Ofu is a great place to lose yourself. There isn’t a lot to do except relax, read and snorkel, and it doesn’t get any better!
Vaoto Lodge is definitely the place to stay while at Ofu. Marge is an amazing and kind person, and an excellent host. Our room was a newly renovated unit with 2 bedrooms and 1 washroom. The windows were louvered and there were fans in the rooms, so air-conditioning was not needed. Meals were simple but very good and satisfying. The common area was where we ate all of our meals, played some pool and watched a couple of movies on a rainy day. Jay, who was the carpenter working on Deb and Ben’s house, was a really neat fellow and really enriched our time on Ofu.
My husband, my dad and one of my daughters got a day of fishing with some locals (okay, everyone other than us was a local!) and caught some tuna, which Marge cooked up four ways, all of them were soooo good! The cost of fishing was very reasonable.
We used the lodge truck one day to drive to Olosenga and check out the road as far as we could go. But most of our time was spent at the beach near hurricane house (walking distance) where we would laze about on the deserted beach or snorkel. It was a truly amazing experience being in an area so beautiful and isolated. Snorkeling was very good, and each time we went out we would see something new. Because we had our young girls with us we only snorkeled in this calm and safe area, but I understand that there are lots of areas to see. I was sad to see some coral damage which is attributed to global warming.
The mosquitoes were not bad while we were there. We saw flying foxes, a couple of small reef sharks, and a couple of eels. The airstrip just outside the lodge was very unique, and it was the perfect spot to lay down to star-gaze.
Marge and Deborah were indispensible in actually getting to Ofu and back to Pago. Inter-Island Air wasn’t flying to Ofu when we chose to go, we had to fly to Tau and get an alia (boat) to Ofu (about an hour), all of which Marge arranged for us. A fellow on his way home helped us get a ride with a friend to the wharf from the airport…it was all just so neat to meet these wonderful accommodating people.