Sauniatu Waterfall

Sauniatu / Saoluafata, Upolu Island, Samoa

About Sauniatu Waterfall

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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

The Sauniatu Waterfall (or Sauniatu Falls) was probably as off-the-beaten-track of a waterfall as we wound up visiting in Samoa.

Compared to most of the waterfalls that we encountered on the islands, which involved no more than a short walk and easy-to-find car parks, this waterfall required us to go a little out-of-the-way.

Sauniatu_038_11122019 - The Sauniatu Waterfall
The Sauniatu Waterfall

Indeed, although reaching this waterfall wasn’t physically demanding, the road to get to the village of Sauniatu made up most of the adventure (see directions below).

We certainly appreciated the high clearance of our rental vehicle to traverse the fairly rough road.

Once we got through that, we were then greeted by a guard manning the village of Sauniatu, which I believe might be more of a Mormon village.

That Mormon factor definitely made this village feel a bit different as opposed to most of the other rural villages throughout Samoa.

Sauniatu_015_11122019 - Looking back at the Sauniatu Village from the start of the walk to the Sauniatu Waterfall
Looking back at the Sauniatu Village from the start of the walk to the Sauniatu Waterfall

In any case, after the guard let us through and pointed the way to the waterfall, we promptly parked and got started on the walk.

Experiencing the Sauniatu Waterfall

We began our Sauniatu Waterfall excursion by walking across a lawn towards fencing that protected a picnic area.

Right behind the picnic tables was a tall series of steps leading down the bottom of a deep gorge.

About half-way down the steps was a branch leading to a closed off path.

Sauniatu_022_11122019 - Julie passing through a small picnic area before reaching the steps that descended to the bottom of the gorge in front of the plunge pool of the Sauniatu Waterfall
Julie passing through a small picnic area before reaching the steps that descended to the bottom of the gorge in front of the plunge pool of the Sauniatu Waterfall

At the barricade, we noticed some local Caucasians with American accents doing a cliff jump into a deep plunge pool with the rest of the family looking on.

The steps also presented us with direct views of the gushing Sauniatu Waterfall itself, which featured a smaller drop followed by a roughly 20m drop.

Once we were at the bottom of the steps, we had one more step to take to get down from the concrete platform.

Then, we scrambled onto the rocky riverbed to get right up to the fringes of the waterfall’s plunge pool.

Sauniatu_078_11122019 - Some folks swimming at the base of the Sauniatu Waterfall
Some folks swimming at the base of the Sauniatu Waterfall

Even though we made our visit at around midday, the mosquitoes here were seemingly quick and aggressive.

However, that didn’t seem to bother the people swimming and doing cliff jumps at the falls.

Anyways, the lighting wasn’t the greatest for taking pictures when we were here.

That said, I don’t think any of that mattered when it came to cooling off and enjoying this rather secluded spot in the eastern mountains of Samoa’s ‘Upolu Island.

Sauniatu_085_11122019 - Looking back up at the steps that we took to get down to the bottom of the Sauniatu Waterfall
Looking back up at the steps that we took to get down to the bottom of the Sauniatu Waterfall

Overall, we spent about 30 minutes away from the car, but we easily could have spent more time here if we chose to swim and cool off.

Authorities

The Sauniatu Waterfall resides in the Atua District near Apia on ‘Upolu Island, Samoa. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try the MNRE website.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.

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Tagged with: sauniatu, mormon, atua, samoa, upolu, apia, piula cave pool, waterfall, swimming, south pacific, rough road, saoluafata, jesus christ, latter day saints, byu



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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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