Beach Hopping

Last weekend we also decided to have a day out on Sunday beach hopping. We headed off back towards the airport, a road we hadn’t driven on in the daylight, and found some beautiful spots. I have posted some pictures on Flickr showing the Main West Coast Road (airport road) and some of the beaches we found around the Western end of the island. It was beautiful, beautiful, beautiful as you can see. Sparkling blue water and sun shining all day. I got a bit carried away with the beach, sea, sand with palm trees shots but everywhere we turned it was just so …. Beautiful. We stopped in at Aggie Grey’s hotel near the airport and found their water sports area. Nice little white sand beach there. From this spot we could also see the other islands of Samoa – Manono, Apolima and Savaii (in the distance). As we carried on around we passed where you go to catch the car ferry to Savaii. The further away from Apia you get the more friendly the locals become. Some of the villages are lovely and anyone walking along the road was sure to call out and wave to us. We passed through a place near to Faleaseela which was slightly inland and where we had to ford the stream to get through. What a beautiful spot though and they have fales there you can stay in so might be worth another visit some time. Safaatoa was picturesque. It’s not far from Paradise Beach and you can tell! I had to take a photo of the rugby jerseys drying in the sun at Savaia. No wonder all the clothes in this country look so worn and faded. That sun is pretty harsh.

Our final destination for the day was Matareva beach. We paid WST$10.00 to drive 3.5 kms down a bumpy dirt road to reach the beach. Stopped at some fales that were peaceful and quiet but was not too taken with the toilet facilities here I must say. Bit stinky and when I dared to open the door ………….. well enough said about that. The bushes nearby were looking mighty fetching! Anyway we decided to carry on a bit further down the road and found more fales and houses you can stay in overnight (another place to revisit maybe). The toilets here were much better in comparison! The sea looked very inviting so after a bit of lunch we decided to go in. Snorkelling was a bit much for me as there was quite a swell and a few waves (I need it calm!) This beach is quite close to the coral reef so the waves crash over and come pounding into the shore. Adam managed to do some snorkelling though while I mucked about looking at the coral and found a nice gentle little pool to have a swim in. I did manage to get myself sucked up by the backdraft at one stage though then picked up and dumped back on the rocks and coral which was just a little bit painful! No major injuries though. One of the locals warned us about the sharks and to stay one side of a rope in the water – yes just a rope, no net on there so not sure how that keeps the sharks out! It was yet again a beautiful spot. The mozzies drove us out as the sun set so we headed to Coconuts resort for a traditional dinner of fish with taro and breadfruit chips served on banana leaves. Very nice.