Chinamans Hat Island is located about 350 metres (1,150 feet) from the shoreline and about 2.4 kilometres (1.5 miles) south-west of Stenhouse Bay.

The islet is a remnant piece of cliff line which rises to a height of 11 metres (36 feet) and sits on an intertidal rock platform that joins the mainland at the west and extends past the island to the east.

[3] Chinamans Hat Island is reported as being entirely composed of a Bridgewater Formation calcarenite rock with ‘distinct horizontal layers of hard calcrete’.

[1] As of 1996, vertebrate animals were represented by bird species such as little penguins, feral pigeons and sooty oystercatchers.

[6] Since 2012, the waters surrounding its shores are located in a sanctuary zone within the boundaries of the South Spencer Gulf Marine Park.