Western Samoa - a friendly place to visit

Created by doina. Last modified on 2002-12-03 12:26:56
Contributors: Pamela and Munro Bezuidenhout s/y Zephyr
Countries: Samoa

Western Samoa is another jewel in cruising destinations, largely because of the people you will meet. We were fortunate to arrive in time for festival which takes place at the beginning of September.

Festival was a week of long boat racing, parades, traditional and fire dancing, singing, brass bands and stalls selling local crafts and food. Each village was represented by folk in colourful dress, enthusiastically supporting their dancers, singers and brass bands.

Samoans are very friendly and like to talk about their way of life and are equally interested in our lifestyle. If you are fortunate enough to be adopted by a Samoan family, your Samoan experience will be greatly enhanced by these hospitable people. There is little crime and we felt completely safe walking around day or night.

Provisioning in Apia is good and inexpensive with a wide selection of goods from Australia, New Zealand and USA. The fresh produce market it excellent. It is possible to purchase duty free beer and liquor. Take your list, separate one for beer, to customs for their stamp and the price is about one third of retail. Beer is purchased direct from the brewery at approx. US$10 per case. A round trip by taxi to liquor store and brewery is about US$5. A taxi ride into town US$1.

On arrival in Apia, call the Harbour Master on Channel 16. He will arrange customs and immigration. If arriving at the weekend, clearance will take place on Monday. There is a once off harbour fee of US$25 and no other clearance fees. Immigration grant you 30 days and there is a fee if you wish to apply for an extension.

There are showers on the dock where the harbour master's office is located. Fresh water is available at a small charge, payable to the harbour master. There is a nominal charge for disposing of garbage, which is handed in at the quarantine depot. Australian and New Zealand Embassies are on the main road, so Apia is an ideal place to obtain the necessary visas.

Pamela and Munro Bezuidenhout s/y Zephyr