It is one of two offshore island groups belonging to Jamaica, the other one is the Pedro Cays.

[1] The crew were shipwrecked but managed to get ashore in rafts where they remained for ten days until rescued.

The Morant Cays are low-lying, mostly uninhabited, seasonally visited by fishermen, and fronted by highly exposed reefs over which the sea constantly breaks.

The islands have sparse vegetation and are a seabird rookery and turtle nesting area.

A 15,000 ha site, comprising the cays and surrounding waters, has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant breeding populations of seabirds, including brown noddies as well as sooty, bridled and royal terns.