The village is situated northeast of Worbarrow Bay on the Jurassic Coast, about south of Wareham and about west of Swanage. The village lies in a secluded east-west valley between two ridges of the Purbeck Hills. To the north is the main ridge with Povington Hill () and its highest point, Ridgeway Hill (). To the south is the ridge above Gad Cliff that runs from the headland of Worbarrow Tout in the west to the knoll of Tyneham Cap () in the east.