L'Esperance Rock, formerly French Rock, is the southernmost islet in the Kermadec Islands

Kermadec Islands

The Kermadec Islands are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga...

, to the north of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It is 80 km (49.7 mi) south of Curtis Island and 600 km (372.8 mi) northeast of East Cape

East Cape

East Cape is the easternmost point of the main islands of New Zealand. It is located to the north of Gisborne in the northeast of the North Island....

 on New Zealand's North Island

North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...

 at 31°26′S 178°54′W. The smaller L'Havre Rock lies 8 km (5 mi) to the north-west of L'Esperance; it is a reef that barely reaches the surface.

L'Esperance Rock is 250 m (820 ft) in diameter with an area of 4.8 ha (11.9 acre). It rises to a height of 70 m (230 ft). It is the site of a substantial breeding colony of Grey Noddies

Grey Noddy

The Grey Noddy or Grey Ternlet is a seabird belonging to the tern family Sternidae. It was once regarded as a pale morph of the Blue Noddy but is now often considered to be a separate species....

. Masked Boobies

Masked Booby

The Masked Booby, Sula dactylatra, is a large seabird of the booby family, Sulidae. This species breeds on islands in tropical oceans, except in the eastern Atlantic; in the eastern Pacific it is replaced by the Nazca Booby, Sula granti, which was formerly regarded as a subspecies of Masked Booby...

have also been recorded breeding there.