St. Peter-Ording is situated on the North Sea coast, on the western tip of the Eiderstedt peninsula, approx.

Its characteristics include a beach that is approximately 12 kilometers long and up to one kilometre wide, the dunes, the salt meadows and the cultivated forested areas, atypical for this region.

That the beach is so flat and smooth has made it a popular site for sail-racing, a sport similar to wind-surfing but on wheels.

As is typical of coastal regions, St. Peter-Ording has a maritime climate with mild winters and cool summers.

The municipality of Sankt Peter-Ording comprises five communities: Brösum and Norderdeich, Ording and Westmarken, Bad, Dorf and Wittendün, Süderhöft/Böhl.

Because of the constant loss of sand, no harbour could be built and St. Peter-Ording never established a fishing industry.

The planting of permanent vegetation started 1860, at the direction of the Danish king, who reign over the area until 1864; Denmark's border was the nearby Eider River.

The first of the characteristic stilt houses on the beach was built in 1911 and called itself "Giftbude" because, in the local dialect, "es dort wat gift" - "there's something available there", which, to insiders, meant Cognac.

Improved road access has been made possible by the construction of the Eidersperrwerk, a sea barrier on the Eider River.