Next month students will start streaming back into the territory. That means night life will ratchet up too. This week we had about ten backpacker visitors in town. Don't think they expected Pago to jam like this. They didn't want to leave!
Pago nite life is an assortment of clubs and restaurant bars. All clubs and bars are open until 2:00am. Given Pago Pago's American connection, DJ's spin the latest in hip hop, rock and rave music. But a healthy blend of traditional Samoan music gives every club a cool blend of modern and traditional. Almost all clubs have dress codes. Prohibited are tank tops for men and informal lavalava. Women dress codes are less prohibitive. Almost anything goes.
South Pacific culture embraces cross dressing and transgendering as a normal fact of life. Every club will have a regular coterie of lgbt patrons adding color and vibrance to the dance scene. There are no gay bars, per se, because acceptance is the norm.
Party Time in Pago rocks the house. After a full day of snorkeling, hiking the rainforest, going green or soaking up the culture, its time to break it down til 2am.
A vacation should include vibrant nite life too.
Learning about the rainforest and coral reef by day (our guides passed out study sheets for each separate activity) we got back to the hotel strained by some tough hiking but ready for the next adventure.
This club is right in town so we hung out there close to our hotel. About ten o'clock the crowd started coming in. By twelve the place was packed.
Before we arrived in Pago Pago we were thinking about boring evenings in front of the TV with nothing to do.
Yea! Right!
And in American Samoa you'll be the last party animal on earth to watch the earth day's last sunset. Or, party person you are, watch the next day's first sunrise.
Many clubs feature live music. Open mike is a welcome and fun addition to the music mix at live music bars. Just tell the band your tune and you are on stage.
Pago is famous for special live events held in nice hotel poolside venues and in public performance spaces. Fa'afafine or gay pageants are wildly popular. Families generally turn up en masse to support their candidates for the queen title. Music and performance are integral parts of Samoan culture. During holidays and the annual April 17th Flag Day festivities, week long song fests showcase hundreds of performers. The colorful groups are so spectacular the events reach jet set proportions of the place to be to witness an outpouring of cultural exuberance.
Drinks at the clubs are generally 4 dollars and under for beer (local brands or US regulars such as Coors and Heineken). Well drinks are more expensive depending from which shelf you order. Stoli? Grey Goose?
If you are a seasoned South Pacific traveler, American Samoa's clubs are modern and up to date with neon lighting, strobes, DJ booths and big screen TV. No fights, no hassels and no rip offs.
If the bar/club scene is not your scene American Samoa has a diverse selection of ethnic supper clubs. Both big hotels have quiet oceanside or poolside bars that serve formidable fare in luxury settings with formal dinner settings. Ethnic restaurants reflect Pago's long tradition as an international fishing port. Chinese, Korean and Filipino restaurants serve up spicy and colorful dishes prepared by ethnic cooks.
The key to Pago nite life is diversity and choice. A luxurious dinner or a plentiful 3 dollar plate meal followed by an organized pub crawl of swank dance clubs mixed in with steamy tropical hotspots. Its all here in Pago Pago!
Welcome to the Samoan Archipelago! Adventurous travelers and students will find things to do and places to go at affordable prices. Best of all the Samoan adventure is an ecological education of Samoa's magnificent rainforests, reefs, history and culture. Photo above: Panorama of Pago Harbor from atop Mount Alava's stunning cloud rainforest.
