American Samoa

Pros: Beautiful scenery, wonderful snorkeling and diving, friendly people
Cons: You must be adventuresome and flexible to live here.

Continued from American Samoa - Part 2:

Bali Hai ?

You belong to the Women's Intercultural Society. This is very fancy name for what amounts to a group of women who happen to be from different cultures. You...

Pros: Beautiful lush scenery, wonderful snorkeling and diving, friendly people
Cons: You must be adventuresome and flexible to live here.

Continued from American Samoa - Part 1

Tropical Storms

When an infrequent tropical storm comes, you put all of your good things that are on the floor up as high as you can to prevent the water that will come in...

Pros: Beautiful lush scenery, great snorkeling and diving, friendly people
Cons: You must be adventuresome and flexible to live here

We lived in American Samoa, and would love to return one day soon to see the changes that have occurred over the years. In the middle 70s, we spent two years there on a government contract. My husband worked at LBJ Tropical Medical Center. Those two...

Pros: Step back in time to a more gentle paradise
Cons: Must accept subsistence living and forego privacy

Flying into Ta'u was a piece of cake. The plane only took two-thirds of the runway which was fenced eliminating most causes of surprise. Our host was waiting for us in the parking area with a truck and we recognized him as a fellow passenger from our...

Pros: Wonderful people, off the beaten path
Cons: Very small island

There's an old joke that I learned as a kid while living on the Samoan islands and it goes like this:

Two mainland pilots are landing a 747 at the island's airport (notorious for it's short runway). As the plane makes a very abrupt landing,...

Pros: Step back in time to a more gentle paradise
Cons: Must accept subsistence living and close communal living

Our trip to Oloseage was most uneventful. We simply loaded our suitcases into Tau's truck on Ofu, drove down the road passed the runway and through the National Park, over the forty-yard, one way bridge between islands and down the short stretch of...

Pros: Step back in time to the more gentle pace of paradise
Cons: Must accept subsistence conditions where privacy is unknown

One day on Tutuila was enough to convince my wife and I to search elsewhere for the Samoan culture. When I first became interested in American Samoa, I had contacted the American Samoan National Park: NPSA_Administrator@nps.gov They had indicated the...

Pros: Prettier and friendlier the further you get from Pago Pago
Cons: Not tourist oriented

The major populated islands of American Samoa include Tutuila, Ofu, Olosega, and Ta'u. Tutuila was a United States protectorate. The Manu'a Islands had their choice of Germany, New Zealand or the United States and chose the United States. The resulting...

Pros: Want to get away from it all? This is the place!
Cons: Don't go here if you bring your problems with you!

A lot of passion has been spent writing about traveling to American Samoa. Most people either really love the place, or absolutely detest it. There seems to be little common ground. The mistake most positive reviewers is they fail to explain how a...