During our 5 week trip to the Pacific, we spent a few days on American Samoa.
While on this far away US territory it rained quite a bit but we still wanted to check out a beach with an interesting name.
We set out for Two Dollar Beach during our last day.
Two Dollar Beach sounded very nice. There were bathroom facilities, clean sand, beach fales (roof huts without walls) and potentially good snorkeling.
Since the beach is privately owned, we knew that there would be a small entry fee to pay to visit. And with a name like Two Dollar Beach, the price had to be $2. Wouldn’t you think so too?
I parked our rental car just outside the entrance and came across this ridiculous sign.
Two Dollar Beach, $5 Entry Fee
This didn’t make any sense at all!
At first it appeared that nobody was even around to collect the entry fee. However, as soon as we walked up to the booth, the woman inside popped up and mentioned the $5 fee.
I said that this had to be a mistake. With a name like Two Dollar Beach, the fee had to be $2. She went on to say oh no, that is just the name! I immediately told her that this was false advertisement and said the name should be changed to $5 Beach.
She explained that when the beach first opened, there were no facilities and it was a $2 entry fee. Since then, they built bathrooms, fales and a bar. The fee was now $5 and the name couldn’t be changed due to the beach being well known.
I laughed and said OK but I’m not paying $5 for Lucas. The lady said no problem, $5 for adults, $2 for Lucas. At least one person got to visit Two Dollar Beach for $2!
We set up our things inside a fale to keep them in the shade. There was one other family at the beach celebrating a 3rd birthday.
We enjoyed checking out the edge of the small island right in front of the beach. The rocky area made for some cool photos.
The water was also very nice and we spent some time cooling off although we didn’t bother doing any snorkeling.
Lucas mostly played with the birthday boy’s older sister in the water and didn’t want to come out.
We also enjoyed spotting and picking up tiny hermit crabs. This was a fun activity throughout our trip.
And then we (in some ways) made our entry fee back.
The local family celebrating the birthday had lots of extra food.
First they brought us over a plate of cupcakes and a bunch of cold drinks and chips. Then, as we chatted a bit and thanked them, another family member brought us over a pizza.
The pizza was cold but it was one of the better pies we had during the trip. It was also awesome since we didn’t come to the beach prepared. We were all hungry and hadn’t eaten lunch so this worked out well!
So in the end Two Dollar Beach on American Samoa charged a $5 entry fee but for us it included lunch thanks to a local family!
Glo- Sorry you feel this way. However, if you read the full post and comments, you will see that it was joke and not meant to be of any harm. And as for your question of whether or not I would’ve wrote about Two Dollar Beach if not for the name and price, I really don’t know.
Jennifer- It’s OK, calm down… The post was not meant to be of any harm to you or your family. We enjoyed your beautiful beach area and (as you can probably tell from the post) had a great time. The play on name/ price was meant as a joke, sorry if you didn’t read into it that way.
Lelani- We learned about the reason behind the name/ price upon visiting! The beach is beautiful. 🙂
Michael,
I am not Samoan and find your comments quite rude and offensive. Would you have even bothered doing this ‘blog’ if it weren’t for ‘complaining’ about the unexpected addition to the entry fee because it sounds to me like you had a great time and got more than your money’s worth on the privately owned land.
The name v’s entry fee is history and creates an interest for this who want to visit. 90 Mile Beach is no longer 90 miles, do you consider that false advertising all because they would not change the name?
I’m actually embarrassed about how stingy you are. I suggest you do your research beforehand so you don’t have to fork out an additional $6 on top of your already paid hundreds to get there.
Aren’t the Samoan people incredible? Yes, it’s crazy that they the beach owners charge $5/person, but we’ve experienced way more of the other side of the story! When there are Samoans at the beach, they almost always share what they have. They’re great examples of friendship and giving whatever you have! I’m glad your experience took a turn for the better.
Melinda- They were really nice! The beach being called $2 but charging $5 was pretty comical.
Besides being given food at the family bday party, we also visited a bar/ restaurant where we were given birthday cake from another party and my kids were given bags of chips! At McD’s a local guy was chatting with me while our kids played. He invited us over etc…
My family owns the land and $2 beach. Samoans are nkt crazy, and your comment is rude and offensive. The beach got it’s name in the 1960s, based on what my family charged back then. It has been known by this name since then. I’m sorry that you were thrown off by the additional $3 cost, but the name has a history and is actually just a name and not the advertised price. The locals, and everyone else who is not a tourist, knows of the beach by the name it’s had for over 40 years. We aren’t going to change the beach name to accommodate tourists or any price adjustments that may need to be made over the next generations.
Jennifer,
Two Dollar Beach is a Great Place! I grew up in American Samoa. My daughters, sister and I are planning a visit next year. It will be the first time I’ve returned to Samoa since I was a child. Two Dollar Beach is high on our list of places to visit, and I know why it will always be Two Dollar Beach. I’m glad you didn’t change the name. Five Dollars is a great price for such a wonderful place!
Lelani