File:Ben Eoin Marina, Ben Eoin, Nova Scotia.jpg
East Bay opens to the south-west directly onto the Bras d'Or Lake and lies between the Boisdale Hills to the north and the East Bay Hills to the south. The bay measures 8.3 kilometres (5.2 mi) wide at its mouth, between Benacadie Point to the north, and Middle Cape to the south and runs easterly 41 kilometres (25 mi) to its terminus at Portage. East Bay has 77.9 kilometres (48.4 mi) of shoreline.
The bay's shores are generally heavily wooded and consist mainly of bold and rocky shorelines interspersed with numerous barrachois (barrier) points and beaches. Glacial drumlin deposits form a group of islands along the northern shore of East Bay. The narrower eastern end of the bay is bridged by the East Bay Sandbar, running east-west 1.25 kilometres (0.78 mi).