Planning your trip to Samoa

THE BEST WAY TO SAMOA

From LAX, Air New Zealand offers connecting service (change of planes) to Apia, Samoa. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $868.

TELEPHONES

To call the numbers below from the U.S., dial 011 (international dialing code), 68 (the country code) and the local number.

GETTING AROUND

Independent Samoa’s public bus system relies on old school buses. They’ll get you anywhere for a couple of tala, but schedules are flexible. Catch them at the open-air depot by the harbor in Apia or flag them down on the roads. Taxis and rental cars also are available in both Samoas.

WHERE TO STAY

Hotel Elisa, P.O. Box 1233, Apia, Samoa; 52-1116, https://www.hotelelisa.ws. On Beach Road about 15 minutes’ walk from central Apia; doubles from $70.

Aggie Grey’s Hotel, P.O. Box 67, Apia, Samoa; 52-2880, https://www.aggiegreys.com. Overlooks Apia harbor. Doubles from $150.

Taufua Beach Fales, P.O. Box 2299, Apia, Samoa; 5844-1051, https://www.samoabeachfales.com. Small, open-sided, thatched-roof cottages like a traditional Samoan house, set close to the water’s edge.

American Samoa has a smaller range of lodging options because tourism here is less developed than in independent Samoa. I stayed on the harbor in Pago Pago, at the Sadie Thompson Inn, 633-5981, https://www.sadieshotels.com, ($160 a night double but ask about specials), a small hotel with a very good restaurant. It’s named for the main character in “Rain,” a 1920s short story, set in American Samoa, by W. Somerset Maugham.

TO LEARN MORE

For information on Independent Samoa, go to https://www.samoa.travel, run by the Samoa Tourist Authority. For American Samoa, the best cultural information I found was on the National Park Service website, https://www.nps.gov/npsa.