Barkley Sound, also known historically as Barclay Sound, is south of Ucluelet and north of Bamfield on the west coast of Vancouver Island and forms the entrance to the Alberni Inlet. The Broken Group archipelago lies in the sound. Barkley Sound is part of the traditional territory of the Nuu-cha-nulth First Nations. In 1787, Captain Charles William Barkley of Imperial Eagle, explored the sound and named it after himself. Barkley traveled with his 17-year-old bride, Frances Barkley, the first European woman to visit what is now British Columbia.

Ucluelet is a district municipality on the Ucluelet Peninsula, on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Ucluelet comes from Yuułuʔił which means "people of the safe harbour" in the indigenous Nuu-chah-nulth language and is the homeland of the Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ. As of 2021, its population was 2,066, a 20.3% increase from 1,717 in 2016.