Samoa
Lalomanu Beach
A mile of white sand, a lagoon of reef fish, and Nu'utele dark on the horizon.
The sand at Lalomanu runs white for about a mile, and the lagoon starts within a few steps of the fale platforms. Across the water the islet of Nu'utele darkens the horizon as the afternoon light drops behind Upolu's hills. Lonely Planet has ranked this among the world's ten best beach destinations, and from the shade of a thatched fale the ranking needs no argument.
Lalomanu belongs to the families who run its beach fales, and their story is the beach's story: the 2009 tsunami, raised by a magnitude-8.1 undersea earthquake, flattened this coast, and the same families rebuilt their fales on the same sand. Stays are simple and communal, the host families cooking breakfast and dinner as part of fale hospitality. The lagoon is a marine reserve where the coral is still recovering from the wave, though reef fish, blue starfish and the occasional turtle keep snorkellers looking. Ask your hosts where the day's safe swimming is; this is an open south-east coast, and swell and tide move the answer.
Couple
Take an open fale on the sand: thatch overhead, the lagoon a few steps away and the tide as the night's only soundtrack. Meals arrive without planning, cooked by the family who own the beach beneath you.
Family
Day fales, home-cooked meals and a lagoon that begins at the fale steps make this the easiest beach day on Upolu. Children can hunt blue starfish in the shallows while the fish do the entertaining.
Friends
A row of fales on the same strand lets a group cluster or spread out, with snorkelling straight off the sand between meals. Evenings end at long shared tables with whatever the reef gave up that day.
- About a mile of white sand runs along the Aleipata coast, lined with family-run beach fales built in the traditional style.
- Lonely Planet has voted Lalomanu one of the top ten beach destinations in the world.
- The lagoon is a marine reserve with snorkelling straight off the sand, its coral still recovering from the 2009 tsunami.
- Nu'utele island rises across the water, giving the open Pacific horizon its silhouette.
Beach-fale hosts cook breakfast and dinner for their guests, reef fish and coconut cream landing on long shared tables.
Taro and breadfruit from the umu, smoky off the hot stones, anchor the family meals along this coast.
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