Maketi Fou
Apia's covered market, open day and night, where a meal costs next to nothing.
Duration
45 min – 1 hr 30 min
Best time
Saturday morning
Open
Day and night
Entry price
Free
Maketi Fou is Apia's central market and it never closes: some traders sleep on site and the stalls run day and night. It is as much a place to be as a place to buy.
You find taro, breadfruit, coconut milk pressed on the spot, and the Saturday morning prepared dishes — palusami, coconut chicken, raw fish in lime. Prices are posted in tala and they are the same for everyone, which is not common in the region.
Getting there
In central Apia, a few streets from the waterfront. The centre is all walkable.
What to bring
- Covering clothes
Rules on site
Covered dress is expected: shoulders and thighs stay covered away from beach areas, and it is taken seriously in Samoa. On Sunday the town stops almost entirely for church.