The islands are a natural border between Melanesia and Polynesia; they are one of the most beautiful places in the South Pacific Ocean and an integral part of a vast system of atolls and reefs.

At a low tide, the water separating the five islands located in the lagoon is so shallow that one can walk the distance among them.

These low-lying islands have been uninhabited since 1939, when the local people had to leave the place after a severe tropical cyclone.

[6] Formerly, the Löyöp language was natively spoken on the islands until the 1930s, when a tsunami forced them to move to the east side of Ureparapara.

Among them are Anwet, Enwot (has the ruins of the old village), Lomeur, Moïe, Wosu, Wotansa, Rowa (the main island), Ro, Sanna, Peten, and Lavap (the smallest).