The island has a triangular shape: the sides that face Portovenere and the Gulf of La Spezia are the most populated and slope gently down to the level of the sea, covered by typical Mediterranean vegetation.

The populated sides feature some private homes, a restaurant in Pozzale, and many bathing establishments, some public and some reserved for employees of the Navy and Air Force.

Scattered throughout the island there are several abandoned bunkers from the Second World War and the remains of coastal artillery and antiaircraft batteries, mostly inaccessible due to overgrowth by vegetation.

The original vegetation, which must have consisted mainly of Mediterranean scrub and oak wood forest, was modified by anthropic causes such as fire, agriculture, and the introduction of alien plants and animals such as plane trees, palms and rabbits.

Other important plant groups include spurge (Euphorbia dendroides) and close to the sea cliffs, samphire (Crithmum maritimum).

Other notable plants include Brassica oleracea robertiana, Serapias neglecta and Cistus incanus, which are otherwise rare in Liguria, their northern limit.

Bird species include kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus), sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus), red partridges (Alectoris rufa), gulls (Larus argentatus, Larus michahellis), ravens (Corvus corax), rock thrushes (Monticola solitarius), and cormorants (Gulosus aristotelis).