Falealupo tide times

Predictions: Open-Meteo Marine (MeteoFrance SMOC, 0.08° grid) — heights relative to MSL (not chart datum / LAT). Model-derived.

Model-derived from a global ocean grid. Useful indication; expect about ±45 minutes on average vs. a local harmonic gauge, individual stations vary widely. See /methodology for per-region detail. Not for navigation.

Conditions as of 11:00 local time. Refreshes daily.

Predictions: Open-Meteo Marine (MeteoFrance SMOC, 0.08° grid) — heights relative to MSL (not chart datum / LAT). Model-derived. · Not for navigation.

The angler tradition for major/minor fishing windows: major ≈3-hour windows around moon transit and opposition; minor ≈2-hour windows around moonrise and moonset. Times are Pacific/Apia local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Next spring tide on Fri 22 May (range 1.0m). Next neap on Mon 25 May.

Spring tides cluster around new and full moons (biggest swings). Neap tides land on quarter moons (smallest swings). See the spring tide and neap tide glossary entries for the why.

Falealupo sits at the westernmost tip of Savai'i, which makes it the westernmost inhabited point of Samoa and one of the last places on earth to see each day's sunset over open ocean. The village sits on a narrow coastal strip between the lava-field interior and the sea, where rock formations break the Pacific swell into white water across the reef flat. Traditional fale guesthouses line the track through the village; the atmosphere is about as far from resort Samoa as you can get while still sleeping in a solid bed. Tides at Falealupo are mixed diurnal, trending toward a dominant once-daily pattern for much of the lunar month. Range is moderate: 0.6 to 1.0 metres between mean lower-low and higher-high. The diurnal dominance means there are periods — particularly around the quarter moons — when one of the daily tidal oscillations becomes very small, effectively giving one large tidal cycle per day. Open-Meteo Marine forecasts for this part of the South Pacific are accurate to ±45 minutes on timing and ±0.2 to 0.3 metres on height. For reef access, the difference matters: the lower-low exposures at Falealupo's reef flat can be dramatic at spring tides, revealing rock pools and channels that are invisible at high water. The canopy walkway above the coastal rainforest is the village's most unusual feature. Built using ropes and platforms anchored in the canopy of large trees at the forest fringe, it allows visitors to walk above the root zone and look out over the coastal palms and reef flat below. The original walkway was constructed with support from a conservation project decades ago and has been maintained by the village trust since. Visiting requires a contribution to the village; the standard entry fee goes directly to the community. The walkway is accessible at any tidal state — it sits well above the shoreline — but the descent path to the beach below passes through coastal rock that is safer at low water when the wave run-up is reduced. The reef flat at Falealupo's western point is the site of palolo worm harvesting, one of the most significant seasonal food events in Samoan culture. Palolo (Palola viridis) rise from the reef substrate once a year, typically in October or November, timed to the third quarter moon. Villagers wade the reef flat in the pre-dawn hours to collect the palolo with fine-mesh nets; the harvest is eaten fresh that morning or preserved. The tidal state during the harvest event varies by year — the moon phase controls palolo timing, not the tidal range directly — but the reef flat is always accessed at low water or near-low water to maximise collection area. If your visit coincides with the palolo season, ask the guesthouse host a week in advance whether the reef conditions look favourable. The rock formations on the western point are accessible on foot from the village at low tide: natural arches, surge channels cut through basalt, and sea caves formed where lava tubes meet the shoreline. These are best explored in the first two hours of an ebb tide when the surge is dropping and standing pools in the rock platform are still full enough to be interesting. At high water the exposed rock area shrinks substantially and wave action in the surge channels makes close exploration unsafe. Reef shoes are necessary; the lava surface is sharp. For accommodation, the fale guesthouses in Falealupo provide basic but clean facilities — open-sided fale with mosquito nets are standard, with shared bathrooms. Meals are communal and typically include freshly caught fish, breadfruit, palusami, and cocoa. Cell coverage is patchy but improving. The drive from Salelologa (the main ferry landing from Upolu) is approximately 100 kilometres along Savai'i's north coast ring road and takes two hours on a good day.