Gunung Tigalalu is located at the northern end of Kayoa Island, which straddles the equator and is the southernmost of a chain of small volcanic islands off the western coast of Halmahera Island. This N-S-trending volcanic ridge at the north end of the island is partially flanked by coral limestones. Although much less known than its historically active neighbor to the north, Makian, Tigalalu was mapped as Holocene in age by Apandi and Sudana (1980).