named because of the large number of penguins in the rookeries along the coast line.

The Penguin Markets operate on Sundays, and is Northern Tasmania's largest market offering over 200 stalls all under cover.