11 days in Samoa

Hi yall!

I'm flying into Apia on 2 February from Auckland and staying till 13th, when I fly back to Brisbane. I've had quite a good look on the forum as well as other websites, but I'm still quite undecided regarding what I'm going to do when I get there. I'm into outdoors, sight-seeing and beach, and I've also noticed that Suba diving is pretty cheap in Samoa, so I'd probably give that a go.
I'm on limited budget, though, and will not be able to afford accomodation other than backpackers and beach fales.
1 What are the best deals in Samoa?
2 What is the wheather going to be like? It's still the rainy season, but will it be as intense as December and January?
3 Also, what's the dog scene over there? Do you still have to stay indoors after dark?
Cheers.

We stayed in Samoa for about a week 3 weeks before the Tsunami hit. We stayed one night in Apia, and then 3 nights at Taufua's Beach Fales and 2 nights at Maninoa, further along the South Coast, and really enjoyed both places, for different reasons.

I have no idea what the current situation is on the South Coast, usually I would recommend you checking out Lalomanu Beach, half an hour or so down the road is Tu Sua Ocean Trench which I found very cool. There's lots of waterfalls aroudn the island and I also found the cross island road (that cuts from Apia straight down to the South Coast) quite pretty. We've had a rental car, though.

On the outskirts of Apia is a wee pool where you can feed turtles. It's free, just bring some bred along.

With 11 days you could easily include Savai'i aswell, I'm still gutted that we didn't do it. You can even swim with turtles there!

Can't comment on the weather in Feb, sorry.

As I said, we spent one day/one night in Apia, and although there are loads of stray dogs around, I didn't find them agressive. They were just lazing in the sun, we never got attacked or were scared.

Hey necro,

I'm flying into Samoa on the 3rd - from Melbourne. For a bit longer than you - though I'm having similar problems trying to figure out what to do.

At the moment, am looking into everything at the moment. If I find anything that stands out I'll let you know - can you do the same?

Cheers!
Ben.

Hi

I strongly suggest you visit the Samoan forum on tripadvisor. There are several posters there who live in Samoa part of the time and are very knowledgeable. One has been there since the tsunami and is up to date on what is happening.

[http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g294137-i5760-Samoa.html]

two other links worth checking out are

the Samoan Tourism webpage www.visit-samoa.ws
and lots of infos on places to stay at www.samoa-hotels.ws

Snorkelling is awesome at Lalomanu. (once again, don't know what has changed since the Tsunami)

Thanks for replies everyone, much appreciated.
From what I gather the beach fales around Lalomanu have been destroyed by the tsunami. Generally speaking it is "only" the south part of Upolu that was badly hit. The south of Savaii was virtually unharmed.
Cheers,
Chris.

Most resorts on the Upolu South Coast are still not re-opened again. I went to Lalomanu last weekend and there is hardly any sign of reconstruction yet. However Virgin Cove is open (Saanapu) and Savaii was virtually not affected anyway.

Weather became completely unpredictable in recent years. January used to be the wettest month, but nobody can give any reliable views on that anymore.

Some bad dogs are still around but that is confined to certain areas now. Ask your hosts and don't attract dog's attention by eating while walking (a bad regarded behavior in Samoan etiquette anyway).