The Sound of Sleat is a narrow sea channel

Sound (geography)

In geography a sound or seaway is a large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight and wider than a fjord; or it may be defined as a narrow sea or ocean channel between two bodies of land ....

 off the western coast of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It divides the Sleat

Sleat

Sleat is a peninsula on the island of Skye in the Highland council area of Scotland, known as "the garden of Skye". It is the home of the clan MacDonald of Sleat...

 peninsula on the south-east side of the Isle of Skye

Skye

Skye or the Isle of Skye is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate out from a mountainous centre dominated by the Cuillin hills...

 from Morar

Morar

Morar is a small village on the west coast of Scotland, south of Mallaig. The name Morar is also applied to the wider district around the village....

, Knoydart and Glenelg on the Scottish mainland.

The Sound extends in a south-south west direction for 19.5 miles (31.4 km) from Loch Alsh

Loch Alsh

Loch Alsh or Lochalsh is a sea inlet between the isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides and the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The name is also used to described the surrounding country and the feudal holdings around the loch...

. It is widest (7.75 miles (12.5 km)) at the south-west entrance and narrows to just 0.25 mile (0.402335 km) at Kyle Rhea, a narrow channel which connects the Sound through to Loch Alsh. The name is inherited from the peninsula to the north of the Sound, which derives its name from its Scottish Gaelic form Sléibhte (or Slèite), which in turn comes from Old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 sléttr meaning smooth or even.

On the mainland side of the Sound are the entrances to Loch Nevis

Loch Nevis

Loch Nevis is a sea loch in Lochaber on the west coast of Scotland.It runs inland from the Sound of Sleat, and is bounded by the peninsula of Knoydart to the north and North Morar to the south....

 and Loch Hourn

Loch Hourn

Loch Hourn is a sea loch to the north of Knoydart, on the west coast of Scotland.-Geography:Loch Hourn runs inland from the Sound of Sleat, opposite the island of Skye, for 22 km to the head of the loch at Kinloch Hourn...

. The largest settlement on the mainland side is Mallaig

Mallaig

Mallaig ; is a port in Lochaber, on the west coast of the Highlands of Scotland. The local railway station, Mallaig, is the terminus of the West Highland railway line , completed in 1901, and the town is linked to Fort William by the A830 road – the "Road to the Isles".The village of Mallaig...

 which sits at the entrance to the Sound. On the Skye side of the Sound sits Knock Castle, a former stronghold of the MacDonalds

Clan MacDonald of Sleat

Clan Macdonald of Sleat, sometimes known as Clan Donald North and in Gaelic Clann Ùisdein , is a Scottish clan and a branch of Clan Donald — one of the largest Scottish clans. The founder of the Macdonalds of Sleat is Ùisdean, 6th great-grandson of Somhairle, a 12th century Rì Innse Gall...

, and the village of Armadale

Armadale, Isle of Skye

Armadale is a village near the southern end of the Sleat Peninsula, on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Like most of Sleat, but unlike most of Skye, the area is fairly fertile, and though there are hills, most do not reach a great height...

.

The Sound is traversed on a regular basis in the summer by a ferry operating between Glenelg and Kylerhea. A Caledonian MacBrayne

Caledonian MacBrayne

Caledonian MacBrayne is the major operator of passenger and vehicle ferries, and ferry services, between the mainland of Scotland and 22 of the major islands on Scotland's west coast...

 ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

operates between Mallaig and Armadale throughout the year.