Directory Shortcut

Select Category Accommodation Attractions and Activities Dining Event Planning Tours Transport Visitor Information Select Region Cook Islands Fiji Hawaii Norfolk Island Samoa Tahiti Tonga Vanuatu

Featured

Business Centre

• Business Centre
• Link to Us
• Advertise with Us

Quick Links

• Australia
• New Zealand
• Pacific Is. Feature Sites

Pacific Island Holidays

• Cook Islands
• Rarotonga
• Fiji Islands
• Hawaii
• Norfolk Island
• Samoa Islands
• Tahiti
• Tonga Islands
• Vanuatu Islands

About Samoa

General Info

Samoa consists of two main islands, Savaii and Upolu and two small islands, Apolima and Manono, plus five other uninhabited islands. Located on the westerly end of the Samoa Archipelago, it is halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand.

Although Savaii is the largest island of the Samoan archipelago, the capital Apia is on the more populated island of Upolu, which is also the seat of government centre for commerce.

Language

In both Samoa and American Samoa, the Samoan language is an official language alongside English, and most modern Samoans are fully bilingual in both languages. The Samoan language is written using a Latin-based alphabet.

English is the official language of business and is spoken by most Samoans, especially those involved in the tourism industry.

Important Dates

The following are a list of holidays observed in Samoa:

Flight Times

Direct flights to Samoa operate from Sydney, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Los Angeles and American Samoa.

Japanese travellers can choose to fly to Samoa through either Fiji or through Auckland, New Zealand.

Time Differences

Samoa is 11 hours behind of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). In summer Samoa uses 'daylight saving', with clocks put forward one hour to GMT -10.

Daylight saving begins on the last Sunday in September and ends on the first Sunday in April of the following year, when clocks are put back to GMT -11.

Shopping

Business hours in Samoa are generally Monday to Friday from 8am to 4:30pm. Lunch is from 12 to 1pm, and some shops and businesses may be closed for lunch. Saturday business hours are from 8am to 12:30pm. There is no Sunday trading, so buy what you need on Saturday. All business and shops are closed, with the exception of some convenience stores.

Samoa's handicrafts are some of the finest in the South Pacific. Baskets, bags and fine mats woven from pandanus fibres are inexpensive to buy and make excellent gifts and souvenirs.

Wooden crafts include weapons and model canoes, and many people take home the beautifully carved ’ava (kava) bowls. These are the wooden bowls used for the ceremonial kava drinking. Samoa also offers a huge range of coconut shell jewellery, shell ula (leis), kirikiti bats and balls, printed t-shirts and the local lava lava (sarong).

Flag

The red base of the flag represents courage, blue stands for freedom and the white represents purity. The five stars symbolize the constellation the Southern Cross, representing the stars Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon, which is smaller because it doesn't shine as brightly as the other stars in the constellation. The cross represents Samoa's geographical position in the world and its link to New Zealand, which also incorporates the Southern Cross on its national flag.

Online Games