Calf Sound is a body of water which separates the Calf of Man

Calf of Man

Calf of Man, sometimes known as the Calf of Mann , is a island , off the southwest coast of the Isle of Man. It is separated from the Isle of Man by a narrow stretch of water called the Calf Sound. Like the nearby rocky islets of Chicken Rock and Kitterland, it is part of the parish of Rushen. It...

 island from the mainland of the Isle of Man

Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...

. The sound - technically a strait

Strait

A strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not...

 - is about 700 yards in width, and contains the small islet of Kitterland

Kitterland

Kitterland is an islet in the Calf Sound between the Isle of Man and the Calf of Man in the Irish Sea.Kitterland is currently owned by the Manx National Trust and has a wealth of bird and marine wildlife. Kitterland is uninhabited and is in the parish of Rushen...

 (home to a large colony of seals, up to 30 can be seen on Kitterland on occasion).

A visitor centre overlooking the Calf Sound holds multimedia exhibits giving information about the wildlife and history of the area. The centre, operated by Manx National Heritage

Manx National Heritage

Manx National Heritage is the national heritage organisation for the Isle of Man. It was established in 1951 as the Manx National Trust, and its legal title is the Manx Museum and National Trust.-Overview:...

 also includes a café with both indoor and outdoor seating. The building erected to house the visitor centre was designed to have little visual impact when looking towards the Calf of Man from further inland, partially achieved by covering the roof with turf

Sod

Sod or turf is grass and the part of the soil beneath it held together by the roots, or a piece of thin material.The term sod may be used to mean turf grown and cut specifically for the establishment of lawns...

.

There is car parking available and an hourly bus service from Port Erin terminates here.