The Alcantara (Italian: [alˈkantara]; Sicilian: Arcàntara or Càntara) is a river in Sicily, Southern Italy.

It has its source on the south side of Monti Nebrodi and its mouth in the Ionian Sea at Capo Schiso in Giardini-Naxos.

The river is mentioned by Thucydides on occasion of the attack made on Naxos by the Messenians in 425 BCE.

On its way to the sea, past the north of Mount Etna, it flows through the municipalities of Randazzo, Mojo Alcantara, Francavilla di Sicilia, Motta Camastra, Castiglione di Sicilia, Graniti, Gaggi, Calatabiano, Taormina and Giardini-Naxos.

Several thousand years ago, the river bed was blocked by a lava flow from Mount Etna.