Savaii Trip Report

Savaii is an untouched Samoan island in the south pacific that is absolutely charming

Sunny Trip Reports Island Rating* Click here for Explanation of Ratings
Accomodations
Snorkeling
Beaches
Dining
Activities
Shopping
Food Shopping
Friendliness
Cultural Experience
Value for Money
Would We Return

Savaii Lagoon Resort

We had the pleasure of staying 7 nights at the Savaii Lagoon Resort. The resort consists of 7 beach "fales" located directly on the beach. The location is perfect in that it is near the Le Lagoto resort and only a few kilometers from the town of Manese.  The rates for Savaii Lagoon are very reasonable. Our stay was less than $100 USD a night. The facility is not a 4 star type establishment, but we feel it is the best "medium priced" place to stay on the island.
	While we were there the "co-owners" from New Zealand were there. Bruce and Margaret are really super people. We got to know them throughout the week and now consider them our friends from Samoa. We also met another New Zealand couple, Brian and Carol, and we also had fun sharing wine while watching the sunset. (They were smart and brought a few bottles of vino from home!)
Our unit was very basic but very comfortable. The unit included a walk in shower with hot water! (Hot water is not "normal" in Savaii so this was a real treat). There was also a small kitchenette which included a very small refrigerator, electric skillet, hot water maker, and dishware. Savaii Lagoon also provides drinking water which is provided through a filtration system. This was wonderful since no where else on the island has drinkable water out of the tap.
The beach fale also had a nice sofa/bed in case you needed a second bed. The TV in Savaii is very limited, one channel. Yes, they only have one channel. But who goes on vacation to watch TV anyway?
Each day we were replenished with a fresh loaf of bread along with some local fruit. This was a really nice extra!
The snorkeling in front of Savaii Lagoon was very good. The lagoon is VERY shallow during low tide, so you can really only go out during high tide. But the water is calm and clear. There was not lots of fish, but the coral was magnificent. It is quite a "kick" out to the really big coral heads. If you are not wanting to do some exercising, then we recommend that you do the snorkel trip with Dive Savaii.

Restaurants on Savaii are VERY limited

The restaurants on Savaii are few and far between. We stayed in probably the most "touristy" area and we really on had a few places to choose from. Fortunately we really like the restaurant right next door to Savaii Lagoon.  Le Lagoto Beach Resort has a great restaurant that has good food at reasonable prices.
	The meals ranged from fish and chips for $20 tala ($8 USD) to New Zealand Steak for about $65 tala ($26 USD). Thursday is "Pizza Night".  You have to ask for the special "pizza menu" but you will be rewarded with a very good pizza at a very reasonable price. I believe the pizza shown to the right was only about $30 tala. ($12 USD)
One night Carroll had lobster and it was very good. The cost was only $50 tala. ($20 USD). The wine was also very reasonable.  The house chardonnay from Australia was about $40 tala ($16 USD) a bottle.
On Saturday night there was a fia fia. The show included some locals performing traditional Samoan dances.
Vacations Fales
The only other "restaurant" we visited on Savaii was Vacations. Vacations is really a beach fale but on Sunday they have a traditional Samoan buffet. The food was pretty decent but it was a little overpriced at $50 tala a person. But it did include lobster and roasted pig.

Things to Do on Savaii

In our opinion, renting a car for at least a day is a must on Savaii. We rented our car through Savaii Car Rentals for the entire week.  In retrospect we easily could have just rented it for a day or two and saved a bunch of money. But having a car does give you a sense of freedom.
	Alofaaga Blowholes On of the more beautiful places on the island is the Alofaaga Blowholes. The blowholes are very cool and the place is very scenic. This portion of the island reminded us of the big island of Hawaii. There is a small fee to enter the site, but we felt it was well worth it.
	Falealupo Rainforest Preserve We also did the Canopy Walkway in the Falealupo Rainforest Preserve. This was a little pricey, but it was good fun. There is a huge banyan tree that has stairs and a platform that looks out over a beautiful view. Our guide, shown above, was very helpful. Note: the picture of our guide was a self-portrait. He did this when we handed him our camera and had our backs turned. He had a great sense of humor!
Moso's Footprint The picture to the right shows Moso's footprint. Legend has it that Moso, a god, took a step on Savaii before taking his next step which was Fiji. This was included in our admission to the Canopy but we don't recommend this stop. This is one of those things that when you look at it you go "this is it?"
	The Saleaula Village Lava Ruins The Saleaula Village Lava Ruins are also worth a stop. This is the latest lava flow on Savaii. It happened about 100 years ago. It was interesting because the lava seem to flow around one of the village churches and then through the front door. (see below)
The picture to the right shows the "Virgin's Grave". This was fascinating. The lava flowed right around the virgin's grave.  There is a small fee for this park, but you get a personal guide and the fee was relatively small.
One thing you are sure to see a lot of while driving around Savaii is pigs and churches. A sign of wealth in the local villages is the number of pigs that they own.  You have to be careful while driving around because hitting a pig with a car is a serious offense. Savaii also has lots of churches. It seemed like each village must have had 3 or 4 churches a piece.
The island of Savaii is very picturesque. Because it seems to rain everyday, the vegetation is beautiful.

Getting to Savaii

Getting to Savaii from the United States isn't the easiest trip. We flew from Northern California down to Los Angeles and then hopped on a non stop flight to Apia, Upolu. We arrived in Apia at about 5:00 AM. From there, we took a cab to the Mulifanua wharf.  The next ferry to Savaii was 8:00 AM so we had a few hours to kill at the wharf.  At about 7:30 AM the ticket window opened and we purchased our tickets to Savaii. $9 tala each. (About $4 USD)
	The ferry was very smooth and even included a Jet Li movie! But it was sloooow.  It took us over an hour to get across the channel.
The views from the ferry were pretty spectacular early in the morning. It was raining off in the distance.
	When we entered the tiny harbor in Savaii, we were getting excited as all we could see was beautiful turquoise water..... After landing we grabbed a taxi to Savaii Car Rentals, which is where we rented our car for the week. The taxi ride was $10 tala.

Diving on Savaii

We had the pleasure of taking a snorkeling trip with Dive Savaii and we had a blast. Dive Savaii is an awesome underwater adventure company.  The owners, Fabien and Flavia, are really special people. We also loved our captain Siaki. He was very knowledgeable and a great skin diver!
	Dive Savaii is located across the road from Le Lagoto Resort. (And very close to Savaii Lagoon) Their snorkel trip included three stops and it lasted for about 3 hours. It only cost $50 tala a person, which is about $20 USD.  Very good deal. Flavia was a great "tour guide" through the underwater gardens. The picture to the right shows her pointing out some "magic coral".
The coral was absolutely beautiful. Lots of variety and very colorful!
We didn't get a chance to go scuba diving due to a storm that moved in during our last few days. But there was tons to see in the shallows so it wasn't too big of a disappointment.
Our favorite spot, of the three, was the first "wall snorkel".
We were also fortunate enough to see turtles and rays during our snorkel trip with Dive Savaii. We highly recommend Dive Savaii as your first choice for underwater adventures!

Carroll's Savaii Blog

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

We left our house in Northern CA and headed to Sacramento Intergalactic airport. We had already checked in on-line for our Southwest flight to LAX. Our flight was on-time and we arrived in Los Angeles right on time.

The Air New Zealand terminal was just next door to the Southwest terminal. We checked in and then waited in a second line to check our luggage through security. We were going to go over to Encounters, the Cosmic looking restaurant in the cent of LAX. Unfortunately it was closed for upgrades and we struck out.

Security was absolutely no problem. Once through security we ate dinner at the Roadhouse 66 eatery. This would NOT be a place I would recommend for food. The beer and wine was fine. We ordered burgers and fries. The fries were cold and the burger meat tasted questionably old. The side of coleslaw had a chemical taste that was most unpleasant. There was a Wolfgang Puck restaurant in the terminal also that probably would have been a better choice.

The waiting area for the Air New Zealand flight was interesting in that it is closed off from the terminal and they only open it up about 30 to 45 minutes before the flight. Since they only allow up to 7 kilograms of carryon (about 14 pounds) we had checked all of our luggage. Boarding was a breeze!

Our flight took off right on time at 11:15 PM. We had taken a sleep aid so falling asleep was no problem.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

We woke up having slept well. All was still dark outside. They had breakfast service that was very good for airline food.

We arrived in Apia, Samoa about 45 minutes ahead of schedule at 4:45 AM. We made our way through immigration and then waited for our luggage before proceeding through customs. 

Once through customs we stopped at the ATM and pulled out local currency. There were many taxi drivers waiting. We were stopped by one guy and we told him we wanted to go to the ferry dock. He told us we were too early and that it would be better to wait at the airport for a while. Once at the ferry terminal we waited around for a while more. Tickets over to Savaii were $9 tala a piece. The ferry ride took about 90 minutes. We actually had time to watch a movie.

Once on Savaii we took a taxi to secure our rental car. The cost of the car was $840 tala for the week. Unfortunately their credit card machine was out of order so we had to pay cash. With the rental wiping out most of our cash we had to head back to an ATM to get more cash. Luckily we brought ATM cards from more than one bank account so we were able to get more money. (Not hit the daily maximum)

After picking up a few supplies at the grocery, we drove the 45 minute journey to our home for the week, Savaii Lagoon Resort.

Upon arriving we were greeted by Margaret and Bruce, who built the resort. We also got to meet Iolina, one of the co-owners. Since it was too early to actually check in, we walked next door to Le Lagoto for lunch. Dave ordered the fish and chips and I ordered the chicken and chips. By the time our tummies were full of food and Vailima beer, our room was ready.

Our fale was room #1. It was situated on one of the most picturesque beaches on Savaii. The bay is very protected and the waves gently lap the shoreline.

Since it was the heat of the day, we donned our suits and went for a quick swim. We were only out for a few hours but we definitely were kissed by the blazing sun in a very short time. We learned quickly to be wary of the south pacific sun. By 3:30 we were starting to get tired so we showered and relaxed until we went to bed at 7:00 PM. Yes, we were "wusses". Too much sun, beer, and travel had drained us completely. We went to bed without supper.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

We awoke at around 6:00 AM totally refreshed. We prepared coffee and took the few steps out of our bungalow to the beach. As the clouds turned from pink to gold to white, we marveled at the quiet peacefulness of Savaii.

Since Wednesday had been such a busy day for us, we decided to just hang around Savaii Lagoon by the beach, read a little, and relax a lot.

Once the tide was up we went for a snorkel out to the reef. We were amazed at the abundance of coral. The water was quite shallow so you definitely need to wait for high tide.

Dinner at Le Lagoto was pizza. Apparently, Thursday night is pizza night. You need to ask for the pizza menu. A large pizza is $30 ST and is about the size of a dinner plate. It was good and just enough for two.

We played a few rounds of cribbage before calling "lights out". Of course, Dave was quite lucky. What a fun and relaxing day in our newly found paradise.

Friday, October 5, 2007

Coffee on the beach, fresh papaya, bananas and bread for breakfast and a fresh shower to start the day. How much better can it get?

Today was our day to explore the island of Savaii. We left our resort at around 8:00 AM. armed with a jug of water, 2 peanut butter sandwiches, and a map. The most spectacular thing about the drive was how beautiful everything was. Every village was very manicured and well kept. We were watchful to not drive too fast so as not to hit one of the many pigs that wander about. In Samoa, pigs are a sign of wealth and it would be a major event if you injured a village pig.

As we drove we observed children walking to school, women washing clothes in pools along the sea, people hacking the grass to keep it manicured with machetes, and groups of women weaving mats in the open air fales in the center of the villages. Life in Samoa seems very bucolic.

Our first tourist stop was the Canopy tour in the Falealupo Rainforest Preserve. As we drove up the children at the school next door were singing as their teachers watched. I had pangs of guilt for leaving my own class at home to study without me. But I know they are in the capable hands of my good friends, Stephie and Judy. The walkway is a short hike into the rainforest on a well maintained path. A guide walked us back and then we climbed a tower to the suspension bridge. We traversed the bridge one at a time to a second platform that was built around a tall banyan tree. We then climbed several more flights of stairs/ladders up to the highest platform that gave us a magnificent 360 degree view.

On the way up I almost chickened out (afraid of heights) but our guide, who spoke no English, coaxed me up. I'm glad he did because it was truly beautiful. He also held my hand all the way down.

After our canopy adventure we ventured on down the road to Moso's footprint. This is legended to have been the place where Moso, the god, planted his foot on his way to Fiji. It is basically an impression in a lava flow that remotely resembles a large foot impression. The cost of admittance was included with our canopy tour but it cost $2 ST extra to take a photograph. After Moso's footprint we decided to skip the "house of rock".

Back on the main road we continued around the island. We passed through small village one after the other. Our next planned stop was in Salailua for the tapa cloth making. We drove into the yard and were greeted by a young boy. We were invited into the home and offered western style furniture to sit in. When we finally asked about Tapa closth they brought out several 16 X 16 inches specimens. The cost was $25 ST which is about $11 USD each.

We continued along the road to our next stop near the village of Taga. As you drive down a rustic road you find a small kiosk that will collect $5 ST a piece to enter. You then proceed down the road to find the most awesome blowholes you will see in the South Pacific. The sound and power cannot be captured. Dave had his video camera but the gods were not with him because he ran out of tape and had no back up.

After the blowholes we proceeded around the coast to the main town of Salelologa. We tried to find a place for lunch but really didn't see much. We purchased a few postcards and stamps. Dave checked Internet and cleared the plethora of email that he gets and we returned to our resort hot and hungry at around 2:00 PM.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent swimming, relaxing and playing cards and dice. We also crossed the road and visited Dive Savaii and arranged for a snorkel tour on Saturday.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

We had a fairly restful night with a few exceptions. I woke up at one point with the man in the fale next to us wretching. Too much sun? Too much exhaustion? Too much Vailima? I had a tinge of empathy for him. We were awoken later with a torrential downpour. The showers here are hard but short lived this time of year. The third time was at 5:00 AM with church bells ringing. We later found out that the bell meant that it was time for choir practice. Who knew?

I prepared eggs and toast for breakfast and we relaxed for a few hours before we were to meet Flavia and Fabien of Dive Savaii for our snorkel tour. The cost is quite reasonable at $50 ST ($20 USD) per person. We snorkeled three different sites.

The first site was a wall off of Avao village. This is the first place that Christian missionaries landed and introduced Christianity to the Samoan people. It took 10 years to translate the bible into Samoan. To this day, Christian worship is the center of every village in Samoa.

The wall out from the village is quite beautiful and easy to snorkel. Flavia was our guide on this trek and she pointed out several interesting specimens, such as clams, color changing coral, the resident turtle, and a family of eagle rays.

Our second stop was the wreck of the original missionary ship that landed (or ran aground) in the mid 1800's. The ship lays on its side and you can see the stern and mast well encrusted with corals.

Our third stop was the coral gardens that are just off the beach from our fale. We spent a good hour there and had a great time.

When we returned we had a quick rinse and walked over to Le Lagoto for a light lunch. We discussed whether or not we wanted to dive before we left Savaii. Fabian and Flavia were also lunching so before we left we stopped by and told them we would like to dive with them on Monday.

We relaxed the rest of the afternoon and readied for dinner at around 7:00 PM. Le Lagoto was having a FiaFia night. Dave ordered the hot chicken curry and I ordered the lobster. Both meals were very good. For dessert we each ordered a fru-fru after dinner cocktail to sip on during the show.

The folks who performed consisted of two musicians, five male dancers and four female dancers. They danced and performed several traditional dances. They danced for about 30 minutes or so. It was very entertaining. After dinner we visited with Bruce and Margaret from New Zealand and solved most of the world's problems.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

I awoke to church bells signaling time for worship. About 30 minutes later more bells clanged. Sunday is a quiet day of worship in Samoa and things pretty much stop.

We read our books for a while and then hopped in our car to drive to Vacations in Manase for a traditional Samoan Sunday buffet. They had the traditional roast pig along with lobster, chicken, taro, potatoes and a variety of other things. The meal was good and filling. The cost was a bit stiff at $40 ST a piece buy they did have lobster. We also took a look around the fales there which are located right on the beach. They looked nice enough and the shared bathroom/shower was not too far away. The cost was $90 ST a piece which nets out to about $75 USD for 2. This also includes breakfast, dinner and the Sunday buffet lunch.

After lunch we returned to our room and read the afternoon away while the rain poured.

We prepared dinner in and marveled at the rainy weather. Church bells rang throughout the day to announce the Sunday activities. Sunday was definitely a quiet day in Samoa.

Monday, October 8, 2007

We awoke again to dark skies and rain. It seems as if the rainy season is arriving early. The dark skies and foreboding rain was enough to convince us of cancelling our scuba dive.

I made us omelets and toast for breakfast. We said goodbye to Margaret and Bruce and then walked down to the small post office down the road to mail a few post cards.

Dave needed to check email so I relaxed on the beach and read for a bit. Once he returned we went for a swim and visited with the couple next door, who were from New Zealand. Brian and Carol were there names and they were great. As the sun took its toll we decided to venture back to our bungalow to prepare some lunch.

Margaret had left us some ham so I made toasted ham and cheese sandwiches.

We returned to the beach and decided to go for a snorkel out to the Coral Gardens. The kicking makes for great exercise. The visibility today was not near as good, probably because of all of the rain.

Overall we really didn't do much today. We had dinner next door at Le Lagoto. I had chicken stir fry and Dave had the chicken kabobs. We split a liter of water. Our total bill was $64 ST ($25 USD). We both enjoyed the meal.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Today was our last day in Savaii. Tomorrow we will take the ferry over to Upolu to spend our last days in Samoa.

We woke up and gazed out at that beauty, drank our coffee and reminisced about the past week. I made omelets for breakfast as we decided what to do for the day. We also had to plan on packing our bags for the move to Upolu.

We drove down the road to the next village to see the lava flow. The lava flow happened from 1905 - 1911. All the people were safe but the village was destroyed. All that remained were the ruins of two churches and a grave believed to be the daughter of a high chief. The women's club of the village conduct the tours and our guide was quite good.

Unfortunately as we were walking along the rain soaked pathway I slipped out of my flip flops and skinned both knees. Outchy... The guide had just warned us to be careful and not a split second later I take a tumble. There was blood and drama but in the end all was fine.

We filled up the car with petrol and picked up a few last Vailima for our stay. We read for the rest of the afternoon. Brian, our new friend from NZ, invited us over for a before dinner taste of some NZ wine. It was a blend of Merlot, Cabernet, and Shiraz by Montana Vineyard. It was smooth and good. After visiting with Brian and Carol for a while we headed next door to dinner.

We both ordered the NZ steaks with mushroom sauce. We ordered the steak medium well but it came rare. I decided to ignore it since it was fairly dark and I couldn't see the red meat. The meal was just okay this time.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

We awoke early, had a light breakfast and finished packing for our move. We said our good byes and checked out of Savaii Lagoon. We then returned the car and took a taxi to the wharf for the 10 AM ferry back to Upolu. The ride over to Upolu was not as rough as we had anticipated. This trip report continues here.