Samoa (formerly known as Western Samoa) turned out to be a hidden gem of our Pacific Crossing. We’d expected big things from the Marquesas, Tuamotus and Society Islands (Bora Bora!), but Samoa hadn’t really registered on our radar as a ‘must see’. In hindsight, it has been one of our favourite stops of the trip.
After we left Suwarrow and sped quickly through American Samoa (Pago Pago), we pulled into the port of Apia on Samoa. We ended up spending over a month dividing our time between the two main islands of Samoa: Upolu and Savaii.
It wasn’t the actual anchorages that we loved so much (while they were nice, it is hard to beat some of our previous picturesque anchorage spots); it was the local people and the beauty of the islands that we will remember with the most fondness.
Upolu – pig roast, waterfalls, and the most amazing swimming hole we’ve ever seen!
With Apia as our home base on Upolu, we were conveniently located to explore the many delights of the island. Our first visit was to the Samoan Cultural Center where we were treated to a full day of learning about Samoan culture. Dancing, singing, music performances, weaving, live tattooing, tapa , carving and traditional cooking demonstrations were all incorporated into the day, complete with a feast at the end. All this was offered free of charge as part of the government’s efforts to build tourism. It was the best formally organized cultural experience we’ve had during our time in Polynesia so far. We were all mesmerized by the many talents demonstrated throughout the day.
Pig Roast on Slingshot!
Gavin got talking to Alofa, our leader at the Samoan Cultural Centre, who was incredulous that we’d sailed to Samoa. He had never been on a boat before. So Gavin invited him back to Slingshot for sundowners and before we knew it, Alofa had invited us and the other cruising families we were with back to have a traditional pig roast the next day.
As the men do the cooking in Samoa, it was up to all of the dads and boys from sailing vessels Caramba, Flocerfida and Slingshot to meet Alofa and his friends at 8:30am to start preparing the feast. On their arrival, they were confronted with a live pig (!) which they needed to ‘prepare’. It was quite an experience for all of them!
The ladies arrived at noon where we enjoyed watching all the boys in their ‘lava lavas’ putting the finishing touches on the meal. We then learned that Alofa’s friends wanted to come back to see the boat as well – so a Pigroast feast on Slingshot was soon arranged! We carried the Pig, taro, coconut cream wrapped in taro leaves and breadfruit all packaged in handmade palm-frond baskets back to Slingshot, where we had a memorable and fun afternoon hosting our new friends.
It was a day that the kids nor us will soon forget – the open friendliness of Alofa and his friends and the opportunity to prepare a pig roast using the traditional methods was an amazing opportunity.
Robert Louis Stevenson Museum and Natural Waterslides
There are so many things to see on Upolu, it was hard to choose what to do next. We had fun days exploring the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum and then the ‘sliding rocks’ where we all got our adrenaline going by sliding down rocks into fresh water pools at the ‘natural waterslides’.
4 Families in One Van – An unforgettable day exploring Upolu
We had the good fortune to be in the proximity of some fun kidboat families and we found a 16 seater van that we squished all 17 of is and spent the day driving from one amazing swimming spot to another, while we took in the beautiful vistas along the way.
We chose four stops as we drove around the north of Upolu. The highlight was the magestic To Sua Ocean trench – a natural swimming hole that took our breath away, literally and figuratively!
The 80 foot ladder to get down to the swimming area was something to behold (and got our pulses racing!), and the breathtaking beauty of the place had us rubbing our eyes.
Gavin even braved the light surging waves and swam through the underwater cave to the ocean shore. We couldn’t believe how beautiful this spot was and wanted to spend longer, but there were more waterfalls and swimming holes beckoning.
We visited two other swimming spots and Upolu’s best known beach. We finished the day having pizza and drinks at the marina side pub and grill. We loved Apia and Upolu!
Savaii – Friendly Locals, a Treacherous Pass and More Sightseeing
Since we enjoyed Upolu so much, we did not want to miss it’s neighbouring and larger island, Savaii. After successfully obtained a 4 week cruising pass (an adventure on it’s own – see below) we set off for more exploring. The first bay we visited, Matautu Bay, delighted us with an easy fun surf breaking on the reef just off the boat. We waited until high tide and then all of us were able to catch waves on multiple days. It was our first full family surf session since Mexico and we loved it. Even Julia was able to stand up and catch some waves.
Our friends on Flocerfida joined us and we had days of fun going surfing, visiting the nearby lava fields and exploring enchanting dwarf’s cave. We enjoyed meeting a local guide who lead us on the hike and then below into the cave. Gavin bravely jumped in the water, 100 feet below the surface.
That wave is Breaking Really Close!
Next it was on to Asau Bay, a reef enclosed bay with good holding, but a challenging entry. It didn’t help that both Navionics and our Open CPN charts were not accurate (they had us on land when we were actually in the water – welcome to cruising in some of the lesser resourced countries!), and the local navigational aids had rusted apart and were not easy to spot.
With some good way points offered by noonsite, we approached with caution. It didn’t help that we had a 25 knot cross wind and swell on the day which resulted in a generous breaking surf marking the narrow entrance. We were the first to approach and cautiously approached to the waypoints provided. It was daunting to say the least, with a breaking surf and the bright blue colour marking the shallow water near the entrance. Noonsite recommended staying close to the port side of the entrance where the waves were breaking.
We took a couple of passes nearby and lined up our entry. I remember Gavin looking at me and asking, “Are we doing this?”
There are not many protected anchorages on Savaii so it would have meant turning around into the 25 knot breeze to head back to where we’d come from (12 miles) or to keep going around the bottom of Savaii to anchor in the lee of the island in a roadstead anchorage not well protected, but still doable.
“How does the boat feel?” I replied? Gavin had taken over the helm from the auto-pilot and was steering by hand (a rare occurrence on Slingshot as we mostly steer with auto-pilot and our trusty ‘dial’).
“I think we can do it!” says Gavin.
I nodded ‘okay’ and our unspoken contract was sealed – if we wrecked the boat we’d equally share the burden of “why did we do that!?”
I raced to the bow and Nathan huddled by the depthsounder calling out depth in increments of 2 feet. I watched as we came uncomfortably close to the breaking waves on the reef as we slipped quickly by them. As we got closer it was easy to spot the narrow channel and the calm waters leading us to safety. I watched for bommies and called out spots to avoid but generally we were able to straight shoot through the pass and make out the rusted land navigational aids on shore.
We breathed a sigh of relief and happily made it. Sometimes passes seem a lot more daunting until you get close to them. We anchored in a calm deserted anchorage with only ourselves and then Flocerfida who joined us. They smoothly glided through the pass with confidence in their carefully charted waypoints.
Blowholes, Kava ceremony a visit to an elementary school
We spent the next week continuing to explore Savaii. We were lucky to visit a nearby elementary school who was happy to accept some extra school supplies we had on board. We enjoyed the cool sea breeze coming through the open air classrooms and it was fun for the children to see what school is like in Samoa.
Then we spent a day with a hired guide visiting the infamous blow holes and another magestic waterfall and swimming hole. Even on a ‘small day’ the blow holes took our breath away. The sound and power of water being forced through these naturally made blow holes had us hooting and hollering as we were showered with spray.
We were also lucky to participate in a kava ceremony, tasting Kava and then also attending a Samoan feast at the nearby resort. Our time was coming to an end in Samoa and we were sad to leave.
We all contemplated on what a special place Samoa is and how we’d love to return again some day!
A note on obtaining a Cruising Permit for Savaii (For those considering visting by boat)
For those interesting in visiting Savaii, we highly recommend it. However, obtaining our 4 week cruising permit for the area, was an exercise in patience. Cruisers before us had been told and granted only one week because of a concern with cruisers ‘contaminating’ the traditional ways of Samoans. Also we were told of a requirement to return the 50 miles back to Apia (essentially backtracking) prior to being cleared to leave to Samoa. Suffice to say that we had some luck on our side and our strategy seemed to work – that is we kindly and patiently continued to ask for the 4 week permit without the requirement to return to Apia despite being initially told we could only have a week. We explained that we enjoyed Samoa so much that we really wanted to explore Savaii and we assured them that we would be respectful (of course!). We ended up shuttling between various officials, smiling and meeting them and they smiled and and ultimately they granted our request. That said, we were never asked for our permit while in Savaii but we were glad we obtained it for peace of mind. My sense is that the cruising permit issue could change depending on who you speak to and when you visit but we think it was worth the effort!
For anyone planning to visit, it’s important to know there’s a measles epidemic affecting both Samoa (aka Western Samoa, but it’s just “Samoa” now) and American Samoa. At this moment, Samoa has shut down all government offices and services, including schools, in an effort to contain the epidemic. In American Samoa, boats have been turned away because they could not prove current measles vaccines in place for all crew (they were not allowed to get vaccinated immediately and had to depart without even getting to leave garbage).
Thank you for this important update! We visited in August/Sept 2019 prior to the measles concern. Hopefully the outbreak gets under control.