This is the island that the traveler I met three years ago said had the most beautiful beaches in the South Pacific. A tiny speck of land in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, that is where you will find Ofu Island. I took his advice and decided to find my way to this remote island. Does it have some of the most spectacular beaches I have ever seen, yes. That was three years ago - I'm back to see if anything has changed.

Fortunately this little island is very hard to get to and that has kept it pristine and devoid of any commercial development. Shortly after arriving I walked the beaches for three hours, completely by myself. It was as if nothing had changed, and it hadn’t.

When planning my itinerary for this years Pacific travels, I questioned whether to return to Ofu. For the most part I had been exploring new islands each trip. Something kept making me put Ofu down on my tentative schedule, eventually it stayed there. Once I arrived - within minutes, I knew it was the right decision. Its beauty and serenity are like no other place I’ve traveled too.

Currently there is only one flight a week to Ofu from Pago Pago. The availability of seats are posted on line at the third week of the month before. Seems strange but the government only approves this flight - one month at a time. If you want to leave before the following weeks return flight, you have to take a fishing boat over to another island to catch a flight out of the island of Tau. Organizing this takes patience and a bit of luck. It also keeps the number of people who actually make it to the island pretty small. The airline I flew on was Polynesian Airlines. Pretty small planes, you were so close to the pilots you could almost touch their hands as they worked the throttle. The airline has a different way of checking you in. The Polynesian people tend to be larger in size then other cultures. So instead of weighing your luggage, they actually weigh you in. Women over 200 pounds and men over 300, is not uncommon.

US Thanksgiving

I landed on November 24th, US Thanksgiving. What a break for me. For those that followed my first blog of my travels to Ofu will know, I ate fairly simply - spam, canned corn beef and tuna fish. My luck definitely changed as the owners of Vaoto Lodge (Deb & Ben) where putting together a real traditional Turkey Dinner. Wow, what a difference a year or two makes. As it turned out during my previous trip, Ben and Deb were gone and I foraged through the kitchen shelves as best I could. I may have lost a few pounds, but it all worked out.

There I was in Ofu enjoying an amazing Thanksgiving meal with Ben, Deb, 5 Morman Missionaries, a guy named Ulysses and five dogs. No shortage of volunteers to say grace. It was a very nice welcome back to Ofu Island.

Deb & Ben's place is called Vaoto Lodge. It sits right at the end of the Ofu Airport runway. The last time I was on Ofu, this airport was not operating. Accommodations are fairly simple and tidy. They take pride in how they run their business. They also rent out rooms to contractors who may be doing work on the island. There was a large solar project going on at the other end of the island. Projections were that this project would be able to supply this tiny island with 100% of its electrical needs.

Ofu Island and Olosega Island are connected by a bridge. To drive straight from the end of one island to the other would take maybe 20 minutes. I rented Mike’s truck (Ben’s handyman) to drive around because I wanted to take my time and take pictures. The truck was not much to look at and had no working handles, but it started every time for me. There is a US National Park on the island and some of the roads on Ofu are actually paved.

Both Ofu and Olosega villages were quiet when I drove through. I barely saw anyone. Homes were very modest and each village had a well maintained church. Like many Polynesian Islands, the traditional Fale was located in front of the home. Everything looked pretty much the way it had three years ago.