In the north west of the Wirral Peninsula and at the mouth of the River Dee, the town is contiguous with Hoylake.

[3] The old village lay around St. Bridget's Church, but the town today is centred on West Kirby railway station, which is about 1 km away.

The town has a Victorian promenade, flanked by the West Kirby Marine Lake that permits boats to sail even at low tide.

There is one main tier of local government covering West Kirby, at metropolitan borough level: Wirral Council.

In some cases, including West Kirby, the civil functions were exercised by each township separately rather than the parish as a whole.

Hilbre Island is approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) offshore from West Kirby, at the mouth of the Dee Estuary.

The town itself contains Ashton Park and a starting point of the Wirral Way, which follows the trackbed of the former Birkenhead Railway branch line from Hooton.

The promenade, beach and the walk to the war memorial allow an excellent panoramic view of part of the North Wales coastline.

In October 1991 the World Windsurfing Production Speed Record was set by Dave White on the West Kirby Marine Lake at 42.16 knots.

[28] Water sports fans are warned to wear appropriate footwear while using the marine lake because of the presence of weaver fish with sharp poisonous barbs.

Here, players including John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Monica Seles and Pete Sampras have played in competition.

The structure is large enough to hold sailing events, such as the Wilson Trophy, sailboarding and water-related activities including canoeing, kayaking and power-boating.

It facilitates return services to Birkenhead Hamilton Square and Liverpool Central; a change at Bidston provides a connection to Wrexham and North Wales.

There are frequent connections to Birkenhead and Liverpool, provided by Arriva North West that run every 10–20 minutes.

There is also a direct bus service between West Kirby to Chester, via Heswall and Neston, that runs hourly from Monday to Saturday.