Recent proposals in the UK envisage the exploitation of naturally occurring inlets off small islands as possible wave-power sites. To estimate the maximum absorption width of such inlet when regarded as point absorbers, it is sufficient to determine the incident plus scattered field at the inlet due to the presence of the island. A simple illustration is provided by an inlet or point absorber on a circular island. The results show that the least power is absorbed when the device is in the lee of the waves.