Dive & Snorkel Samoa
Dive & Snorkel in Samoa – Get Wet!
Samoa has an abundance of marine life and beautiful underwater coral gardens just waiting to be explored. The warm clear waters of Samoa certainly invite exploration, so if you are a keen diver or snorkeler, be sure to pack your fins and mask and plan to spend some time diving and/ or snorkelling in Samoa.
Both Upolu and Savai’i have fabulous dive spots, sporting around 900 fish species, including spinner dolphins, stingrays and whales. Samoa is also home to around 200 types of coral.
The reefs that surround Samoa create beautiful lagoons with easy access for diving, both inside and outside the reefs. They are perfect for all certification levels as well as dive training, and sites vary from beautiful hard coral gardens to dramatic canyons and swim-throughs.
And Ifiele’ele Plantation is ideally situated, slap bang in the middle of some of the best diving and snorkeling locations on Upolu – making it a great place to stay if you want to go diving and/ or snorkeling on your Samoan holiday.
Ifiele’ele Plantation is just 15 minutes away from Samoa’s newest dive centre, Pure Ocean, located at Mulifanua. From Pure Ocean headquarters the islands of Manono and Apolima are just a hop, skip and a jump away and offer some of the best dive sites in Samoa. The Fish Bowl, another popular dive site, just off-shore from Faleolo Airport, is like a natural aquarium offering close-up viewing of a vast array of colourful marine life.
You don’t necessarily need to have a SCUBA tank or a boat to see Samoa’s fabulous marine life. There are some great snorkeling locations with beach access. These include Matareva and Salamumu beaches, which are within 40 minutes drive from Ifiele’ele Plantation. Here you can expect to see colourful colonies of clown fish as well as many other species of tropical fish. It is also quite common to see turtles while snorkeling.
Snorkel at the Giant Clams
Even closer to Ifiele’ele Plantation are the spectacular Giant Clams at Lefaga Bay. The Giant Clams are located within a marine conservation area that is maintained by the local village of Savaia. These magnificent creatures display changing hues of iridescent blues, greens and purples as you hover above them. This is a very rare and special snorkeling experience that should be a ‘must do’ for anyone who likes snorkeling. On a good day, you might even see turtles. Entry is WST10 per head, which goes to the upkeep of the marine conservation area. Don’t get caught out – being a village project, entry to the Clams is not allowed on Sundays.
Pure Ocean
Located alongside Sheraton Aggie Grey’s Beach Resort, Pure Ocean boasts brand new, state of the art equipment (Aqualung Pro HD BCDs, Apeks regulators, Aqualung full foot fins, Aqualung and Look masks, Aqualung Zephyr snorkels with valve and Suunto Vyper diver computers) and promises to take divers to new and unexplored dive sites. Pure Ocean has two comfortable boats for diving and snorkeling trips – ‘Momo’ a 30’ Cougar Catamaran with twin 250HP Evinrude outboard motors and, ‘Tama’ita’i’ a 24′ long single hull boat powered by a 115HP Suzuki outboard engine. Momo can comfortably accommodate 15 divers or 20 snorkelers while the slightly smaller Tama’ita’i can cope with 8 divers or 12 snorkelers.
The team at Pure Ocean continues to discover new and amazing dive sites but already have a good number of sites where you will see an enormous variety of marine life. Diving with Pure Ocean you can expect to see hard corals teeming with reef fish, fusiliers, anemones, trevally and tuna, maori wrasse, moray eels and giant clams, rainbow runners, unicorn fish, turtles, reef sharks and trevally, soft corals, canyons and swim-thru’s and an abundance of anemones and their accompanying clownfish, and, if you are lucky, Hawksbill and Green Sea turtles.
Pure Ocean caters to all types of divers and timetables by offering a variety of dive options from early morning, to full day and night diving. A single dive costs WST130 and includes mask, snorkel, fins, tank and weights. Extra equipment can be hired. A full range of training courses is on offer including ‘Bubble Maker’, Discover Scuba Diving, PADI SCUBA Diver, PADI Open Water Diver, PADI Advanced Open Water Diver, Emergency First Aid Response, PADI Rescue Diver, PADI Divemaster, and PADI Specialty courses.
Pure Ocean also offers snorkel tours – boat trip to Aggie’s Reef for WST90 – and water sports including Stand Up Paddle Boards (WST30/ hour), Hobie Cats (WST50/ hour), Kayaks, and Paddle Boats.
As if all this isn’t enough, Pure Ocean conducts reef conservation projects and regular beach clean-ups around Upolu in the interests of creating sustainable marine environments for future generations to enjoy.
Contact Ollie on telephone 7270456 or email info@pure-ocean.com
Samoa Dive & Snorkel
SamoaDive & Snorkel is new to Samoa as of June 2016. With a slightly different concept, Justin and Ty offer guided diving and snorkeling trips to some well-known and some lesser-known locations. SamoaDive & Snorkel have been exploring great dive sites on the east side of Upolu and have found some amazing underwater scenery and marine life. All dive and snorkel tours are accessible from shore.
Without a boat and fuel costs, SamoaDive & Snorkel are able to keep their prices to a minimum. Double dives include dive gear, transfers, lunch, water and beach entry fees.
Dive Tours: Palolo Deep Single/ Double – WST180/ 280; Double South Coast or East Coast Tour – WST360
Guided Snorkel Tour: Palolo Deep with/ without equipment hire – WST50/ 30; Snorkel Hire – WST20/ day
Samoa Dive & Snorkel also offers a range of PADI SCUBA training courses.
Dive Courses: Discover Scuba Diving – WST 300; PADI Open Water Diver – WST1050; Or, if you complete the theory component online – WST850
Contact Jo on telephone 7749702 or email samoadive@gmail.com
Samoa’s underwater world is just waiting to be explored….
Things to remember before snorkeling or diving in Samoa
Wear reef shoes or fins, and avoid swimming where there is an obvious current, or near breaks in the reef. Always ask permission if there is a village or beach fale nearby.
‘Crown of Thorns’ starfish have found their way to Samoa. Although not yet here in vast numbers, the increasing numbers are cause for concern. This invasive species not only destroy the coral reef but are covered in venomous spikes that can cause injury on contact. If you see a Crown of Thorns while diving or snorkeling, mark their position and inform a local or your dive guide who will destroy them.
*Prices current at October 2016
Sources: Samoa Tourism Authority (www.samoa.travel), Pure Ocean (www.pure.ocean.com), Aqua Samoa (www.aquasamoa.com), Samoa Dive & Snorkel (www.samoadive.com)