American Samoa: Getting there & around

Getting to Pago Pago by air is fairly straightforward, though rarely inexpensive. Depending where you're coming from, you'll need to get yourself to Hawaii, Tonga, Samoa, west coast USA, Australia or New Zealand and catch a connecting flight. Currently, the only airlines landing on Tutuila are Hawaiian Airlines, Polynesian Airlines and Inter-Island Airways. There is a US$3.00 departure tax when leaving American Samoa by air, but it's included in the cost of the ticket.

It is also possible to arrive by sea if you've got a bit more time on your hands. Thumbing a lift on a yacht from the US west coast or Australia's northeast is possible for those with sailing experience or the desire to cook meals and scrape barnacles. Generally, you'll be hooking up with yachties in the USA between May and October as they take advantage of favourable winds and weather conditions. They'll all scatter by late November as the cyclone season fires up. If you're not planning to batten down the hatches with the locals, you should probably scatter with them.

Inter-Island Airways flies between Pago Pago and the Manu'a Islands, while both Inter-Island Airways and Polynesian Airlines fly between Pago Pago and Apia in Samoa. Buses are a great, unpredictable, noisy way of moving about the main islands. The 'aiga buses on Tutuila are brightly painted trucks that blast reggae music all day. Drivers are a law unto themselves; they'll finish work whenever they feel like it. Never rely on a bus after about 14:00 .

Car hire will set you back between US$60.00 and US$100.00 a day plus insurance and fuel, but if you're on Tutuila for only a day or two, there's no better way to see the sights.