The Sua Ocean Trench at the end of the world

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wilder-beast migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
9
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
1
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
8
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling food market
6
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
2
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
9
Overall Score
The highest score of nature or culture, + fun factor, + avoid the crowds, + the highest score of world famous or unique. Then turned into a score out of 100. More details at the bottom of the page
80 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
continent
Oceania
country
Samoa
Length of time
1 day or less
Rough cost
Obviously people have different tastes, so this will depend on those tastes, but this is a rough idea of price of the whole experience based on 2 people able to split the accommodation costs and excluding travel there and back
$ 30
Time of year visited
July
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site
42nd/372 This travel experience's ranking compared to all the other experiences on this site
Top 20% SUMMARY RATING: World Class

Summary

Yep – offensively photogenic and screams “I want to go there!” from just about everyone who sees the photo.  In my case, from my girlfriend.  “You know it’s in the middle of the Pacific right?  In the middle of nowhere?” I reply.  The determined eyes staring back at me need no vocal expression – “I want to go” – they clearly say

For those who have the similar determination, you won’t be disappointed – the place really is that beautiful up close and it’s a lot of fun swimming around in the pool soaking it all in.  The site has the added advantage of having some delightfully well maintained gardens on the nearby cliff edges where you can gawp at the gorgeous surroundings, and a series of rock pools that you can laze around in and get pushed and pulled around as the waves come in, which is also super fun

To be fair, I don’t think you’d go this far to the middle of the ocean for just the Sua Ocean Trench, which really, spectacular as it is, you only need half a day for.  Samoa itself has some nice spots to drive around to (I’d recommend hiring a car for convenience), friendly people and some fab food (make sure you have lunch at the Seabreeze resort only 5mins drive away).  But I’d recommend combining your visit as part of a 2 week trip of Samoa, Tonga and Fiji.  Swimming with Humpbacks, diving with Tiger Sharks, white water rafting and kayaking from one picture perfect island to the next sound appealing?  Then see here for more details, ideas and tips in this travel entry for –2 weeks in Tonga, Fiji and Samoa

highlights

#1 Staring at the picture-perfect Sua Ocean Trench, getting the courage to walk down the steep stairs and have a swim in the beautiful water

#2 Heading to the waterfront to playing around in the rock pools by the shore. Super fun as the tide comes in to throw you around

#3 Lounging by the beautifully maintained grassy cliffs of the gardens right nearby

#4 Grabbing lunch at the nearby Seabreeze Resort Restaurant with is terrible view

Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Score Detail

Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"?  That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others.  That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score

This overall experience score is calculated by:  take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10).  Then convert into a score out of 100

Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique".  Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides.  So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique".  But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience).  So, both of these scores are standalone