Alberni Inlet, Natural inlet in Vancouver Island, Canada.

Alberni Inlet is a natural waterway that cuts 40 kilometers inland from Barkley Sound into Vancouver Island, maintaining a consistent width of 1 to 2 kilometers throughout its path. The channel connects open coastal waters with more sheltered areas, creating distinct zones within the wider region.

Spanish explorer Francisco de Eliza named this inlet after Captain Pedro de Alberní y Teixidor, who commanded forces at nearby Nootka Sound between 1790 and 1792. This naming reflects the period of Spanish exploration and presence along the Pacific coast during the late 1700s.

The inlet lies within the traditional territories of the Ucluelet, Uchucklesaht, Huu-ay-aht, Hupacasath and Tseshaht peoples, all part of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council. The Huu-ay-aht village of Sarita sits on a low sand beach about halfway along the eastern shore and has been struck repeatedly by tsunamis. The name Alberni honours Pedro de Alberní y Teixidor, a Catalan captain stationed at Nootka Sound from 1790 to 1792.

The Canadian Coast Guard maintains several lighthouses along the inlet, and the post ship Frances Barkley runs from Port Alberni several times a week depending on the season, calling at camps and islands in the inlet and Barkley Sound and continuing to Bamfield. Large cargo ships, fishing vessels and coast guard boats also use the channel regularly.

The inlet is a fjord cut by an outlet glacier draining Pleistocene ice caps in Vancouver Island's interior, then flooded by sea-level rise at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum. Its surrounding rock belongs to the Wrangellia Terrane, remnants of an island volcanic arc that began forming about 300 million years ago, with seafloor flood basalts from roughly 230 million years ago.