The bay is best viewed from the car park on the A3055 above Blackgang Chine or anywhere along the Isle of Wight Coastal Path which follows the whole coastline along the clifftop.

[3] The beach is predominantly shingle and is bordered by tall cliffs which are made of sandstone, chalk and clay and so are often subject to erosion.

[2] The bay's eastern end is the site of Shag Rock which is a boulder around the size of a small building, though a storm in 1980 shifted it from its once prominent position on the shoreline.

In 1314 the St. Mary, out of Bayonne, France, with a cargo of white wine from Aquitaine was wrecked at the west end of the bay.

[3] The 1,200-ton steamship broke up on the rocks after her crew escaped in their lifeboats, no fatalities were recorded but, her cargo (which included tinned meat and flour) was lost.