Samoa: best places to stay

Hiya,

My man and I are off to Samoa for a week in July with our 18-month-old and my parents in tow.

We all want to stay at a stunning beach, but my husband and baby and I are keen to stay in a rickety beach fale (we really want to feel like we're in the islands) but my parents want something more comfy -- at least "with walls" -- fair enough, they're 50.

We'd like to keep away from the more commercial / tourist zones, but we still want a lovely beach. Is that possible? Lolumanu beach looks gorgeous, but is it packed with travellers? We'd rather spend time with locals.

Also, what are the "must do" activities? And we've got one week: should we choose Upolu or Savaii?

Thanks in advance!

Just another thing -- I'm looking at Virgin Cove as an option. Can anyone tell me if it's as good as it looks online? I see it has no road access. Does this mean you can't hop on a bus and explore the island?

Cheers, Careyanne.

Virgin Cove ia good indeed and they have road access, even though the road is very bad. To explore the island (Upolu) you need a rental car - all buses go to Apia only. There is no round-the-island bus like on Tahiti. Bus travel is very slow as well.
Another option would be Savaii. The Le Lagoto (www.lelagoto.ws) has just re-opened with really nice new upstyle fales (own bathroom, a/c). And those who want to experience real beach fales can go to Vacations Beach Fales at Manase, not more than five minutes drive away. Take a rental car on Savaii too.

Lalomanu IS gorgeous but it IS also packed, with something of a backpackers' party atmosphere.
I would recommend Saleopaga ca. 10 kms to the west as a quieter alternative with a range of fales and friendly villagers.
Virgin Cove also gets good reviews, but I haven't been myself.

I found Upolu much more scenic than Sawaii - don't let the crowded stretch of road between the airport and Apia put you off!
Also, theft at fale operations seems more rife in Sawaii - all the cases I personally heard from (and experienced!) occured there.
More on that on the Samoa Warnings link in my signo line.

As far as I can see, Careyanne and her family are not backpackers, so a bit more upmarket accomodation might be recommendable. Lalomanu is certainly not packed at all, except when cruise ship tours are visiting. But there is nothing with comfort there (like own bathroom). The same goes for Saleapaga. The beach there is not that nice as well, with rocks at the waterline. Virgin Cove would be the right choice for Upolu and especially the parents would enjoy Le Lagoto in Savaii. They
Theft might be an issue but hardly more than anywhere else in the world. Savaii might be more prone to petty theft (towels, T-shirts), while on Upolu cameras and such are more likely to be targeted, if there is any risk at all. Personally (I live in Samoa for 10 years now) I never lost anything to theft, but things got stolen from me while visiting New Zealand, Australia, France and Italy. Just take normal precautions. 'Opportunity makes a thief' is certainly a bit more valid in Samoa than elsewhere.

Well, I have been to a fair few countries, and nowhere was theft as rife as in Samoa.
Between three of us who happened to accidentally share a room in the same Apia motel, it turned out that all three had MONEY stolen by our various Samoan hosts on Sawaii. Travelling separately, just within the past 2 weeks or so.
The two women (also travelling separately) actually had it stolen by two fale resort owners they handed it over to for "safekeeping".
Not being able to trust accomodation providers to this extent is definitely unusual and I'd say one must take more precautions than elsewhere.
But there is lots said about this on the Samoa Warnings thread already.

Hey Careyanne

I recommend a visit to tripadvisor.com, you will find reviews and pictures for both Lalomanu/Virgin cove from recent travellers.
TripAdvisor

With just a week Upolu will have more than enough for you to do, Savaii is a beautiful spot as well but just based on the travel and your short time Upolu will give you a great experience.

Lalomanu - Taufua is my favorite place, it is one of the best beaches, good swimming, snorkelling and the dive shop does great trips (both snorkelling and scuba). The food is excellent and breakfast/dinner has a communal style setting which provides a great atmosphere to the place. They have open beach fales but also have fully enclosed with their own toilets (self contained fales) so would be good for the oldies. Yes it is busy but in my opinion it is because it is a great place to enjoy time and the hosts are really great. Reviews and pictures on the above link.

Virgin Cove - One of the nicest looking beaches on Upolu and a beautiful location. There are things to be aware of, broken coral/rocks while swimming. We stayed there when they ran out of water which was a bummer but having said that it is still worth a visit. Reviews and pictures on the above link.

Never had or encountered anyone who had a problem with theft (on either island) so I can't comment, it is worthwhile keeping in mind theft occurs to travellers everywhere, common sense should prevail.

Apia - This is worth a visit, either to start or finish the trip. It gives you the chance to have a good shower after your fale trip, there is the markets, restaurants, R L Stevesons house, marine reserve ... blah blah.

You'll have a blast whatever you do.

Note: South Pacific games are on in August - Busy Busy Busy
Pre-Book would be another - we saw too many people not get to where they wanted due to places being full

Cheers

With an 18-month old baby, I would not suggest Virgin Cove. It is just too cut off from things if there is an accident or whatever.
And I can't see your parents enjoying the experience if they "want walls".
There are bungalows there, but they are a bit damp and stuffy. Not the best place for little kids I thought.
Fantastic place for singles and couples.

If you went to Manase (on Savai'i) the parents could have "walls" at Stevenson's and you could have a fale, next door on the beach at Tanu's.
The Tanu family have lots of babies, so you would feel at home. I love that part of the beach of the lagoon there. The Tanu kids all take a dip at sunset and play in the water.

On Upolu, we have stayed at Fao Fao Fales just up the beach from touristy Lalomanu in Saleapago. A lovely Polynesian Samoan family run the Fales (NB Polynesian and the culture that goes with it) It is quite close to Boomerang Creek Fales which have "walls", but not on the beach. The beach at Saleapago is stunning and often quite empty.

The last time we stayed there we had a 6-month old German baby and a 3-year old French child as neighbours and they were well taken care of and loved by the family. You do have to cross the road to go to the bathroom facilities, but Hey! what's wrong with the good old Pacific. That worked well for a thousand or so years before the missionaries. Cleaner too.

In Apia, if you can afford it, Aggie Grey's in Apia is a great place to begin and end your Samoan experience. We leave our passports and most valuables in their safe when we go to stay in Fales. We have never had anything stolen. But we are very tidy and don't flaunt things. Samoans are very generous hearted people in our experience. Often too generous.
PS We are as old if not older than your parents.

i know this is probably not the right spot to put this but i am getting a bit fed up with LASZLO making it well known on every samoan question about their problems they had in samoa. i read the samoa warnings post before i left and it totally freaked me out. it was our first trip overseas with our two small children and the negative feedback on that site was terrible. i really think it is time for Laszlo to put this issue to rest, i am really sorry that they had a bad time and obviously had things taken but i don't think you realise how much you are really scaring people about Samoa and the potential to damage their tourism industry. we thought it was absolutely fantastic and we totally relaxed and even contemplated imigrating their. i live in a really safe country yet i am finding used syringes in my gutters and there is a serial rapist stalking women walking. in samoa we could finally let the kids have a bit of freedom and not worry about them being abducted by some paedophile in a public toilet. having a couple of wallets stolen is really not the end of the world when you consider how wonderful the positives in this country are. please consider your impact on the rest of the travelling public when putting out these negative comments. i'm sure i haven't heard the end of this. enjoy your trip, if you want any other info on travelling with the little ones over there let me know but the info provided by the others looked pretty good.

Well, FLEURGER, the solution is very simple: no one is forcing you to use this forum or read everything posted on it.
I am glad to hear you had a nice time in Samoa, had nothing stolen or at least never noticed it, but the amount of negative experience other posters have recounted is worth noting, too.
"Paradise" is a myth, and in real life all places have their pros and cons.
If you can't live with that, that's your problem.
Unlike you, I have done more than one trip overseas, have visited 7 of the Pacific island nations, and therefore can probably put things into a bit more of a perspective.

May I suggest that instead of complaining, you put your energy into posting USEFUL replies to actual questions asked on this forum - for example the one right here, to which you gave no relevant reply whatsoever.

Laszlo if you looked at my bio, this is definately not my first overseas trip, i have done the hard yards in many other third world countries. i did say it was my first one with the kids in tow. i have read your other postings listed in your tips and just find it really strange that you continually bring up this situation in samoa. i am not trying to offend you but i just want to put it into perspective that people like myself do read posts about these countries and become quite concerned about where they are going (maybe rightly so but we found the opposite in samoa). maybe having small children with us had a positive effect on the people and was different to your experience. i found more worrying in samoa was the overseas people (particularly from the USA) who were totally ripping off the Samoans by making them sign leases on land when they cannot understand english yet nobody makes any mention of this, no wonder the Samoans can get aggitated by foreigners. yes paradise is a myth but it is what you make of it i suppose. i hope you don't take this the wrong way again but that is up to you how you take it as i don't really want to have a slanging match over this difference in opinion, i just want to get on with saving up for another holiday and showing our kids the world.

as per the useful reply response my advice with the small kids is it is easier to go to the smaller fales than the larger resorts. the fales are close to the restaurants and beaches so that the little one can have a sleep and you can still enjoy yourselves within earshot. they can also run around a bit more without being looked at by other tourists who may want some more peace and quiet. with the larger resorts the rooms are miles away so one of you will need to stay with the little one while they sleep and babysitting services are rare. also the cheaper fales offer more simple food which the kids love and generally don't charge the kids to eat. get used to your child being taken off you by the staff, it is fantastic being able to eat while your baby is played with.

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<hr>i found more worrying in samoa was the overseas people (particularly from the USA) who were totally ripping off the Samoans by making them sign leases on land when they cannot understand english yet nobody makes any mention of this, no wonder the Samoans can get aggitated by foreigners.<hr></blockquote>

So you were on your vacation with your two little kids and you witnessed these people, particularly from the USA , running around forcing Samoans who don't speak English to sign leases on land?

Do elaborate.