Beach fale accommodation is a unique tourism product in the Pacific, offering low-key, basic holidays in rural Samoan villages. Having gradually evolved from day-rentals of traditional open-sided housing on the sand, beach fale businesses allow tourists to spend a night in simple accommodation, with meals, at low cost. As traditionally developed, beach fale are well-integrated with culture, aiga (family) and community. Beach fale businesses enable Samoan families with access to beach land to work within their villages, and provide a range of livelihood benefits including cash income, education, health, communications and transportation benefits. Recent research has indicated that beach fale are evolving away from their low-key nature towards enclosed units, westernised food and facilities, and adopting a more western approach to business where fa’aSamoa (‘The Samoan Way of Life’) and family interaction may play a lesser role. This dissertation examines the influence that aspects of beach fale tourism, particularly the process of evolution, may have upon the livelihoods of owners, their families and communities. Using a qualitative approach, the research identifies beach fale owner and tourist expectations in relation to beach fale evolution as well as the beach fale experience. Areas in which expectations are successfully matched, supporting the success of beach fale, and the subsequent provision of a range of tangible and intangible livelihood benefits, are discussed. Livelihood decisions in Samoa are made withinn fa’aSamoa; the beach fale cannot be separated from the cultural context they operate within. Therefore, the research also examines the interaction of expectations with fa’aSamoa.