They lie 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to the east of Matauri Bay on the mainland.

The Cavallis were so named by Captain James Cook on 27 December 1769 during his first voyage of discovery.

[2] In his journal he recorded that some Māori "sold us some fish--Cavallys as they are called--which occasioned my giving the Islands the same name".

Cook probably meant trevally which is abundant near the islands, known to the Māori as araara.

[3] On 2 December 1987, the hull of the bombed Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior was scuttled between Matauri Bay and the Cavalli Islands, to serve as a dive wreck and fish sanctuary.