Returned from Samoa - travel summary

Hello! I recently returned from a trip to Western Samoa and thought I would leave my impressions for you all. Keep in mind that we live in American Samoa and have been to Western before, so we were more interested in being lazy on the beach than anything else this time around!

We arrived a few days after Christmas from Pago Pago on Polynesian Air with no problems. We stayed at Insel Fehmarn for a night or two. Pago people get a rate of $55 US for a large double room with a kitchenette, A/C, en suite bathroom and access to the swimming pool and tennis courts. The staff isn't always on the ball, but the rooms are clean and comfortable.

We swam at Palolo Deep, which is a lovely place to snorkel and relax. You can rent gear there, but I recommend bringing your own. We ate at Sails that evening. The meal was not bad, but not worth the price. We ordered New York steak and were served Pepper Steak. We ate it anyway and casually mentioned at the end of the meal that the waiter had made a mistake. He told us that they did serve us the New York steak, but they had some extra pepper sauce, so they added it to the steak for no particular reason. We were not successful in explaining that we would have ordered pepper steak if we wanted to eat pepper steak. Hehehe.....

A lot of restaurants were shut down for the holidays. We love eating at Giordano's, which was first on our agenda, but it was closed. I highly recommend eating there if you like Italian food - amazing food and a great atmosphere. We also ate at a restaurant on Hotel Kitano's property. Cute restaurant with good food!

I would also recommend a stop at the RL Stevenson house. It is a beautiful home and the tour is interesting. Unfortunately, the rain prevented us from hiking up to his grave.

We rented an SUV from Funway before we headed off to tour the rest of the island. It was a good car, albeit a bit overpriced since it was the last one available. Remember that you have to get a temporary license to drive in Samoa.

We visited Piula Cave Pools. They were very pretty and you can jump into the pool from the ledge above. The water was absolutely freezing and the pool was a bit crowded, but we enjoyed ourselves. Then we headed off to Lalomanu, one of my favorite parts of the trip. Such a gorgeous beach and great snorkeling! I was glad to have my flippers, though, as the current was rather strong. We stayed at Litia Sini's - good food and cute fales right on the lovely beach. There were a lot of day trippers just down the beach from us, but the property in front of Litia Sini's was quiet and uncrowded. On a previous we had stayed at Boomerang Creek Beach Fales just up the road. Their fales were a bit more comfortable, with fans and a "real" bed and more private facilities, but they didn't have the same charm. The beach is also not nearly as nice at Litia Sini's.

We ambled over to Coconuts for lunch one day. I was a bit disappointed. The restaurant is pretty, but the food was overpriced. I recommend having lunch at Sinalei instead, where the grounds are much nicer and the food is better. We stayed at Sinalei during a previous trip and really enjoyed ourselves. The gardens are stunning, the pool is very relaxing and the rooms are nice with their hot tubs and their open air showers. I'm not sure it was worth the $200/night price tag, however - OUCH!

After hanging out on Upolu for a few days, we jumped over to Savai'i. Our ferry left at 6AM, so we stayed at Samoan Village Resorts, which is only a few kilometers from the wharf. This resort isn't even open right now, but they let us stay anyway! Here's the deal: the American owners bought the place about four months ago from another American couple. They are now renovating and plan to reopen, bigger and better, one year from now. The fales are huge, with a large bedroom, private bathroom, small kitchen and open living room that looks out on the sea. Each fale also has a private balcony. The decor is very 1980's, but the family is tearing up the entire inside and redoing it. There is a large pool, a private beach and kayaking opportunities. It should be very nice when the renovations are completed, and I highly recommend you check it out if you are staying on that side of the island. The couple plans to charge comparable rates to Aggie's, though, which may be a bit steep. They hope their resort will offer a more authentic alternative to Aggie's.

After a great home-cooked meal and great company at Samoan Village Resorts, we were up at 4AM the next morning to catch our early ferry to Savaii. We then checked into Vacation Beach Fales. I have mixed feeling about Vacations. The fales are comfortable, the hospitality is wonderful and the meals are large and good. However, for our first night, we stayed in a fale off the beach and had a pretty miserable night. All I could hear for most of the evening were cars driving by (the road is only a few feet from the fales), people talking and other such activity from the gas station across the street. The next night we moved to a beach front fale and had a much better experience. I generally found Vacations to be a bit crowded, but pleasant enough.

On Savai'i, we unfortunately hopped around to all the tourist destinations. I don't recommend stopping for Musu's footprint and am embarrassed to admit that we did. The canopy walk was also disappointing and way overpriced. We enjoyed the beaches in that area, however. The blowholes were a lot of fun, too. By far the best experience of our trip was swimming with the turtles, just south of Manase. The family started this conservation effort about 30 years ago and uses tourist money to fund the operation. You can watch the turtles from the shore, but I highly recommend putting on your snorkel and mask and swimming around with them! They weren't at all interested in me when I was standing in waist-deep water, but they swam right up to me and allowed me to "pet" them when I was fully submerged. The turtles seem healthy and well-taken care of and will be released into the wild when they are big enough.

So that's all from our trip! We had a good time relaxing and taking in the beautiful scenery and even enjoyed some good weather while we were there. No rude people and no scary dogs, although I know first hand how that can be a problem. I love Upolu and always enjoy my visits, so thanks to everyone for their suggestions on this board!

I just got back from Samoa and agree Lalomanu beach is beautiful and always a highlight. I love Samoa, the people, the vibe. Its good to read a positive post for a change since now and then you get the "Samoan Warnings" posts which i dont agree with (dont be such a hater geeeeez). I mean yes, there is the dog overpopulation problem but then not any worse than other parts of the world, also I dont take extra care while in Samoa when it comes to petty theft. i use the same caution as i would at home in the states, or in other parts of the world. I feel quite safe in Samoa and now have a good network of friends there - lucky me.
Samoa: Alofa ia te oe! Fa...................

could people who have been to both islands in independent samoa give their views on each island....im interested to hear about which island deserves more of my time!

im looking forward to the geology of savai'i but havent heard much about upolu's highlights

Great report, thanks.

Is Samoan Village Resorts the other side of the wharf from Aggie's? And how is the beach there - the one at Aggie's was atrocious and I'd never go back there.

Yes, Samoan Village Resorts is on the other side of the wharf. The beach there is ok. It is man made and pretty small, though. When we were there the owners were still planning on working on it some more, so I have no idea how it will look six months from now. It has a nice grassy knoll next to the beach, though and feels very secluded.

SeanPF: I prefer Upolu. There are tons of great hikes, secluded villages, and beaches there. Ironically, it felt less touristy to me, too. But I know a lot of people would disagree with me....