The site is of major geological interest, being part of the Whitecliff Bay And Bembridge Ledges SSSI.

It displays a classic sequence of fossil-bearing Eocene beds of soft sands and clays, separated by an unconformity from the underlying Cretaceous Chalk Formation forming the headland of Culver Down to its south.

Due to geological folding of the Alpine orogeny, the strata in the main section of the Bay are vertical, with younger rocks to the north.

[3] The bay itself is shallow up to around 350 metres (1,150 ft) from shore getting to deep water 1⁄2 nautical mile (0.6 mi; 0.9 km) out.

[4] Whitecliff Bay was one of the landing points for the French invasion of the Isle of Wight (1545) where they planned to go on to attack Sandown.