Visitor Information
The friendly staff of the Samoa Tourism Authority, P.O. Box 2272, Apia, Samoa (tel. 63-500; fax 20-886; www.visitsamoa.ws), have free brochures, maps, and other publications available at their office in a handsome Samoan fale on the harbor side of Beach Road, east of the Town Clock. The bureau is open Monday to Friday 8am to 4:30pm, Sat 8am to noon.
The visitors bureau has offices in:
Australia: Level 5, 12 Butler Rd., Hurtsville NSW 2220 (tel. 02/9324-5050; fax 02/9603-7579; samoa@ozemail.com.au)
New Zealand: Level 1, Samoa House, 283 Karangahape Rd. (P.O. Box 68423), Newton, Auckland (tel. 09/379-6138; fax 09/379-8154; samoa@samoa.co.nz)
United Kingdom: Marketing Services Ltd., High Holburn House, 52034 High Holburn, London VC1V 6RB (tel. 20/7242-3231; fax 20/7243-3131; info@super@ps.com)
The bell captain's desk at Aggie Grey's Hotel & Bungalows also has brochures and other information. Young visitors gather at the Travellers' Lounge (tel. 22-144 or 29-629; www.greenturtletours.com), which provides information and Internet access as well as selling ice cream and Green Turtle Tours, which is headquartered here.
Entry Requirements
Except for American Samoans, no visa or entry permit is required for visitors who intend to stay 60 days or less and who have a valid passport, a return or ongoing airline ticket, and a place to stay in Samoa. Those who want to stay longer must apply, before arrival, to the Immigration Office, Government of Samoa, P.O. Box 1861, Apia, Samoa (tel. 20-291; www.samoaimmigration.gov.ws).
Vaccinations are not necessary unless you're arriving within 6 days of being in an infected area.
Customs exemptions for visitors are 200 cigarettes, 1 liter of liquor, and their personal effects. Firearms, ammunition, illegal drugs, and indecent publications are prohibited. Plants, live animals, or products of that nature, including fruits, seeds, and soil, will be confiscated unless you have prior permission from the Samoa government's Department of Agriculture and Forest. All incoming baggage is X-rayed.
Money
Samoa uses the tala (pronounced tah-lah; the Samoans' way of saying dollar), which is broken down into 100 sene (cents). Although most people will refer to them as dollars and cents when speaking to visitors, you can avoid potential confusion by making sure they mean dollars and not talas. The official abbreviation for the currency is SAT, but I have used the more common S$ in this guide. Samoa's major hotels and some other firms quote their prices in U.S. dollars. U.S. dollar prices are given in this guide as US$.
The exchange rate has been about S$3 for each US$1 (S$1=US33¢) for several years, so I have used that rate for the conversions in this guide. You can find the present rate on www.xe.com.
Get Rid of Your Talas -- Since the Samoan tala is virtually worthless outside the independent nation of Samoa (and that includes American Samoa), don't even think of buying any before you get here. Be sure to change your leftover talas back to another currency before leaving Samoa. Use them to pay your hotel bill or change them at the airports.
How to Get Local Currency -- ANZ Bank, Westpac Bank Samoa, and National Bank of Samoa have offices on Beach Road in Apia. ANZ and Westpac both have ATMs in Apia, and ANZ has one at Faleolo Airport and one at Salelologa on Savai'i. GlobelEX will exchange currency and travelers checks at its office on Beach Road. Banking hours are Monday to Wednesday 9am to 3pm, Thursday and Friday 8:30am to 3pm. Westpac and GlobelEX are open on Saturday 8 to 11am for foreign currency transactions.
The banks also have offices in the baggage claim area at Faleolo Airport, which are open when international flights arrive and depart, and there's an ATM outside in the main concourse.
Credit Cards -- American Express, Visa, MasterCard, and Diner's Club credit cards are accepted by the major hotels and car-rental firms, and many restaurants accept MasterCard and Visa. Discover cards are not accepted. When traveling outside Apia and to Savai'i, you should carry enough cash to cover your anticipated expenses.
