Vatia

Vatia is the village on the north coast of Tutuila that sits inside the National Park of American Samoa, reached by a road over the ridge from the harbour. Pola Island rises out of the sea in front of it, a sheer basalt tower where seabirds nest and the surf breaks white at its foot. The Lower Sauma ridge trail looks down on the whole bay, and the Tuafanua trail drops through rainforest to a rocky shore on ladders and ropes. Flying foxes hang in the trees above the village. A homestay programme puts visitors in Samoan family houses.