Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Advice for laid back destination in the pacific Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea
lonelyplanet302859 21:33 UTC 24 Nov 2018 | I will be in New Zealand during New years eve. After that I will be traveling for 2 month's and plan on exploring a bit of the Pacific. What I'm looking for to start with is a nice laid back beach resort like Castaway Resort on Koh Lipe in Thailand. Simple, nice beach, relaxed atmosphere and some what alive in the evening but not crazy busy. At day time relax on the beach, go for a little walk and in the evening dinner and a beer on the beach. Any advice where I should go? Regards Rutger |
chasingabandon 18:43 UTC 02 Dec 2018 | Hi Rutger, The country of Samoa is laid back in general, and an extremely authentic Polynesian experience. Bonus is flights can be very reasonable between Auckland and the Samoan capital, Apia. There are resorts all around the island, ranging from extreme budget to 5 stars. A place like Taufua Beach Fales on the eastern edge of the south coast (Lalomanu Beach) have group, family style dinners as part of your stay. The food is adequate but not stunning, but we really enjoyed our conversations with other travelers over breakfast and dinner. You stay right on the beach. Sa'Moana Beach Bungelows on the west side of the southern coast (Salamumu Beach) would be another nice place to stay. The beach isn't as nice, but right down the road from a nice beach. They have kayaks, SUPs, and an infinity salt water pool as part of the stay, and the food and drinks are tastier. You would need to search around for more of an all inclusive, resort type feel but I have no doubt they are there. We'll also be in NZ for New Years! The traveling back through Apia, Samoa for a few days as we live in American Samoa. Safe travels! Meredith | 1
lonelyplanet302859 22:37 UTC 16 Dec 2018 | Hi Meredith, Thnx for the info. Looks like what I'm searching for! How is American Samoa? should I consider that as well? And what about the weather in January? Not too much rain? Not like all day rain? If you have any other advise in Pacify then I'm more then interested. Especially if you know about a nice place to learn some surfing. Do you know about any other good forums or websites to get information. btw I just took a quick look at your webpage. Looks like an amazing adventure you are on! | 2
chasingabandon 21:18 UTC 17 Dec 2018 | Hi Rutger, Glad to help! American Samoa doesn't quite have the resort life that I think you are describing. The closest would be Tisa's Barefoot Bar, but as amazing of a destination that is, you would definitely want to venture out and see the island during the day beyond Tisa's either by car rental or if you are game and willing to figure out how to use our local Aiga buses to travel around, then it's a very inexpensive travel alternative ($1 per ride). American Samoa is not touristy at all, so if you're game to put a bit of hiking effort in (sometimes as little as 10-15 minutes) you can find gorgeous secluded beaches. But if you are looking to travel and meet lots of other travelers in the evenings for drinks, likely not the best place. January can definitely have days that are solid rain, but you'll find that in likely every Pacific island nation you visit. It's the reason why our islands are so green. I wouldn't recommend this area for learning to surf, as I've heard our reefs are too shallow for beginners but I have seen surf tour companies advertised in Samoa, so maybe google around and see if they have access to beginner beaches. Unfortunately no Samoa specific forums that I can think of, but if you head to Instagram and search #americansamoa or #samoatourism (there are actually a handful of Samoa hashtags such as samoa, beautifulsamoa, etc) you might get a good picture overview. Holler with any other questions! Meredith | 3
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