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Pago Pago airport is situated on the south coast of Tutuila Island, about 25-minutes drive from Pago Town.
more about Pago Pago and East Coast
To cope with the shortage of rooms in Pago, Quality Inn have built a 100+ room hotel near the airport aimed primarily at the business market and offers an ideal base for tourists wishing to explore Tutuila by car. Also near the airport, opposite the American Samoa Golf Club, is the intimate Taalolo Lodge, a bed and breakfast homestay with swimming pool and good views.
The highlights of Tutuila Island is exploring the scenic coastal highways that meander along the south coast and enjoying the virgin tropical rainforest.
Inland from the airport are several fine sites worth seeking out. Archaeology buffs should head to the ancient star mound that has been cleared near the catholic cathedral at Tafuna and here interpretation signs explaining the probably significance and use of the star mounds is explained. A little further inland past the Community College a small hiking trail leads for half an hour through rainforest to the impressive Virgin Falls, the most accessible of many waterfalls around the island. Unfortunately the trail is not well marked and requires local knowledge to find it.
The trail to Massacre Bay on the north coast of Tutuila starts from the inland village of A'oloaufou and takes almost two hours one way. The two and a half mile trail leads through pristine rainforest to the abandoned village of Aasu where there's a pleasant beach.
There are several nice beaches south of the airport. At Fogagogo there's fine white sand but swimming is not advisable and the surf crashes against the coast with vicious force. More secluded is the twin beaches in a protected bay at Turtle Shark, accessible only by walking trail from the Turtle & Shark Lodge. This is a pleasant place to stay, set in secluded coastal rainforest with spectacular views of the rugged coastline beyond.
To the south is the beautiful Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Unfortunately there is no road access but if you like diving, this is one of the very best spots in all of Samoa, with boat access from Fogagogo. Humpback whales can be seen in the bay between July and October and sea turtles and other large marine species can be found in abundance. The rocky cliffs of this spectacular region are home to numerous seabirds.
The main south coast highway cuts across the southern tip of Tutuila and Fagatele Bay and heads towards the old whaling town of Leone. Inland from Leone is the interesting archaeological site of Tataga Matau which was an important quarry for making stone tools. On the coast towards Vailoatai beside the missionary is a collection of rounded holes where the stones from the quarry were ground to make tools.
Heading towards Vailoatai is the wild coastline and volcanic terraces known as Sliding Rock.
From Leone its a 20-minute drive to the beautiful Cape Taputapu turn-off where a 10-minute hiking trail leads to a gorgeous swimming beach with views offshore islands. Beyond is the winding and steep road to Fagamalo which marks the end of the road. There are coastal views from here of the inaccessible north coast.
... on to the Pago Pago and East Coast
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