First day of a week long, ~235km cycle around the Samoan island of Savai’i, the larger but far less populated of the two main islands. Organised through Cycle Journeys / Outdoor Samoa, this was a great way to explore this beautiful Pacific country.

The adventure started crossing the Apolima Strait between Upolu (the other main island) and Savai’i on the ferry.

This is one of the old ferries, and the other is one of the two working ferries that make the crossing regularly between the wharfs at Mulifanua (on Upolu) and Salelologa (Savai’i).

We fueled up in Salelologa with giant pizza at the Savai’i Harbourside Café & Pizza Bar before hitting the road. There is basically one road around the island, sealed the whole way, with relatively little traffic, and a top speed limit of 56kph so it felt pretty safe.

Samoa is a very religious country. According to the 2021 census there were only 132 atheists in a country of ~210,000 people! Almost the whole population are Christian, but of many different denominations, including Congregational Christian, Roman Catholic, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Methodist, Assemblies of God, and Seventh-day Adventist. This helps explain the huge number of churches, with distinctive styles.

There are also endless fales, traditional Samoan meeting houses, which almost every house will have out front.

The EFKS/CCCS Sapapalii church was one of the most beautiful churches I saw.

Enhanced by the John Williams Memorial Pool across the road. John Williams was an important early missionary to Samoa. The memorial pool was freshwater, one of many similar pools we’d see cycling around the island. It was a refreshing place to take a dip, though the fish seemed rather keen on my feet!

I couldn’t find the name of this Catholic church, but it was another impressive building.

Not as atmospheric as the John Williams Memorial Pool, but this pool still looked pretty appealing.

EFKS/CCCS Saipipi church was also attractive, and opposite another freshwater pool.

This pool was new, not visible on Google Maps satellite view.

Beautiful coloured water where a river met the sea.

Few other photos from along the road on the first day cycling. It was hot but manageable with a breeze on the bikes, even more so riding eBikes.

We finished at Lauiula Beach Club in Lano, our first experience of Samoan fale beach accommodation. These are simple wooden structures right by the beach with mats and mattresses, and a shared bathroom block. They’re relatively inexpensive and typically owned by the local communities.

They cooked an umu for our dinner, a traditional Samoan Sunday lunch activity, in which a variety of dishes (most of which involve coconuts in some way) are cooked over hot stones under leaves. It was a great insight into Samoan culture, and the meal was delicious.

In the afternoon we went a short way up the road to the Asaga River Pool, where for 10 tala (Samoan currency) you can swim or float (depending on the tides and river flow) by mangroves in refreshingly cool waters.

I did this trip in early May 2025, which technically is the dry season but the wet season wasn’t quite done. Overnight there was a huge storm with torrential rain and wind, which was certainly felt in the fale. Covers over almost all the sides keep us dry, but unfortunately rather hot without a breeze. The conditions continued into the morning, before thankfully easing not long after breakfast. This was a supported trip with a driver from Cycle Journeys / Outdoor Samoa taking our bags between accommodation, stopping at key sights of interest along the way, and providing drinking water.