The reserve includes the area of sea surrounding the pancake rocks and blowholes at Dolomite Point, at Punakaiki on the West Coast Region of New Zealand's South Island.

[7] Several species within the reserve are under potential threat, including waterfowl and indigenous waders, such as white-fronted tern, Westland petrel, sooty shearwater, fairy prion and banded dotterel, as well as red-billed gulls.

[8][9][6] The reserve was one of five recommended in 2012 by the West Coast Marine Protection Forum, a group of representations of Ngāi Tahu, commercial and recreational fishers, conservationists, tourism operators and local councils.

[1] In 2015, the Ministry for Primary Industries proposed a regulatory change to prohibit mobile, bottom-impacting commercial fishing methods in the river mouths enclosed by the reserve.

[15] In 2020 the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, the Department of Conservation and the University of Canterbury used drones to map the plants and animals in the marine reserve, including large kelp beds off the coast.

[1] According to the Department of Conservation, weather and sea conditions can change rapidly on the coast, and people need to be aware of large waves when walking on the beach or rocky shore.