Everywhere You Need To Go During Your Samoa Holiday

Samoa is an untouched paradise of blue pools, white sand beaches and tropical jungle that’s well worth adding to your travel bucket list.

It’s hard to believe that just a day earlier I was in an office on deadline and now I’m climbing down a ladder into a 30m-deep water hole that was formed when an ancient lava tube caved in, creating one of Samoa’s most iconic attractions — a turquoise pool enclosed by a fern-covered rock face called To Sua Trench.

It’s one of Samoa’s many natural attractions, which range from tropical rainforest and volcanic peaks to fresh-water pools, waterfalls and white sand beaches that I’ll discover over five days.

Samoa is billed as an untouched paradise, offering visitors more than just cushy resort stays; its drawcard is raw natural beauty, from the coastline of the main island, Upolu, with its sandy beaches and sought-after surf breaks, to the magic of Savaii, a laid-back, authentic slice of paradise characterised by volcanic rock, green valleys and blue lagoons, which locals will tell you is the “real Samoa”.

To Sua Trench (which means giant swimming hole) features heavily in promotional imagery of Samoa, as well as being a hit on Instagram feeds, and it’s a sight to behold in person.

It’s on a clifftop above Fagaoneone Beach on the south coast of Upolu, a beautiful stretch of coastline with a visible outer reef popular with whales.

Like many attractions in Samoa, it’s managed by a local family and for a small fee ($15 Samoan Tala or NZ$8), you can easily spend half a day here, exploring the beach, rock pools, garden and lava field.

To Sua is two large holes joined by a lava cave, the main swimming hole filled with seawater that’s fed from an underground cave connected to the ocean.

The steep wooden ladder is not for the fainthearted, but once you reach the bottom you can jump off the jetty, and there’s a rope that you can pull yourself along to get as close as possible to the adjoining cave without being dragged by the current (and there is a strong current).

It’s from this vantage point you can take in the prehistoric-looking moss-and-fern-covered rock face and marvel at how beautiful nature can be.

Samoa is a religious country, with more than 90 per cent of Samoans attending church, and along the Main South Coast Rd of Upolu there is a church every kilometre or so; elaborate, well-tended buildings that stand proud in their surroundings, windows and doors painted in vivid colours.

Sundays are a national day of rest, and most Samoans attend service in the morning and spend the afternoon with family. Shops and food markets are only open in the morning on Sundays and tourist sites, petrol stations and other key locations are generally closed.

Visitors are welcome to attend service, and I sat in the back row at Vaipuna o le Olataga Chapel in Lolamanu, listening to the congregation sing in loud, clear voices, and observing the women with their hats and fans, men in their formal lavalava and children in their Sunday best, their hair carefully combed and braided.

Another way to experience Fa’a Samoa (the Samoan way of life) is to spend some time in a beach fale, which are everywhere in Samoa and a concept I challenge you not to fall in love with. These colourful, thatched roof structures provide shade and a lovely place to hang out, snooze, or even stay the night.

Ranging from basic open-air fales to fully enclosed buildings, they’re an accommodation option that offers the romance of camping with some of the amenities of a hotel.

In a fale, you can stay at some of the island’s best beaches at a fraction of the cost of the resorts. They can be enjoyed for an hour, a day, or overnight, and some of the more elaborate fales have air conditioning, ensuite bathrooms and set meals.

Many fale operators provide a woven mat for the floor, a mosquito net, a mattress, if you’d like one, and roll-down blinds for privacy and shade. You can also order snacks and drinks, like fresh coconuts. It’s heaven.

Lalomanu Beach’s yellow and turquoise fales, on the south coast of Upolu, are some of Samoa’s most popular, after it was voted the top 10 beach destination in the world by Lonely Planet. It’s a primo spot for swimming, with jungle-covered outer island Nu’utele in the distance.

We spent the morning at family owned Taufua Beach Fales, enjoying the breeze and reading and relaxing in between swims.

This area of the island was badly affected by a tsunami in 2009, which saw devastating 4.5m waves crash into the surrounding villages, wiping out Taufua. It has been rebuilt since then, including a new restaurant, and some new fales further inland.

Signs of the destruction are visible, with abandoned houses and patchy vegetation, and at Lalomanu, the coconut trees are still growing to the height they once were. Despite this, it’s a gorgeous spot to swim, snorkel or kayak in the lagoon, with equipment available to hire.

For a refreshing break from beaches, there’s Piula Cave Pool, a crystal clear, cool freshwater swimming hole on the grounds of Piula Methodist Theological College, in Lufilufi village, next to a protected stretch of shoreline.

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This spot is well set up for visitors with a covered seating area, toilet facilities and fales, and has an entrance fee of $3.

Like To Sua, Piula is a series of caves created by an ancient lava tube, but filled with fresh water from a natural spring. It’s a popular spot with locals. You can swim right into the cave, and even through a tunnel that connects to a second water hole, where the water turns from turquoise to inky black.

If you’re travelling by car, Le Mafa Pass Scenic Drive is a great stretch of road that takes you inland from the south of the island to the north, into the mountains of Upolu, offering views of lakes, coconut groves and the ocean, passing lush rainforest, dense ferns and huge evergreen banyan trees.

The roadside gardens in the south-side valleys are particularly beautiful. It’s a classic snapshot of Samoa’s multifaceted landscape.

Savaii, the larger of Samoa’s two main islands, is where true holiday mode is activated, where the pace is slower, the population smaller and the scenery untouched. There’s just one traffic light for the whole island, and one road that wraps around the perimeter.

Getting there is a 1.5-hour car ferry ride from Mulifanua Wharf, which is a 10-minute drive from the airport, meaning it’s possible to head straight to Savaii from the plane. Tickets are $50-$65 each way with a vehicle, or $7 if you’re on foot.

I upgraded to a VIP ticket ($18), which promised an air-conditioned VIP lounge with free snacks, cold drinks and a TV, but turned out to be a freezing cold room with the curtains closed, average refreshments and just one other passenger. I spent most of the journey on the bow, looking for dolphins.

Our first stop in Savaii was the idyllic Afu Aau waterfall, which flows from a jungle-covered rock face into three separate pools, accessed via a 250m walkway. For a waterfall this impressive, we were surprised to have it all to ourselves.

The entry is managed by local families who collect a small fee to maintain the facilities, which include a garden toilet and changing rooms.

You can swim in all three pools, but we took a few running jumps into the deep blue swimming hole of the largest waterfall. It was the ideal way to freshen up after the ferry ride and a gorgeous introduction to Savaii.

Another of Savaii’s best swims was at surf spot Aganoa, where an outer reef 100m from shore creates peeling, ridable barrels and a beautiful inner lagoon for swimming, surrounded by colourful coral and tropical fish.

This is the special location of Aganoa Lodge, a low-key surf camp that welcomes surfers from all over the world to stay in its eight open-air fales.

When we visited, the couple who own the lodge were overseas and it was closed to guests, but it’s set to re-open later in 2023.

Thirty minutes from Aganoa in the village of Taga are the Alofaaga Blowholes, a natural phenomenon that sees 40m-high jets of water burst from holes formed inside the coastal lava shelf.

The setting on the rugged southwest coast of Savaii is breathtaking, with deep blue ocean surging into mighty volcanic cliff-faces covered in coconut trees and dense jungle.

Peek over the edge and you’ll see turtles swimming in the waves; humpback whales are known to cruise past too.

Alofaaga is best experienced at high tide, when incoming waves force huge geysers to burst from the holes, creating a spectacle (and noise) that’s well worth getting your camera out for.

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Lava formations like this mark much of Savaii’s coastline, especially in the north, where the effects of the eruption of Mt Matavanu in 1905 are on striking display, with houses perched atop black volcanic rock, and sparse gardens making the most of any gaps.

Visitors can view the remains of one of five buried villages at the Sale’aula lava fields, including the remnants of a church still standing despite a swirling flow of lava reaching halfway up the doors and windows.

It’s eerily beautiful, shaded by leafy green trees that have slowly regenerated.

In contrast to these lava-covered plains, the front gardens in other parts of Savaii are unapologetically joyful and a world away from the white picket fences of Auckland, decorated with flags and bunting, flowers, fragrant shrubs and grasses.

Some have rows of tyres repurposed into sculptural planters painted in geometric patterns. This dedication to beauty is everywhere in Savaii, with neat ornamental gardens planted with heliconia, hibiscus, torch ginger and Samoa’s national flower, the teuila.

This parade of colour complements the houses and fale Samoa (open-air meeting houses) painted in the happiest shades of yellow, orange, pink, blue and green.

Most Samoan families grow their own food, and it’s a common site to see taro, bananas, mangoes, guavas, breadfruit, pineapples and cocoa plants in their gardens, or for sale on the side of the road.

Pigs, chickens and dogs roam free, and get right of way on the roads. It’s these sights and sounds that personify Samoa, a country full of remarkable landscapes that is well worth adding to your bucket list of places to explore.