Rail and road links between central Dunedin and Port Chalmers run through Ravensbourne on the narrow strip of land between the hill slopes and harbour.

Beginning in the final years of the twentieth century, this cycleway has extended to link many of the settlements along Otago Harbour's western shore.

Ravensbourne and the nearby suburbs of Maia, Burkes, and Saint Leonards, are often collectively referred to as West Harbour.

[3] The smaller settlements of Maia and Burkes lie on the coast of the harbour immediately to the northeast of Ravensbourne.

Burkes lies to the northeast of Maia, and consists of one long narrow road running roughly parallel with and above the highway.

The most notable feature of Burkes is that the South Island Main Trunk railway crosses a series of causeways spanning some of the small bays which run along the harbour's edge.

North of Burkes lies the larger settlement of Saint Leonards, which the early settler David Carey named for the English coastal town of St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex - the birthplace of his wife.

Above the suburb is Burns Park Scenic Reserve, which occupies much of the upper slopes of Signal Hill.

Ravensbourne and Maia cover 1.87 km2 (0.72 sq mi)[1] and are part of the Ravensbourne-St Leonards statistical area.