Samoa 
In numbers.
Dec–Mar
Best months
665m
Elevation
The water at Papapapaitai Falls, month by month
It roars from December to March.
The fullest months: from December to March. The thinnest: from July to September.
- 98%Jan
- 100%Feb
- 75%Mar
- 64%Apr
- 50%May
- 34%Jun
- 24%Jul
- 16%Aug
- 21%Sep
- 37%Oct
- 66%Nov
- 83%Dec
Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from December to March.
Estimate from rain, snowmelt and evaporation month by month (NASA POWER, 1991–2020) around the falls. Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Waterfall of Upolu, Samoa
Papapapaitai Falls is a waterfall in Samoa.
Getting there.
- Si’umunearest town · 7.8 km in a straight line
- Parking 440 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Faleolo International Airport (APW)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 28 km in a straight line
- From December to Marchbest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
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Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 329 m in 2.4 km. Here the river runs about 56 m below the lower rim of its valley.
What is around.
- 1viewpointsPapapapaitai-falls
- —waymarked walking routes
- 1car parks
- —swimming spots
- —picnic sites
- 1toilets
- —information boards and visitor centres
- —bus stops within 1 km
- 1other named waterfalls within 4 kmPapapa-Paitai Waterfall
- —caves
- —campsites
- 3hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmInfinity Samoa, Skyview Villas
- —restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Si’umu7.8 km in a straight line
- Lotofagā9.6 km in a straight line
- Siusega11 km in a straight line
- Vaimoso11 km in a straight line
- Lauli’i12 km in a straight line
- Moata‘a12 km in a straight line
- Apia12 km in a straight line
- Vaiusu13 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 24 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 |
| Night °C | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 23 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 258 | 241 | 165 | 169 | 128 | 91 | 75 | 56 | 92 | 141 | 213 | 229 |
| Wet days | 26 | 23 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 23 | 25 | 24 |
| Sun h/day | 6.5 | 6.5 | 7.4 | 7.1 | 6.9 | 7.0 | 7.1 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 7.8 | 7.2 | 6.7 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (665 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 141% | 149% | 51% | 138% | 70% | 244% | 180% | 126% | 191% | 153% | 94% | 154% |
| 2021 | 85% | 126% | 105% | 91% | 69% | 108% | 52% | 185% | 19% | 48% | 45% | 63% |
| 2022 | 78% | 122% | 41% | 50% | 93% | 62% | 84% | 126% | 44% | 64% | 57% | 55% |
| 2023 | 90% | 78% | 113% | 85% | 126% | 82% | 137% | 117% | 61% | 90% | 56% | 139% |
| 2024 | 71% | 134% | 43% | 87% | 142% | 118% | 141% | 144% | 123% | 88% | 115% | 63% |
| 2025 | 119% | 108% | 114% | 45% | 250% | 96% | 114% | 113% | 96% | 192% | 117% | 75% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Papapapaitai Falls
Samoa
- —Height
- —Average flow
- Dec–MarBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q31982928) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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