1st tip ... HIRE A CAR! ...We spend 8 days at the Coconuts Beach Club Resort & Spa on the South side of the island, definitely the side to be on, its where all the amazing beaches are. stand out things for us to see were To-sua Ocean Trench (06:58), Lalomanu beach (although all the beaches on that side of the island are incredible (10:44)!), the various waterfalls like Sopo'aga (11:56) and Togitogiga (12:29).
The O Le Pupu-pu'e Coastal Walk (15:37) was a top thing to do for us. spectacular. the drone and camera footage doesnt do it a lot of justice. i've never seen such huge waves before!
The Giant Clam Sanctuary (19:07) in Savaia was out of this world. the water was the clearest here that i've ever seen. and we saw turtles! The Piuli Cave Pool (23:20) is amazing if there are no, or very few, people there. Can get pretty hectic if there's a crowd.
We spent a LOT of time in the water the temperature was around 28 degrees. warmer than the air at times. We went to Apia but didnt really enjoy it that much. it's just a town. used the supermarkets a fair bit to have our own food in the resort. and also bought a lot from the local 'dairy's that are in most of the villages.
HIRE A CAR (bluepacific.ws/) - it's cheap, the roads are good and its the best way to get around.
GET SAMOAN MONEY BEFORE YOU ARRIVE (Tālā) - or have your currency in cash when you arrive to exchange for Tālā. It takes a long time to do money exchange in the airport if you only have a credit card (or you cant do it depending on the day)
COCONUTS BEACH CLUB RESORT & SPA (cbcsamoa.com/) - if you have the money ... stay here. we got it on a special deal through Expedia so it made it more affordable. Its amazing! it was fully booked but we hardly saw anyone. Very very very friendly and helpful staff. but i would say anywhere you stay on the south side of the island would be amazing.
GO IN MAY - I don't know why or maybe its always like this but we honestly felt like we had the place to ourselves at times. So few people around apart from the lovely locals.
Equipment used:
Camera - GoPro 11 with various attachments (gopro.com/en/us/shop/cameras/...)
Drone - DJI Mini 3 Pro (www.dji.com/nz/mini-3-pro)
Music (elements.envato.com):
00:00 Beauty Vlog Day - SoundEGO
04:27 Travel Background - SoundEGO
07:13 Desert - VensAdams
10:28 Beautiful Achievement - VictoryAudio
15:29 An Adventures - TimMcMorris
18:57 Looking for Adventure - TimMcMorris
21:47 Life is Beautiful - Dredstudio
24:28 Beach Relax - LoopsLab