It is almost entirely surrounded by 30–70 m (100–230 ft) high cliffs, consisting primarily of raised coral limestone.

Bellona Island is densely populated and its interior is lush and fertile.

The nearby Bellona Shoals were the site of several shipwrecks.

[1] On the western end of the island there were sacred stone-gods, at a place called Ngabenga- west Bellona.

The stone-gods were destroyed by Seventh-day Adventist missionaries in 1938.