Asau, Samoa

Asau is situated on the north west coast of Savai'i island in Samoa. It is the capital village of the Vaisigano political district and serves as the main business centre at the west end of the island.

Map of Asau, Samoa

Asau was the centre of the timber industry in Samoa with logging of native forests. In the 1960s a new wharf was completed at Asau for the lumbering operations of an American company Potlatch Corporation. The mouth of Asau Harbour was blocked by a coral reef and both the Samoan government and consultants had difficulties in clearing away the coral. A government dredge sank while trying to remove the coral. Later, New Zealand bombs dropped on the reef did not solve the problem. Villagers claimed aitu did not want the harbour cleared. The large sawmill operating in Asau has since closed. The harbour is seldom used now.

The Asau Airport is an airstrip primarily used for chartered flights. In 2008, an American development company, South Pacific Development, based in Honolulu, made plans to expand Asau Airport and harbour. The company has obtained a 120-year lease for 600 acres (2.4 km²) of prime oceanfront customary land in Sasina village, to build a luxury resort estimated to cost $450 – $500 million US dollars.

The breakwater protecting the bay is an old American airstrip from World War II. The port was well used in the past as it was well protected on the east and south by the main land and on the north and west by coral reefs.

In September 2008, bushfires inland from Asau and Aopo village destroyed more than two thousand acres (8 km²).