American Samoa in 3 Days

This 3-day route is for travelers who want the south and east of Tutuila: a drowned volcanic crater, the island’s missionary history and a car-free island offshore. The pace is relaxed, with one main outing per day, and the logistics are aiga buses, a taxi for the Fagatele access road and a small open boat to Aunu‘u.

Day 1: Tafuna, Fagatele Bay and Leone

Base yourself for three nights in Tafuna, on the flat lava plain beside the airport, where most of the island’s guesthouses, cafes and supermarkets cluster and buses run west along the coast. Start with Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary, a collapsed volcanic crater on the south coast whose reef is protected as the core of the national marine sanctuary. A steep path of 20 to 30 minutes leads down from the road near Futiga to Fagatele Bay Beach, a small cove under forested walls. Snorkel only on calm days, since there are no lifeguards and swells roll straight in. In the afternoon, continue to Leone, the village where missionary John … read more 👉

This 3-day route is for travelers who want the south and east of Tutuila: a drowned volcanic crater, the island’s missionary history and a car-free island offshore. The pace is relaxed, with one main outing per day, and the logistics are aiga buses, a taxi for the Fagatele access road and a small open boat to Aunu‘u.

Day 1: Tafuna, Fagatele Bay and Leone

Base yourself for three nights in Tafuna, on the flat lava plain beside the airport, where most of the island’s guesthouses, cafes and supermarkets cluster and buses run west along the coast. Start with Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary, a collapsed volcanic crater on the south coast whose reef is protected as the core of the national marine sanctuary. A steep path of 20 to 30 minutes leads down from the road near Futiga to Fagatele Bay Beach, a small cove under forested walls. Snorkel only on calm days, since there are no lifeguards and swells roll straight in. In the afternoon, continue to Leone, the village where missionary John Williams landed in 1832, now marked by the stone Zion Church and a memorial on the waterfront.

Day 2: Fagatogo, Pago Pago and Fagasa Bay

Ride the bus east to Fagatogo, the government village on the harbor, and spend the morning at the Jean P. Haydon Museum, which holds tapa cloth, canoe models, traditional tools and an exhibit on the Apollo splashdown recoveries that came through the territory. Walk along the waterfront into Pago Pago for lunch with a view of the cannery boats. After lunch, take a bus up and over Fagasa Pass, where the road crests the island’s spine, and down to Fagasa Bay, a deep north-coast inlet with a quiet village and green walls rising on three sides. Ask permission before you swim.

Day 3: Aunu‘u

Catch an early bus to the Auasi dock on the east end, then a 10-minute boat ride to Aunu‘u, a small island with no cars where paths run between taro swamps and a village of open-sided fale. Walk into the Aunu’u Island Natural Reserve to see the old crater with its reedy marsh, then out to Ma‘ama‘a Cove, a lava bowl where waves explode against black rock. Admire it from above rather than swimming. Boats stop running in the afternoon, so plan to be back on Tutuila by about 3 p.m.

On the way back to Tafuna, stop at the Turtle and Shark site at Vaitogi, a clifftop of black lava tied to one of Samoa’s best-known legends.