- Where
- South Pacific, west of Upolu
across the Apolima Strait - Coordinates
- 13.58° S
172.40° W - Area
- 1,694 km²
highest point Mount Silisili, 1,858 m - People
- 43,958 (2016 census)
- Last eruption
- Mount Matavanu, 1905–1911
- Getting there
- Ferry Mulifanua (Upolu) to Salelologa
about 90 minutes, daily - Best visited
- May to October (the drier season)
The road ran on through a black country of broken rock, small ferns and young trees pushing up through the cracks. Then a church’s walls, its pointed gable still standing, and inside, where the pews should have been, rock up to the windowsills. The women who keep it showed us round very gently. My hat came off, though there was no roof to take it off under.
The short answer
Savai’i is the largest and highest island of Samoa and of the whole Samoan chain, 1,694 square kilometres rising to 1,858 metres at Mount Silisili, and the sixth-largest island in Polynesia, Wikipedia records. It is larger than Upolu, the island of the capital, Apia, but has far fewer people: 43,958 in 2016, about a quarter of Samoa’s population. Its only township and ferry terminal is Salelologa, at the east end; a sealed road circles the island, linking most of its villages. Samoans also call it by its classical name, Salafai. The island is the largest shield volcano in the South Pacific, and its central rainforest is the largest unbroken rainforest in Polynesia.
Why it's worth knowing
Six years of lava. On 4 August 1905 a new crater opened in the uplands of Savai’i, Wikipedia records, and Mount Matavanu began to erupt. From September lava flowed in quantity; by December it had destroyed the village of Toapaipai, and by March 1906 it had reached the sea and was spreading along the reef. The villages of Salago and Sale’aula were destroyed, and fumes killed crops and caused famine. The eruption came and went until it ceased in October 1911; in 1910 it was described as the most active volcano in the world. The German colonial administration resettled the people of Sale’aula at Salamumu on Upolu, and those of Mauga and Samalae’ulu at Le’auva’a. The flow was slow enough that no one is recorded as killed, a New Zealand travel writer notes.
A church full of stone. At Sale’aula the walls of a London Missionary Society church still stand in the lava field. About two metres of lava flowed in through its door, travel guides describe, and its arched windows and the shape of its gable remain while the inside is filled with black rock, which bears the imprint of the corrugated iron of the fallen roof. Nearby is a grave around which, by local account, the lava parted; Wikipedia describes it as the grave of a nun encircled by the flow. The site is run by the Sale’aula Women’s Committee, which guides visitors for a small fee. In 2022 the International Union of Geological Sciences listed the 1905–1911 Matavanu eruption among its first 100 geological heritage sites, calling it one of the best examples in the south-west Pacific of an oceanic hot spot.
The field notes
Village life on the lava
Sale’aula, on the central north coast, is the traditional centre of the Gaga’emauga political district, and its chiefs’ council meets at the Vaitu’utu’u malae, Wikipedia records. About 600 people live in the village today. A few families have rebuilt their homes on the lava, among sparse volcanic plants, and local families offer beach fale accommodation by the lava and the sea. Most land in Samoa is under customary ownership, and villages charge small fees to visit the sights on it.
Blowholes on the south coast
At Taga, on the south-west coast in the Palauli district, lava tubes run from a flat clifftop of old lava down to the ocean, and breaking waves force water up through them in fountains every few seconds: the Alofaaga Blowholes, Wikipedia records. The village charges a small admission. The rocks are wet, slippery and unfenced, and Wikipedia warns that a fall into a blowhole would almost certainly be fatal.
Palms on the black lava shore, March 2012.
Photograph: Simon_sees · Savaii Coast (7079031273) · CC BY 2.0
1905: a London Missionary Society church surrounded by lava (historic photograph).
Photograph: Alfred John Tattersall / National Library of New Zealand · Public domain · cropped
1905: steam rising where the Matavanu lava met the sea (historic photograph).
Photograph: Alfred John Tattersall · Public domain · cropped
A tide pool in the lava shelf reflecting the palms, March 2012.
Photograph: Simon_sees · Rockpool reflection (7079032263) · CC BY 2.0
- Catch an early ferry and give the road the whole day. The island runs on its own clock, and yours will come round to it.
- Pay the small fee to the women who keep the ruins, and let them show you round in their own order.
- Begin listing the shapes the lava made. Stop at the one like a sleeping dog; the list will not improve on it.
- Wear stout shoes on the lava. Its edges are keener than they appear.
- The church is still a church to someone. Speak softly inside its walls.
The church in the lava. The walls of the London Missionary Society church at Sale’aula, overrun by lava from Mount Matavanu after 1905: about two metres of rock fill the inside, travel guides describe, entering through the door, while the arched windows and the line of the gable still stand. It belongs to the village, whose Women’s Committee keeps the site. It is seen with their guide, from the doorway, for a small fee.
Tally, in the marginI came expecting to see what the lava had made of the church. Inside, I found myself noticing instead what the church had made of the lava: held it in a room’s outline, door and windows and all, all this while.
Getting there
How to get there. Fly to Faleolo International Airport on Upolu, then take the passenger and vehicle ferry from Mulifanua wharf, at the west end of Upolu, across the Apolima Strait to Salelologa. Wikipedia describes the crossing as about 90 minutes, seven days a week, in daylight only. Buses, taxis and car-rental companies are at Salelologa, Wikipedia notes, and a sealed road runs round the island to the lava fields on the north coast.
When to go. May to October, Samoa’s dry season; the wet season, November to April, is also when tropical cyclones affect Samoa, by the Pacific Climate Change Science Program’s summary. Strong winds and storms cancel the ferries at times, the Samoa Observer reports, most often in the wet season, so keep a spare day before a flight home.
What to arrange ahead. The ferry, especially with a car, and a bed: at Sale’aula, as in many villages, local families let beach fale to visitors. Carry cash for the small village fees at the lava fields, the blowholes and other sights.
Safety. The State Department has Samoa at Level 1, exercise normal precautions (advisory dated 7 July 2026 in its feed, read 5 October 2026), describing it as generally safe. The hazards here are the place’s own: sharp lava underfoot, the blowholes’ slippery unfenced rocks, heat, and ferry crossings that weather can cancel.
Mark this place
Common questions
Where is Savai’i?
Savai’i is the largest island of Samoa, in the South Pacific, west of Upolu across the Apolima Strait. It covers 1,694 square kilometres and rises to 1,858 metres at Mount Silisili; 43,958 people lived there in 2016.
What happened in the Savai’i eruption of 1905?
Mount Matavanu on Savai’i began erupting on 4 August 1905 and continued, on and off, until October 1911. Its lava reached the north coast, destroyed the villages of Toapaipai, Salago and Sale’aula and ran into the sea, and the German administration resettled villagers on Upolu.
What is the church in the Sale’aula lava field?
It is the ruin of a London Missionary Society church at Sale’aula, on Savai’i’s north coast, which lava from Mount Matavanu filled after 1905. Its walls, arched windows and gable still stand, with about two metres of lava inside, and the Sale’aula Women’s Committee guides visitors for a small fee.
How do you get to Savai’i?
By ferry from Mulifanua wharf on Upolu, near Faleolo International Airport, to Salelologa on Savai’i, a crossing of about 90 minutes that runs seven days a week in daylight, according to Wikipedia. The ferry carries vehicles, and a sealed road circles the island.
Is Mount Matavanu a geological heritage site?
Yes. In October 2022 the International Union of Geological Sciences included the 1905–1911 Matavanu eruption on Savai’i among its first 100 geological heritage sites, as one of the best examples in the south-west Pacific of an oceanic hot spot.
What are the Alofaaga Blowholes?
The Alofaaga Blowholes, at Taga on Savai’i’s south-west coast, are lava tubes through which breaking waves force seawater up in fountains every few seconds. The village charges a small admission; the rocks are wet, slippery and unfenced.
Was anyone killed by the Savai’i eruption?
No deaths are recorded from the lava itself, which flowed slowly, a New Zealand travel writer notes; but the 1905–1911 eruption destroyed several villages, crops failed under its fumes, causing famine, and the people of Sale’aula, Mauga and Samalae’ulu were resettled on Upolu.
Is Savai’i bigger than Upolu?
Yes. Savai’i, at 1,694 square kilometres, is larger and higher than Upolu, where the capital, Apia, stands, but it has far fewer people, about a quarter of Samoa’s population in 2016. It is the sixth-largest island in Polynesia.