The 47-hectare (120-acre) island and reserve is situated within the Tasman Sea, approximately 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) south-east of the coastal village of Bawley Point.

[3] The island was sighted by Captain James Cook on 22 April 1770 during his first voyage to the South Pacific Ocean.

Cook had planned to shelter HMS Endeavour between the unnamed island and mainland but was prevented by high seas.

[4] Instead Endeavour continued its northward path along the coast, making her first Australian landfall a week later at Botany Bay.

[4] The island supports a coastal vegetation cover of herbs, low shrubs and stunted trees, including Carpobrotus glaucescens, Lomandra longifolia, Einadia hastata, Myoporum insulare, Enchylaena tomentosa, Acacia longifolia, Westringia fruticosa, Banksia integrifolia and Casuarina glauca.