National Park of American Samoa
American Samoa's park still publishes the older permit test (models, props, or advertising trigger a permit; hand-carried gear does not), and village protocol matters as much as federal rules.
Guidance, not legal advice
Drone Authority
Check the flight side
Rules answer the ground-photo side. Drone Authority handles the NPS flight ban, airspace, and legal flying nearby.
Permit
Conditional
Issuer: National Park of American Samoa (special use permits; Public Information Officer 684-633-7082)
Cost: Fee varies, see the park permit page
Processing: Contact the park in advance; permits are generally not issued for weekends or holidays
The park's page keeps the pre-EXPLORE Act framing: still photography needs no permit when it uses only hand-carried equipment (tripod, lenses, flash) and involves no professional crews, product or service advertisement, models, props, or sets. A permit is required for advertising work, talent or models, more than hand-carried equipment, closed areas, or after-hours access. The systemwide EXPLORE Act eight-or-fewer exemption also applies; treat the park page as the stricter local reading and call ahead for anything commercial.
Drone / airspace
Effectively banned: launching, landing, or operating a drone within park boundaries is prohibited
NPS Policy Memorandum 14-05 directs each superintendent to close the park to drone use under 36 CFR 1.5. For airspace, Part 107, and legal flying nearby, see Drone Authority.
Street / public space
Yes for personal and editorial photography in park areas
Much of the park sits on land leased from villages; customary rules apply alongside federal ones.
Practical notes
- The park leases its land from Samoan villages; ask before photographing people or in villages, expect activities to pause on Sundays, and follow fa'a Samoa (customary protocol) as seriously as any regulation.
- Units sit on three islands (Tutuila, Ta'u, Ofu); Ofu's lagoon and beach are the postcard shot but require a small-plane or boat connection that deserves schedule slack.
- This is the only US national park south of the equator; seasons are reversed and the drier, slightly cooler window is roughly June through September.
Sources
Keep shooting
Knowing the rules is half the job. The craft side: