Located off the eastern shore of Favorite Channel, it is 25 miles (40 km) northwest of the city of Juneau.

[4] The Canadian Pacific Railway's SS Princess Sophia grounded on Vanderbilt Reef to the north early in the morning of October 24, 1918, in the midst of a snowstorm.

The United States Lighthouse Service tender Cedar, captained by John W. Ledbetter, had taken up shelter at a cove of Benjamin Island when it received word of the passenger liner's plight at 14:00 that day.

[5][6][7] Humpback whales[8] and Steller sea lions[9] live in the area of the island.

[10] A joint project between the National Marine Fisheries Service and the University of Alaska Fairbanks placed cameras on the island for the purposes of studying the sea lions.