How to Get to Port Alberni

By Land:

Port Alberni, BC, is 50 kilometers west of Parksville or 121 kilometers northwest of Victoria on Vancouver Island's Highway 4.

To reach Port Alberni from Victoria, take the Island Highway and head north. After travelling just over 100 kilometers, avoid the turnoff to Nanaimo and stay on the Island Highway until you come to the Highway 4 West turnoff to Port Alberni. Thirty minutes later, this highway will take you into Port Alberni via Johnston Road.

If you are coming from Vancouver, take the ninety-five minute BC Ferries sailing from Horseshoe Bay (West Vancouver) to Nanaimo's Departure Bay Terminal. From the ferry terminal in Nanaimo, connect with the Island Highway, heading north. Then then take Highway 4.

Alternatively, Tofino Bus offers scheduled transportation from Victoria and Nanaimo to Port Alberni, Ucluelet and Tofino.

By Sea:

Other than buying a fare on MV Lady Rose or MV Frances Barkely from Ucluelet to Port Alberni, there are no scheduled ferries to this town.

Some of our kayak tours of the Broken Group Islands depart from the Quay in Port Alberni. These sturdy wooden packet freighters sail down the Alberni Inlet, stopping along the way to drop off paddlers and their kayaks at the Broken Group Island in Barkley Sound. They also drop mail, groceries, supplies, and the occasional passenger along the way at float homes, the Sechart Whaling Station, Bamfield and finally Ucluelet.

By Air:

The closet airport is Cassidy Airport just outside of Nanaimo, 84 km east of Port Alberni. Jazz Air, a division of Air Canada, has flights that arrive daily into Cassidy Airport.

The Tofino-Ucluelet Airport (YAZ) is about 120 kilometers from Port Alberni. Taxis shuttles are available at the airport.Orca Air provides daily scheduled flights to YAZ from Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle. Scheduled flights from Seattle are available from Kenmore Air Express.

For international air travelers, the nearest international airports are in Vancouver (YVR) on the mainland or Victoria (YYJ) on southern Vancouver Island. Other major airports on Vancouver Island are Nanaimo Airport (YCD) and Comox Valley Airport (YQQ).