The beach was situated along the narrowest part of the peninsula extending for a distance of 2 miles east towards Garua Harbor, and had been identified as a likely landing zone by a former plantation owner, Flight Lieutenant Rodney Marshland, a Royal Australian Air Force officer; in this, it afforded a relatively flat and direct approach to the Marines' objectives, which were listed as the government buildings on the shore of Garua Harbor, the emergency landing ground at Talasea, and Garua Harbor.