I was thrilled at the prospect of visiting remote Easter Island with its iconic moai statues. (“Rapa Nui” is the native name for both the island and its Polynesian people.) It’s one of those destinations I’d seen all my life on tv and read about, but wasn’t sure I’d ever visit myself. And there we were, settling into a surprisingly luxurious LATAM business class seat ready for the five and half hour flight from Santiago to Hanga Roa, the capital and only real town on Easter Island! [The flight itself really did exceed expectations… and I’ve got a hot tip for knocking a huge chunk off the price of a business class ticket. Details on that below in the “Practical Info” portion of this post.]
The airport at Hanga Roa is tiny, but pretty with its arched wood ceiling and native carved art. We were through baggage claim and security in no time.
A driver from our “hostal” (a family-run collection of cottages rather than a youth hostel as found in Europe, etc.) met us when we exited with thick flower lei-style necklaces and we were off in no time for the ten minute drive to our lodging, Kuhane Etno-Hostal. Our hostess, Sofia, spoke virtually no English, but we quickly checked in and settled into our brightly-painted cottage.
Eager to see a little of this fascinating island, we headed out on foot, following Sofia’s suggestion to walk along the nearby coast into town. With one of the island’s many stray dogs trailing along, we walked past a half dozen free-roaming horses to glimpse our first moai at Hanga Kio’e from just steps past the entry to our hostal. In front of the oceanfront statue, a wedding was in full swing with the happy couple and guests dressed in white modern clothing while the officiant sported an elaborate feather headdress and traditional native garb.
Further down the coast, we passed a 3-tiered catholic altar made of lava stone, then headed inland a bit to bypass a narrow rocky inlet. Less than a ten-minute walk from our hostal, we arrived at Tahai, truly one of the prettiest sites on Easter Island, and right by Hanga Roa, free to all and probably most visitors’ first encounter with moais. A single large moai with red stone topknot and eyes whose whites are carved from coral stands closest to the main gate. Nearby are the stone foundations of former boat-shaped houses and chicken coops. Beyond four moais and the remains of a fifth stand with their backs to the ocean on a long raised ahu (platform). We learned the next day that the sun sets into the sea behind these moais making for even more spectacular views.
While exploring a relatively modern (but definitely unique) cemetery, the cloudy skies gave way to a light rain. We took shelter in nearby Topa Ra’a, feeling really lucky when dinner there turned out to be excellent.
Prior to arriving on the island, I’d asked Sofia to reserve a local 4×4 vehicle to be delivered to us for the following morning. I’d also arranged an English-speaking guide. (A local guide is a necessity to visit most of the historical sites on Rapa Nui.) When we returned from our first night dinner, Sofia informed us that our guide had suffered a serious eye injury and been flown to Santiago for surgery. However, she assured me she’d arranged another excellent guide. And, yes, she spoke English.
After breakfast the next morning, we discovered that the plan was to share “our” guide with three Chilean sisters staying in another Kuhane cottage. The guide would ride with them and we would follow behind, an arrangement we didn’t mind since it saved us money and gave us privacy. Unfortunately, our guide spoke only a very little English so I spent the rest of the day doing my best to translate for David. Good practice for my rusty Spanish, but not easy given Chilean pride in the difficulty of their accent and dialect and the uniqueness of the archeological and historical things being explained. Our guide and the sisters did make an effort to speak clearly and, while frustrating, all worked fairly well.
To avoid lingering clouds that she thought would burn off later over nearby Orongo birdman village and the Rana Kau volcano crater, our guide decided to start us out to the east at the Rano Raraku quarry. This actually made a lot of sense since it is the “birthplace” of the all the moai. Rano Raraku is a fascinating place with 397 exposed moai in various stages of carving. The statues vary in size and some have been partially buried over time leaving only their heads or heads and shoulders exposed. (Completed moai are statues from head to around hip level.) Experts believe there are more moai fully buried. Generally speaking, the head of a moai is about 1/3 of its full size so some half-buried moai at Rano Raraku are estimated to be 13 meters tall. It took about two years to carve a large moai. Abandoned Moai that broke in the process are scattered about the quarry. The largest moai ever carved wasn’t completed and is still attached to the hillside. It measures 21 meters (69 feet)!
Below Rano Raruku on the coast stands the famous long line of fifteen large moai at Ahu Tongariki. The ahu platform is 220 meters, one of the largest ceremonial structures in Polynesia. With the ocean at their backs, the statues make for an unforgettably dramatic scene. Some distance from the ahu, a solitary moai stands not far from the entrance to Tongariki. This “Traveling Moai” went to Japan in 1982, a trip sponsored by the Japanese who donated two million dollars to restore the site.
The moai on Rapa Nui/ Easter Island all need restoration due not only to the ravages of time and weather, but primarily due to destruction by the native population themselves. While there is much speculation as to the exact history of Rapa Nui and the details of the religious beliefs and ceremonies surrounding the moai, it is undisputed that the local tribes depleted the islands natural resources, fell into war among themselves, and toppled over and/or broke the moai. When I remarked to one site guard that it was sad what was done and how many moai are still face-down or broken, he shrugged and said something along the lines of “Yes, but it is our history and the fallen ones tell that story.”
Driving across the island down deeply rutted and pitted dirt roads lined with red-flowering trees, we arrived at Ahu a Kivi. Seven restored moai stand on a large ahu. The seven seem to face the ocean, unlike all the other moais that faced inward toward the island and its inhabitants. In fact, there was a village between these moais and the water, so the moais were facing their clan. Human finger bones were found here, remnants of the old practice of burning the bodies of the dead behind the ahus.
As promised, the clouds to the west of the island had cleared as we headed back to Rana Kau. The huge volcano crater now filled with water and floating plants makes for yet another impressive scene. The far side of the crater broke away some time in the past exposing the blue ocean beyond.
Nearby are the remains of the “birdman village” of Orongo, site of a unique cult-based annual competition that sprung up late in Rapa Nui history and, presumably, as a way to assign power and make peace among the tribes. People who lived through this part of history still existed at the time the first western historians arrived and recorded their stories. Warriors from the various tribes would assemble at clifftop Orongo each September when Sooty Terns arrived to small islets below to nest. These men would compete in a race whereby scrambled down the cliffs and swam out to the islets to search for the first tern egg. The man who returned first with an egg safely tucked into a pouch strapped to his forehead would win the competition for his chief who then became the “Birdman” leader of all tribes for the year. The competition must have been something to see!
Heading back into Hanga Roa, we had a late seafood empanada lunch with our guide and the sisters before heading back out. At Vinapu, we saw a rare female moai. The ahu there, with its massive carefully carved and placed stones reminiscent of Machu Picchu, lends support to theories that people from Rapa Nui spread to eastward South America.
Hanga Te E Vaihu is a collection of restored traditional grass-covered, boat-shaped homes along with lava stone gardens and stone chicken coops. The big rectangular coops housed tunnels inside where the chickens roosted at night, closed in for their safety with rocks used to block the entrance once the last chicken was inside.
Across the road from Hanga Te E Vaihu, cowboys drove a large herd of horses along the fence line. The people of Easter Island seem to love their horses, but the population looks to be out of control. Free-roaming horses are everywhere, creating a driving hazard on dark, unlit streets and co-existing in a less-than-friendly manner with the local free-range dogs.
We made a final quick stop at Ahu Huri A Urenga, where a solitary moai perched on a small hill beside the road. These unexpected encounters with moai add to the mystic charm of this island.
Dinner that night turned out to be a serendipitous find. We walked in sans reservation at Te Moai Sunset, picked a table beside a big picture window looking out over the white-eyed moai at Tahai with his four-and-a-half moai companions, and settled in to watch the sunset. What a view! [2nd photo of this post] And the food was delicious, too. We were blown away, so much so we came back the following night for an even more spectacular sunset that turned the sky a fiery orange. [Top photo.]
On our own the next day, we set out on some seriously pot-holed roads to visit the few sites that don’t require a guide for entrance. Aside from Tahai, the best of these is Anakena on the rocky island’s best beach. There are three original ahu here in various states. Ahu Nau Nau is the jewel of this site, a large restored platform topped with seven moai, two of which are mere remnants. Scattered bits of moai and their red stone top-knots dot the area. Closer to the beach, a lone, well-weathered moai stands vigil.
Instead of moai, the highlight of roadside Papa Vaka are carvings in the large stones embedded in the ground. There are fish, sharks, turtles and other sea life and things related to fishing. The largest petroglyphs on Easter Island are here. We had the place to ourselves and wandered dirt paths laid out like a labyrinth among them.
We circled as much of the island as the roads allowed, revisited favorite places from our first day, admired the horses, stopped to take pictures of the dramatic coastline. On our last morning, we followed the familiar coastal path to visit Hanga Kio’e, this time able to get close to the moai and explore the remains of the village now that the wedding was over. We also paid a final visit to Tahai, still so special even without the magic of sunset.
Sofia asked us to spend lunch with her, her partner and another friend. It was Chilean Independence Day and Sofia made homemade empanadas and opened a bottle of excellent Chilean wine to celebrate the occasion. We ate on the deck outside the airy dining area at Kahune, national flags flying near the parking area and at the neighbors, bunting decorating the deck railing.
We had only three nights on Easter Island which gave us two full days and two half days. We packed in a lot at a comfortable pace and were happy with the time we’d allotted.
Practical info:
Before visiting Easter Island, you must complete the Rapa Nui Entry Form online, have a passport with a return flight ticket to Santiago, and have proof of a registered accommodation reservation. You cannot board your flight without these. Find details here. It’s a quick and easy process. You also need a Rapa Nui National Park ticket which can be bought online or at the national park ticket office in Hanga Roa.
Easter Island can be an expensive destination, so it pays to plan ahead. Traveling in shoulder season as we did means less crowds and somewhat better prices. Easter Island is not the always-warm tropical climate of other Polynesian islands. It can be chilly and rainy and very windy. We were lucky with the weather, but we did want jackets most of the time, especially when exposed to that wind.
That LATAM tip: LATAM is the only airline flying in and out of Easter Island. When I first looked up flights, I was directed to https://www.latamairlines.com/us/en. I decided to compare the price there to the price shown on their Chilean site, https://www.latamairlines.com/cl/es. Of course, this site is in Spanish (“es”), but that isn’t a problem for me, and anyone not able to read Spanish could just use the translate function on their browser. The price (in Chilean pesos) for a business class flight to Rapa Nui/ Easter Island from Santiago was just under half (after conversion) of the price shown on the US site. I used to use this old work-around a lot, but nowadays many airlines have disallowed using a different country’s site. Happily, that’s not the case with LATAM. For anyone worried that this might be a problem. It isn’t. A ticket is a ticket at LATAM. I actually had to reschedule dates, called into LATAM on their English line and was helped, without question, to make the change. To make things even better, the LATAM business class hard product was excellent: huge seats, bedding provided, simple amenity kit. The soft product was very nice, too: steak dinners with a nice wine selection, attentive service. I wish our business class seats on American Airlines to and from South America had been as spacious!
Hosts can often reserve rent cars as Sofia did for us. She was able to get a better price than I could find online along with delivery to our hostal. Rapa Nui is a small island and it seems everyone knows everyone so check with hosts before booking a car, guide, etc.
In addition to Te Moai and Topa Ra’a, we particularly liked lunching oceanside at Pea RestoBar, watching surfers and body boarders.
For lots of shops and souvenirs, head to Atamu Tekena street in Hanga Roa and the handicraft market at its end near the national park ticket office.
A really informative and interesting book is A Companion to Easter Island. I wish I’d know about it before we went. I saw a copy at the airport as we were leaving and bought it upon our return on Amazon at a substantial discount.
September 2025
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