Surfing Waves

Looking into a trip to Samoa over the December to January period. Are all of the waves exclusive to the resorts? i don't want to stay in resorts, more or less looking at the home stay option. My budget is an ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM of $3000 (Australian) for around 20 - 30 days. Any info on where to stay, where to surf, how to get around, how do i go about renting a boat, how much will it all cost, etc. would be awesome! what are the crowds like? How consistent is the surf?

Cheers, Riley!