It is located 28 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in an area known as the Northern Beaches.

These were originally part of 700 acres (2.8 km2) that extended northwards from Mona Vale to the end of Newport beach.

[5] Local lore suggests the name Mona Vale was chosen by Campbell in remembrance of a town bearing the same name in Scotland, however the exact location of this place remains a mystery.

Mona Vale has two primary schools and a high school, an RSL club, a park, public library, golf course, hospital, a world class skate park, a bus depot, three supermarkets, and a variety of shops and businesses.

There is a second beach north of this which is known as "The Basin" with a concentrated wave which, since the early 2000s, has been known as "Whomp" which is popular with body boarders.