Samoa

The white twin-towered Catholic cathedral on Apia's waterfront is the city's most recognisable landmark. The present building replaced an older church on the same site that had been damaged by earthquakes and cyclones, and it was rebuilt and reconsecrated in the 2010s with a bright, airy interior and a wooden ceiling painted with Samoan motifs. Visiting during a Sunday service, when the singing fills the building, is one of the most memorable experiences in the capital.

TipDress as you would for church anywhere in Samoa: shoulders covered, and a skirt, long trousers or lavalava (sarong) rather than shorts.

Apia's main fresh produce market, in the Fugalei district a few minutes' walk inland from the waterfront, is where the city shops for taro, breadfruit, bananas, coconuts and greens, laid out in neat piles on long tables. It is also a good place to buy bundles of dried 'ava (kava) root, to try cheap local snacks and to watch Apia go about its morning. The colourful local buses gather nearby, so it is also the place to start a trip around the island by public transport.

TipGo early in the morning, and on Saturday if you can, when the market is fullest. Carry small notes in tala.

A short walk east of the centre, Palolo Deep is a marine reserve where you can wade out across the reef flat from the beach and then swim over the edge of a natural blue hole, a deep channel in the reef lined with coral and busy with reef fish. It is one of the few places in the world where good snorkelling begins on the edge of a capital city. There is a small entry fee; bring your own snorkelling gear in case none is available to hire.

TipGo around high tide; at low tide the reef flat is too shallow to swim over comfortably without touching the coral.

The Scottish author of Treasure Island spent the last years of his life in the hills above Apia, building a grand colonial house he called Vailima. Samoans knew him as Tusitala, the teller of tales, and he became involved in local politics as the great powers squabbled over the islands. The house, restored as a museum, is shown on guided tours through rooms furnished in the style of the 1890s, with family photographs, books and a fireplace, a curiosity in the tropics that Stevenson is said to have installed out of nostalgia for Scotland. Lawns and botanical gardens surround it.

TipTours run at set times through the day and the museum keeps shorter hours at weekends; check the current times locally before you go.

Stevenson died at Vailima in December 1894, and Samoan chiefs cut a path up the steep slope of Mount Vaea so that he could be buried at the summit, as he had wished. Two trails lead up from the park behind the museum: a shorter, steeper route and a longer, more gradual one through the rainforest, each taking somewhere between half an hour and an hour. At the top, his tomb is inscribed with his poem Requiem, including the famous lines "Home is the sailor, home from sea, / And the hunter home from the hill", and there are views down over Apia to the reef.

TipStart early in the morning, before the heat and humidity build, and take water. The trails can be slippery after rain.

Beneath the Methodist Piula Theological College, on the north-east coast, a freshwater spring rises into a clear pool at the mouth of a cave, a few metres from the sea. The water is cool and very clear, and confident swimmers can swim into the cave and through a short underwater passage to a second cave. The setting, with the college's church above and the ocean just beyond the wall, is quietly lovely, and it is a perfect stop on the drive east from Apia.

TipThere is a small entry fee, and like many sites run by church or village communities it may be closed on Sundays.

As the Le Mafa Pass road climbs over the spine of Upolu from the north coast and drops towards the south, a short side track leads to a viewpoint above Sopoaga Falls, which plunge into a deep, forested gorge. The family that maintains the lookout keeps a garden of useful plants and often demonstrates traditional tools and food preparation, such as husking a coconut or grating its flesh with a shell. It is a short stop, but a good introduction to the island's interior.

TipThe viewpoint is on private land and has a small entry fee; there is no access down to the base of the falls.

Samoa's most photographed sight is a pair of collapsed lava tubes near the village of Lotofaga on the south coast: two huge holes in the ground, one of them filled with clear turquoise seawater that flows in from the ocean through an underwater tunnel. A long, steep wooden ladder descends to a small platform from which you can swim in the pool, about 30 metres below the surrounding gardens. The grounds above are landscaped with lawns and clifftop views of the surf breaking on the black lava coast.

TipThe ladder is steep and can be slippery, so it is not suitable for everyone. Swim when the tide is mid to high, when the water is calmer, and pay the entry fee at the gate.

At the south-eastern tip of Upolu, Lalomanu is regularly named among the most beautiful beaches in the Pacific: a long arc of white sand on a turquoise lagoon, with the small, steep island of Nu'utele offshore. The beach was devastated by the tsunami of September 2009, which killed many people along this coast, and the families who rebuilt their beach fale resorts afterwards make a stay here especially meaningful. Snorkelling is good on calm days, and evenings are spent over shared dinners in the open-air dining fales.

TipA night or two in a simple beach fale, with meals included, is the classic Lalomanu experience. Bring a mosquito net if one is not provided.

Just off the east coast near Lalomanu, the little island of Namua is reached by a short boat ride from the village of Mutiatele. There is no road and no traffic, just a ring of sand, a steep hill to climb for the view, a reef full of fish and turtles, and a family-run beach fale resort that offers overnight stays with meals. It is an ideal place to live out the desert-island fantasy for a night.

TipArrange the boat transfer in advance through the resort, and check the sea conditions, since the crossing can be choppy.

On the Cross Island Road, which climbs from Apia over the mountains to the south coast, a roadside lookout gives a view of Papapapaitai Falls, one of the tallest waterfalls in Samoa, dropping around a hundred metres into a deep, forested gorge. The same road passes the striking Bahá'í House of Worship and, nearby, the turn for Lake Lanoto'o, a crater lake reached by a muddy jungle hike. Mist often hangs over the highlands, so the views are clearest in the morning.

TipCombine the falls with the drive back from the south coast to Apia; the lookout takes only a few minutes.

After the ferry crossing from Mulifanua, on the west of Upolu, to Salelologa on Savai'i, the first great stop along the south coast is Afu Aau, also called Olemoe Falls, near the village of Vailoa. A short walk through the forest leads to a waterfall plunging into a deep, clear, cold pool surrounded by greenery, one of the best swimming holes in the country. Local children often show off by jumping from the rocks.

TipPay the customary fee at the village entrance. Mornings are quietest; on weekends local families come to swim.

Near the village of Puleia, the Mu Pagoa river runs off the lava plateau and tumbles straight into the sea over a low cliff, one of the few waterfalls in the world to do so. The best view is from the rocks and the bridge nearby, where fresh water meets the surf. It is a quick stop, but an unusual one.

TipDo not swim near the base of the falls; the currents where river meets ocean are strong.

At Taga, on Savai'i's south-west coast, the ocean surges under a shelf of black lava and bursts upward through holes in the rock in thunderous columns of spray, some reaching tens of metres high. Local guides add to the show by dropping coconuts into the holes just before a wave hits, sending them shooting into the sky. It is one of the most dramatic natural spectacles in the Pacific.

TipLet the village guides decide where it is safe to stand; rogue waves wash over the lava regularly. Go at mid to high tide, when the blowholes are most powerful.

On the Falealupo peninsula, at the western tip of Savai'i, a swaying rope-and-plank walkway and ladders lead high into the rainforest canopy, ending in the crown of a giant banyan tree. The forest is part of a conservation area protected by the village, and the canopy walk was built to give the community an income from keeping it. The peninsula itself is steeped in legend: in Samoan tradition, the spirits of the dead leave the world from the rocks at Falealupo, near the point where the sun sets on each day.

TipSome families offer overnight stays in a platform hut in the banyan tree; it is basic, but unforgettable.

On the north coast of Savai'i, Manase is a village strung along a long white-sand beach with a calm, swimmable lagoon, and the island's best-known collection of beach fale resorts. It makes a relaxed base for exploring the north of the island, with turtles and good snorkelling on the reef. Days here move slowly, and that is the point.

TipBeach fale stays usually include breakfast and dinner, which are often shared at long tables with other guests and the owners' family.

Between 1905 and 1911, eruptions of Mount Matavanu sent lava flowing down to the north-east coast, burying several villages and covering a huge area in black, rippled rock. At Saleaula, the walls of a London Missionary Society church still stand where the molten rock flowed through the building and solidified around it, and nearby a small depression marks what is known as the Virgin's Grave, a tomb that the lava is said to have flowed around. Walking over the twisted, ropy lava gives a vivid sense of how young and restless Savai'i still is.

TipThe lava is sharp and hot in the midday sun; wear sturdy shoes, carry water and pay the village entrance fee.