Fast Facts

American Express -- There is no American Express representative in Samoa.

Baggage Storage -- The hotels will store your extra gear for free.

Bookstores -- Aggie's Gift Shop (tel. 22-880), next to Aggie Grey's Hotel & Bungalows on Beach Road, carries books on Samoa and the South Pacific and a few paperback novels.

Business Hours -- Most shops and government offices are open Monday to Friday from 8am to noon and 1 to 4:30pm, Saturday from 8am to noon. Except for the major hotels, the only businesses open on Sunday are the scores of mom-and-pop grocery shops in Apia and some villages.

Camera/Film -- Image Lab, on Convent Street west of Vaea Street (tel. 28-053).

Clothing -- Lightweight, informal summer clothing is best throughout the year, although a light sweater or wrap could come in handy for evening wear from June through September. Men can wear shorts and shirts almost anywhere, but women should stick to modest, knee- and shoulder-covering dresses away from the hotels and should never wear bathing suits or skimpy clothing away from the beach or pool. Topless or nude bathing is outlawed. Outside Apia most Samoans still wear wraparound lava-lavas, which come well below the knees of men and to the ankles on women.

Drugstores -- Samoa Pharmacy (tel. 22-595) and Apia Pharmacy (tel. 22-703) are both on Beach Road west of the Town Clock.

Electricity -- Electricity in Samoa is 240 volts, 50 cycles, and most plugs have angled prongs like those used in New Zealand and Australia. Aggie Grey's Hotel & Bungalows and the Kitano Tusitala Hotel supply 110-volt current for electric shavers only; you need a converter and adapter plugs for other American appliances.

Embassies/Consulates -- The U.S. Embassy (tel. 21-631) is in the ABC House on Beach Road west of the Town Clock. New Zealand and Australia both have high commissions here.

E-mail -- You can check your e-mail at CSL, at Vaea and Convent streets (tel. 24-149); Lesamoa.net, across the street in the Lotemanu Centre (tel. 20-926); and Traveller's Lounge, on Beach Road west of Aggie Grey's Hotel & Bungalows (tel. 22-144). Expect to pay about S$2 (US65¢) for 10 minutes.

Emergencies/Police -- The emergency phone numbers are tel. 995 for police, tel. 994 for fire, and tel. 996 for an ambulance. The police station (tel. 22-222) is on Ifi'ifi Street, inland from the prime minister's office.

Eyeglasses -- Try the National Hospital.

Gambling -- There are no casinos in Samoa, but you can play the local lottery at its office on Vaea Street.

Hairdressers/Barbers -- Double D'z Unisex Salon is at Aggie Grey's Hotel & Bungalows (tel. 23-277).

Healthcare -- The best doctors are at the MedCen Private Hospital, a modern facility on the Cross Island Road (tel. 26-519). The government-run National Hospital, on Ifi'ifi Street in Apia (tel. 21-212), has an outpatient clinic open daily from 8am to noon and from 1 to 4:30pm. Ask your hotel staff to recommend a dentist if you need one.

Insects -- There are no dangerous insects in Samoa, and the plentiful mosquitoes do not carry malaria. Bring a good insect repellent with you, and consider burning mosquito coils at night.

Libraries -- Nelson Memorial Public Library, on Beach Road at the Town Clock (tel. 21-028), is open Monday to Thursday 9am to 4:30pm, Friday 8am to 4pm, Saturday 8:30am to noon.

Liquor Laws -- The legal drinking age is 18. Except for a prohibition of Sunday sale of alcoholic beverages outside the hotels or licensed restaurants, the laws are fairly liberal. Bars outside the hotels can stay open Monday to Saturday until midnight. Spirits, wine, and beer are sold at private liquor stores.

Maps -- The Samoa Tourism Authority distributes a one-sheet collection of maps of Upolu, Savai'i, and Apia town.

Newspapers/Magazines -- The daily Samoa Observer (www.samoaobserver.ws) carries local and world news.

Post Office -- The main SamoaTel post office is on Beach Road, east of the Town Clock (tel. 23-480). Hours are Monday to Friday 9am to 4:30pm.

Radio/TV -- Samoa has two broadcast television stations. Many homes on Upolu's north shore can receive the American Samoan channels, one of which has commercial shows, the other Public Broadcasting System programs and live news from the United States. The government also operates two AM radio stations, on which most programming is in Samoan. The world news is rebroadcast from Radio Australia and Radio New Zealand several times a day. Three privately owned FM stations broadcast lots of music.

Safety -- Although street crimes are rare here, remember that the communal property system still prevails in the Samoas, and items such as cameras and bags left unattended may disappear. Women should not wander alone on deserted beaches. Samoans take the Sabbath seriously, and there have been reports of local residents tossing stones at tourists who drive through some villages on Sunday. If you plan to tour by rental car, do it during the week.

Taxes -- Samoa imposes a 12.5% General Services Tax, which is included in restaurant and bar bills and is added to the cost of some other items, including rental cars, but be sure to ask if your hotel has included the tax in its room rates. Also, an airport departure tax of S$40 (US$13) is levied on all passengers over 12 years of age leaving Samoa from Faleolo Airport. No tax is imposed on domestic flights or on the ferry to Pago Pago.

Telephone/Fax -- International calls can be directly dialed into Samoa from most parts of the world. The international country code is 685.

SamoaTel (www.samoatel.ws) operates both the post office and the land-line phone system here. It has pay telephones around Apia and in post offices in the villages. You will need a prepaid phonecard to make calls; buy them at post offices and most small shops. A digital readout will tell you how much money you have left on your card. Station-to-station calls to North America cost about S$4.50 (US$1.50) per minute. Calls to Australia and New Zealand are about half that amount.

The number for directory assistance is tel. 933; for the international operator, tel. 900; for international directory assistance, tel. 910; and for the domestic long-distance operator, tel. 920.

Telecom Samoa (tel. 26-081; www.telecomsamoa.ws), in the Lotumanu Centre at the corner of Vaea and Convent streets, rents cell phones for S$5.60 (US$1.85) a day, but you must buy prepaid time cards to use them. Samoa is switching from analog to GSM, so you will be able to buy a prepaid SIM card for your unlocked GSM phone.

Time -- Local time in Samoa is 11 hours behind GMT. That means it's 3 hours behind Pacific Standard Time (4 hr. behind during daylight saving time). If it's noon standard time in California and 3pm in New York, it's 9am in Apia. During daylight saving time in California and New York, it's 8am in Samoa. Samoa is east of the international date line; therefore, it shares the same date with North America and is 1 day behind Tonga, Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand. Remember that if you are going on to those countries or will be arriving in Samoa from one of them.

Tipping -- Tipping is discouraged as being contrary to the traditional way of life. One exception is the practice of throwing money on the dance floor to show appreciation of a show well performed.

Water -- All tap water should be boiled before drinking. Safe bottled water is produced locally and is available at most grocery stores.

Weights/Measures -- Samoa is officially on the metric system, but in their everyday lives, many residents still calculate distances by the British system used in American Samoa and in the United States. Speed limits are posted in miles per hour, and the speedometers of many local vehicles (most of which have the steering wheels on the left side, in the American and European fashion) show both miles per hour and kilometers per hour.