‘Upolu – The Samoa We Came For!

We returned to ‘Upolu and stayed in Apia another night before making our way to the best beach on the island at Lalomanu, on the south-east corner.  The bus ride over took us across the rugged, mountainous and green interior of the island.  Once we arrived we dumped our gear in our beach fale at Taufua Beach resort (don’t get too excited, a fale is nothing more than an open-sided wooden hut with palm frond "blinds") and went straight for a swim.  The water was crystal clear and there was some good reef some 50 metres off the beach that we were able to snorkel.

Beautiful!

Lalomanu beach on ‘Upolu.

We enjoyed a few lazy days at Lalomanu doing pretty much nothing.  One day we organized a local tour and went snorkelling around some of the nearby Aleipata islands.  We were lucky enough to see some of the largest turtles I’ve ever seen.

Our second and final destination on ‘Upolu was a beach resort we’d heard of along the south coast called Virgin Cove Beach Resort.  It was quite an adventure getting there – we got a ride with some locals in their ute, it ran out of petrol, and when we finally got dropped off it was a 5km walk to the resort from the main road!  But boy was it worth it!!!  Secluded fales spread along a curving bay, lush tropical vegetation, golden sand and turquoise water.

Paradise! Home sweet home – our beach fale.