Howe Sound's mouth at the Strait of Georgia is situated between West Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast. The sound is triangular, opening to the southwest into the Strait of Georgia, and extends northeast to its head at Squamish. There are several islands in the sound, three of which are large and mountainous in their own right. The steep-sided mainland shores funnel the breezes as the daily thermals build the wind to or more at the northern end of the sound on a typical summer day. A small outcrop of volcanic rock is located on the eastern shore of Howe Sound called the Watts Point volcanic centre.