Nu'utele island
Green, offshore.
Neil — CC BY 2.0 · amanderson2 — CC BY 2.0 · Rickard Törnblad — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rickard Törnblad — CC BY-SA 4.0
Lalomanu Beach is a long stretch of white sand and clear turquoise water at the eastern tip of Upolu, facing the green volcanic island of Nu'utele offshore. A row of open traditional fale huts with thatched roofs lines the sand, where visitors stay overnight. Lalomanu is a village of about 712 people, about an hour and a quarter by car from Apia. The September 2009 tsunami badly damaged the village and the beach, and the huts were rebuilt. In Samoa villages and families usually own the beaches, so visitors pay a small fee to the local people. You walk the white sand with the green island ahead and shallow clear water. You swim in the calm water inside the reef or sit in the shade of a fale. The beach is about 42 km in a straight line south-east of Apia and 14 km from To Sua, so you can visit both in a day. Sources give a village beach fee of 20 to 25 tala per person. Respect the village and dress modestly away from the beach.
Green, offshore.
Thatch on the sand.
Inside the reef.
Lalomanu village, eastern tip of Upolu
Yes, in fale huts on the beach.
Because the village owns the beach.