The suburb is divided in two by Hodges Drive, with the development to the south often referred to as 'old' Ocean Reef (there are only a few years between the two).

In 2009 the City of Joondalup asked the people of Ocean Reef and the surrounding suburbs what they thought of the proposed development.

Out of a total of 11,728 survey respondents, an overwhelming majority - 93.9% - were in favour of developing the site and 95.6% approved of the concept plan.

A large protected dune area which is at times around 400 metres (1,300 ft) wide separates the houses from the Indian Ocean.

[2] The most popular religious affiliations in descending order in the 2016 census were No Religion 29.9%, Catholic 26.7%, Anglican 18.9%, Not Stated 7.4% and Christian, nfd 2.6%.