Samoa
Upolu
Open-sided fale, Sunday hymns and the To Sua Ocean Trench: Samoan village life lived in plain sight, on an island made for a slow road trip.
Upolu is the smaller of Samoa's two main islands but the busier one, home to the capital Apia, the international airport and most of the country's people. It is where fa'a Samoa, the Samoan way, is easiest to see up close: villages of open-sided fale around a green, church on Sunday and custom that still governs the coast. The landscape does the rest, from white-sand beaches in the south-east to rainforest waterfalls and the To Sua Ocean Trench, a sea-fed sinkhole you climb down a ladder to swim in.
Suggested stay
4–7 days
Language
Samoan, English
Currency
WST
Timezone
UTC+13
Why you'll love Upolu
Fa'a Samoa village life is lived in the open, in fale around a shared green, and Sunday still means white clothes, church singing and an umu lunch
Beach fale sleep steps from the lagoon in an open-sided hut with woven blinds, the sea for a soundtrack and meals with the family who runs it
Swimming holes a sea-fed trench, a spring-fed cave pool, natural rock slides and rainforest falls make the interior as good for a swim as the coast
Stevenson's island the author of Treasure Island spent his last years on the hill above Apia, and his house and grave on Mount Vaea still draw a steady stream of readers
Best time to visit
Jun-Sep
30-30° days
13.835° S, 171.763° W
UTC+13 · Pacific/Apia
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Weather & when to go to Upolu
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Jun-Sep
Surfing prime May-Sep
Activity seasons none fair good prime
Watch for Nov-Mar monsoon flooding risk
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Upolu
November to March is the wet season: hot, sticky and prone to heavy downpours, and inside the cyclone season, when roads, ferries and boat trips can be disrupted. June to September is drier, less humid and the easiest time on the island, and the south coast surf is at its most consistent then. Sunday is the quiet day all year round.
Top things to do in Upolu
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To Sua Ocean Trench - swim at the bottom of the sinkhole
scenic 👍 PopularTwo collapsed lava tubes near Lotofaga on the south coast, one flooded by the sea through a tunnel in the rock and reached by a long, near-vertical wooden ladder to a platform above the water. The pool rises and falls with the tide, and the gardens around the rim are worth the wander too.
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Lalomanu Beach - white sand facing Nu'utele
scenic 👍 PopularThe long white beach at the island's south-east tip, a line of beach fale behind it and the steep green islets of Nu'utele and Nu'ulua offshore. Swim inside the reef, stay for the sunrise, and spend the rest of the day doing as little as possible.
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Robert Louis Stevenson Museum - Vailima and the climb to his grave
history culture arts ⭐ Highly recommendedThe Scottish author's restored colonial house in the hills above Apia, where he lived his last years as Tusitala, the teller of tales. A steep forest trail climbs Mount Vaea behind it to his tomb and its Requiem epitaph, with the whole north coast below.
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Piula Cave Pool - swim into the rock
scenic 👍 PopularA spring-fed freshwater pool below a Methodist theological college on the north-east coast, cool and clear after the heat of the road, with a dark swim through the rock to a second cave for anyone brave enough.
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Sunday church and to'ona'i - hymns, then the umu feast
culture arts food ⭐ Highly recommendedSunday is Samoa at its most Samoan. Visitors are welcome at services if dressed modestly, and the singing alone is worth it. Then comes to'ona'i, lunch from the umu, an above-ground oven of hot stones: palusami, taro, breadfruit and pork, with oka, raw fish in coconut cream.
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Return to Paradise Beach - the film-set cove at Lefaga
scenicA cove of white sand between dark lava rocks on the south-west coast, named for the 1953 Gary Cooper film shot here. Wilder and rougher than Lalomanu, and all the more photogenic for it.
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Papase'ea Sliding Rocks - natural slides above Apia
adventureSmooth rock chutes in a stream a short drive inland from Apia, polished by water into slides that drop you into pools below. Local kids show the fast lines; the steps down to them are steep.
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Sopoaga, Fuipisia and Togitogiga - the island's waterfalls
nature wildlife scenicThe Le Mafa Pass road crosses the island past Fuipisia and Sopoaga, both viewed from the edge of deep forested gorges. Down on the south coast, Togitogiga inside O Le Pupu-Pu'e National Park is the one to swim in.
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Palolo Deep Marine Reserve - snorkel from the edge of Apia
nature wildlifeA marine reserve right beside town where you wade and fin across the reef flat to a deep blue hole in the coral, with reef fish close around the edge. Easiest on a high tide.
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Salani and the south coast passes - surf the reef
surfingPowerful waves peeling over shallow reef where river mouths cut passes in the coral, most reached by boat from the surf lodges along the south coast. Salani is the best-known. This is experienced-surfer territory: the reef is sharp and close.
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Fiafia night - the fire knife dance
culture artsAn evening of song, siva dance and an umu buffet, ending with the siva afi, the fire knife dance that began in Samoa. Resorts and Apia hotels stage them, and the best have village groups performing.
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Tatau - the Samoan tattoo
culture artsThe pe'a for men and the malu for women are still tapped by hand with a toothed comb and a mallet, and you will see them everywhere. The cultural village on Apia's waterfront shows how it is done, alongside carving and siapo, the island's bark cloth.
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Apia markets - Maketi Fou and the flea market
shopping foodMaketi Fou is the island's fresh-produce market, piled with taro, bananas and coconuts, with cooked food stalls on the side. The flea market beside the waterfront bus station sells lavalava, carvings and siapo.
Best areas to stay in Upolu
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Lalomanu and the Aleipata coast
Beach fale stays $Beach fale on the south-east's white sand
Explore hotels in Lalomanu and the Aleipata coast →
Siumu and the south coast
Couples and families $$$Resort lagoons between the surf and To Sua
Explore hotels in Siumu and the south coast →
Apia
Independent travellers $$Small harbour capital, markets and waterfront
Explore hotels in Apia →
Mulifanua and the north-west
Short stays $$Lagoon resorts by the airport and ferry
Explore hotels in Mulifanua and the north-west →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Upolu
Getting to & around Upolu
Getting there
Fly into Faleolo on the north-west coast; Apia is about 45 minutes east by road.
Flight
Faleolo International Airport (APW)
Faleolo sits near the island's western tip, close to the Mulifanua resorts and the Savai'i ferry. Apia is about 45 minutes east along the north coast road by taxi or a transfer arranged with your accommodation; the south and east coasts take longer.
Ferry
Mulifanua Wharf
The inter-island car ferry from Salelologa on Savai'i docks at Mulifanua, near the airport, after a crossing of roughly an hour to an hour and a half.
Cruise
Apia harbour
South Pacific cruise itineraries call at Apia, a short walk from the waterfront and the town centre.
Getting around
Bus
Brightly painted, wooden-bodied buses run from Apia's waterfront terminal to villages island-wide. No real timetable, loud music, pay the driver in cash; few run on Sundays or after dark.
TBC
Rental car
The best way to see the island. Samoa drives on the left, and visitors need a temporary local licence, which rental firms arrange.
TBC
Taxi
Plentiful and unmetered around Apia, so agree the fare first. Hiring one for the day is an easy way to do a round-island tour.
TBC
Walking
Fine along Apia's Beach Road waterfront; elsewhere villages are spread out and the heat makes distance count.
Free
Day trips from Upolu
Savai'i
1-2 daysThe bigger, wilder island
Samoa's larger island across the strait: slower and more traditional still, with lava fields, blowholes and long empty coast. A day tour is possible, but it rewards a night or two.
Getting there
car | ferry | tour
Drive yourself or join a day tour: car ferry from Mulifanua to Salelologa, roughly 1-1.5 hr
Manono Island
Half dayCar-free village island
A small island in the strait with no cars and no roads, just a footpath linking its villages around the shore. Walk the loop, swim off the beach, and see the stone mound known as the Grave of 99 Stones.
Getting there
car | ferry | walk
Short drive to the western tip, a small open boat across the lagoon, then on foot
Namu'a Island
1-2 daysFale islet off Aleipata
A tiny, steep island off the Aleipata coast with beach fale on its sand and a scramble to the top for the view back over Lalomanu. Go for a night of real quiet rather than a quick look.
Getting there
car | ferry
Drive to Mutiatele on the south-east coast, then a short boat ride
A little history of Upolu
People have lived on Upolu for around three thousand years. Pottery left by the Lapita voyagers, ancestors of the Polynesians, was found under the lagoon at Mulifanua when the ferry wharf was dredged. In the nineteenth century Apia's harbour became the place where Germany, Britain and the United States competed for the islands, a standoff that ended in 1889 when a cyclone wrecked the rival warships at anchor. Robert Louis Stevenson settled above the town the following year.
Germany took Upolu and Savai'i in 1900 and New Zealand seized them in 1914. The Mau, a largely non-violent movement for self-rule, grew through the 1920s, and in 1929 police fired on its procession in Apia. Independence came in 1962. Since then the island's landmarks have been of a different kind: the switch to driving on the left, a tsunami that struck the south-east coast in 2009 and left Lalomanu to rebuild, and the day Samoa skipped in 2011 to move west of the date line.
Lapita voyagers reach Samoa; their pottery survives in a site now under the lagoon at Mulifanua
A cyclone wrecks German and American warships in Apia harbour during a standoff over the islands
Robert Louis Stevenson buys land at Vailima above Apia; he dies there in 1894 and is buried on Mount Vaea
Upolu and Savai'i become German Samoa after the islands are partitioned with the United States
New Zealand forces land at Apia and take over the German colony at the start of the First World War
Influenza arrives by ship and kills around a fifth of the population
Black Saturday: police fire on a Mau procession in Apia, killing the independence leader Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III
Western Samoa becomes the first Pacific island nation to win independence in the twentieth century, with Apia as capital
Samoa skips 30 December to move west of the International Date Line, alongside its trading partners
Know before you go
Payment
Cash preferred
English
Widely spoken
Wifi
Workable
Power
Type I
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+685
Monsoon flooding risk in this window; check current conditions before you go.
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
FAQs about Upolu
▸ When is the best time to visit Upolu?
June to September: the drier, less humid southern winter, with the steadiest weather and the most consistent surf on the south coast. November to March is the wet season, hot and heavy with rain and inside the cyclone season. April, May and October sit in between.
▸ How many days do you need on Upolu?
Four to seven. Two days on the south and east coasts cover To Sua, Lalomanu and the waterfalls, a day around Apia covers Vailima and the markets, and the rest is for a fale night and doing very little. Add at least two more if you are crossing to Savai'i.
▸ What is a beach fale?
A simple open-sided hut on the sand: a raised floor under a thatched or tin roof, woven blinds to drop at night and a mattress under a mosquito net. They are family-run, usually include dinner and breakfast, and bathrooms are shared. Basic, and the stay most visitors remember.
▸ What should I know about Sundays in Samoa?
Sunday is for church and family. Most shops and many attractions close, buses are scarce and villages expect quiet, so keep swimming and noise away from village beaches. Visitors are welcome at services if dressed modestly. Many villages also keep a short evening prayer time, sa, every day; stop or pass quietly if you meet it.
▸ Do you have to pay to visit beaches and waterfalls?
Usually, yes. Most land in Samoa is customary village land, so beaches, pools and falls charge a custom fee at the gate that goes to the village that owns and looks after them. Carry cash in small notes.
▸ Can you drive around Upolu?
Yes, and it is the best way to see it. A coast road loops the island and roads cross the hills in the middle, so the south coast is under an hour from Apia. Samoa drives on the left, rental firms arrange the temporary local licence visitors need, and dogs, pigs and children on the road mean going slowly.