Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Base ourselves or move around? Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Samoa
aaron992 16:14 UTC 27 Nov 2016 | Hiya, My girlfriend and I will be visiting Samoa for two weeks and I'm wondering if "moving around" (in terms of accomodation) is necessary here? Last time I was in Fiji, we spent 1-2 nights in different places but looking at Samoa: a) the islands seem small, b) the taxi's seem cheap. Is it a better option to just find accomodation for one week on Upolu and one week on Savai'i? Another, related, question: taxi or rental? As I say, the taxi's seem cheap enough so we save the hassle or driving ourselves. Is it any cheaper getting a rental? Thanks for the advice! |
smandkjc 20:45 UTC 27 Nov 2016 | A week on Upolo and a week on Savai'i would be good. We always took taxis as sometimes you need a local for their knowledge or to get access to where you want to go. The driver would also look after your gear while you were snorkeling etc. You do have to pay for access to most beaches etc and we have been chased down for payment for just stopping to take pictures. We just negotiated a daily rate for the taxi. | 1
Laszlo 04:41 UTC 28 Nov 2016 | With a taxi or rented car, you could definitely see the attractions (which are few) of both islands from one base on each. The only reason to move would be if you don't like your chosen place. On Upolu, it might make some sense to make Apia your touring base than go to Lalomanu for beaches, as that area is a bit too isolated for excursions but has the best beaches. | 2
aaron992 21:37 UTC 28 Nov 2016 | Cheers for the tips. Once more question: how much did you pay for a taxi for the whole day? I think we will book 2 places on each island, just to have some variety. We have booked the first two nights at Outriggers in Apia and will see how that goes. We're travelling in January (I know it's going to rain a lot, right?), so we don't expect the places to be booked out. Is that a fair assumption? Thanks again! Aaron | 3
smandkjc 22:18 UTC 28 Nov 2016 | From memory about 100 Tala a day for the taxi. We always pre booked but don't think it was necessary. Stayed in Apia for 6 weeks one year and snorkeled every day at Palolo Deep but that is just what we enjoy doing. | 4
aaron992 22:45 UTC 29 Nov 2016 | Thanks! | 5
nakichick 22:18 UTC 13 Dec 2016 | You can always just hop on the local buses too to get out into the countryside . Just make sure to ask the driver if there will be return buses coming back that day. | 6
travelthefire 15:42 UTC 08 Aug 2017 | Be careful with the taxi as they can be quite corrupt. The problem with buses in Samoa is they stop at 4pm and there is NONE on Sundays. | 7
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