It is located in the northern Bari region, 60 kilometres (37 mi) east of Bosaso, close to the Red Sea.

The taller Mount Shimbiris could be an Ultra-prominent peak as well, with a measured prominence of 1,495 m (4,905 ft).

The mountain is highly elongated in a northwest-southeast direction, leading some to list the southern and northern ends as Bahaya and Karkoor, respectively.

The range itself is a small section of the larger Cal Miskaad Mountains, which define the northern Horn of Africa in most of Somalia, and which extend from Karin, Bari to further east, their peaks forming the Socotra Archipelago.

Bahaya, along with the surrounding range, is mostly made up of the deeply-eroded remnants of an ancient volcanic chain.