We woke up this morning, as the ship was coming alongside at 6:30am and we heard loud sounds from outside. Sharon jumped out of bed, thinking it must be a demonstration or something. Instead, we were greeted by a spectacular performance group, singing and dancing to traditional Samoan songs. There were stalls with unique and colorful crafts, jewelry and clothing. What a wonderful welcome! We couldn’t wait to get our day started!!

As this was our first time visiting Samoa, we booked a 6-hour tour with SummerWindSamoa.com to take us around the island. They were delightful to work with and had the perfect tour for cruise passengers. Our guide, Junior, and driver Rodney, were waiting for us when we exited the ship. Our tour had a total of 12 persons from the Coral Princess.

Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa, is a country of a little over 200K inhabitants, across two islands. The islands were occupied by Germany until the beginning of World War 1, when New Zealand troops staged a massive takeover and continued to control the region until Samoa gained independence, through the United Nations, in 1962. Today, the country is a unitary parliamentary democracy, with a unique tribal system that still elects chiefs who rule small communities.

We started our tour by visiting the cathedral in town, Immaculate Conception Cathedral, built in 1857. The church was significantly damaged by the earthquake of 2009, and repairs were completed in 2014. Our next stop was the local farmers market, before beginning our drive into the countryside. On the way out of town, Rodney shared some antidotal stories with us, and answered questions. We learned that Samoa lost 1/5 of its population in 1918 due to the influenza epidemic. That history made the recent Covid pandemic very scary for Samoans.

The island has several cave pools, and today we visited the Piula Cave Pool, on the land owned by the Piula Theological Seminary. The freshwater pool is the result of a naturally hollowed-out lava tunnel, and filled with water that has come down from the mountains. The hole and cave were filled with fish, and it was fun to swim in the fresh clear water.

Our next destination was Sopoaga Falls, in the mountains, and since we were visiting during the rainy season, everything was lush and green. We’ve never seen such huge ferns and croton. They lined the roads and each home had a wonderful display of them. We learned that the government forbids clear cutting trees, to preserve the forestation, and the island imports all of its lumber from New Zealand. The Sopoaga Falls did not disappoint at 177 ft tall and the vantage point was really nice.

The To Sua Ocean Trench, our next stop, was also formed by a collapsed lava tube, but this one was significantly deeper. In fact, the hole is 90 feet deep and you access it by a narrow set of steps, and then a steep ladder down to a platform. Ron, Marshall and Sharon decided to make a go at it, and Lisa graciously agreed to be the photographer. This would not be something you would want to do if you were afraid of heights. The ladder is very steep, a little slippery and there is no railing; OSHA would not have approved. Despite, we all made it down and jumped into the water together. As this hole is connected to the ocean, the salination was very high making it super easy to float. We saw no fish, but the flora growing along the trench was lush. Climbing back out of the trench was more of a challenge physically, but we all managed and as we’ve grown fond of saying “no one died.”

Lunch was sea side, at the Aga Reef Resort. It was a delicious meal and a beautiful facility. After lunch, we were given a chance to swim at the beach, though we were just happy to stand in the warm water and take in the scenery.

Junior and Rodney took such great care of us and we were back to the ship at the designated time. What a fantastic tour and day!

Tomorrow: Sea Day