It lies south of the peninsula of Fischland-Darß-Zingst on the coast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
The heavily indented, reed fringed shoreline forms a picturesque landscape with the result that the villages near the shore are popular tourist destinations.
The western boundary of the bodden with the Koppelstrom forms the so-called Borner Bülten (Bulte i.e. small swampy, islands of reed).
To the northeast, the Prerower Strom, a former estuary, empties into the bodden.
The deepest point of the bodden (10 metres in depth) lies just in front of the Meininger Bülten, the small reed islands by Meiningen.