Anakena Beach: Where the Moai Meet the Pacific

Seven moai stand with their backs to the ocean at Ahu Nau Nau, looking inland as all moai do, watching over the white coral sand and the coconut palms at Anakena Beach. This is reportedly where the legendary first king of Rapa Nui, Hotu Matu’a, landed his canoes around 1200 CE after the long crossing from eastern Polynesia. Whether that tradition is literally accurate is debated; that this is one of the most remarkable places on Earth is not.

Easter Island (Rapa Nui) sits roughly 3,500 kilometres off the Chilean coast and 4,000 kilometres from Tahiti. There is no island near it in any direction. It is the most isolated inhabited island in the world, and that isolation shaped everything about the civilization that built the moai: a people who had no material source for tools other than what the island provided, who quarried and moved stone figures weighing up to 80 tonnes across the island’s landscape, and who flourished and then collapsed with a suddenness that archaeologists have still not fully explained.

Anakena Beach

The beach itself is the only white sand beach on the island, sheltered in a natural bay on the northern coast. The water is clear and warm by South Pacific standards, and the snorkelling is decent. What makes Anakena unique is the combination of beach and archaeology: the ahu platform behind the sand carries the Ahu Nau Nau moai, restored in 1978, which are among the best-preserved on the island because centuries of sand burial protected them. Some still bear their original topknot stones.

Access to the beach is straightforward and at Anakena you are not required to have a licensed guide with you, unlike most other sites in the national park. You can arrive independently, walk up to the ahu from the beach, and spend as much time as you want.

The Moai Sites

As of October 2025, entry to Rapa Nui National Park (which covers the major archaeological sites) costs 95,000 Chilean pesos for foreign adults, around $100 USD, for a 10-day pass. The pass is good value given how many sites it covers.

Ahu Tongariki is the island’s most dramatic platform: 15 moai restored after a 1960 tsunami knocked them all flat, standing in a row against the open ocean at the eastern coast. Arrive at 6:30am for sunrise. The moai are backlit against the sky and the light changes fast. This is one of the great sunrise experiences in the Southern Hemisphere.

Rano Raraku, the quarry where nearly all the moai were carved, is where you feel the scale of the whole enterprise most acutely. Around 400 moai are still here, some finished and standing, some half-carved from the rock face, some lying on the slopes. Carving stopped abruptly at some point and nobody knows exactly why. The guides here are particularly good at explaining what is currently known and what isn’t.

Orongo, the birdman ceremonial village on the rim of the Rano Kau crater, is a different kind of site: a cluster of stone houses overlooking a 300-metre drop to the Pacific, where an annual ritual competition determined who would rule the island for the year. The views from the crater rim are exceptional on a clear day.

Ahu Akivi is the only platform where the moai face the sea, and archaeologists now believe this is because the platform was aligned with the setting sun during the equinox. It’s the only exception to the rule, and the exception matters.

Getting There and Around

LATAM Airlines operates flights from Santiago, Chile to Mataveri International Airport (IPC) on Rapa Nui, currently the only airline serving the route. Flight time is around 5.5 hours. Book early: there are limited seats, prices rise dramatically in January-March peak season, and Easter Island flights are one of those things where booking six months ahead saves real money.

Renting a 4x4 vehicle in Hanga Roa (the island’s only town) is the best way to see the island at your own pace. The entire island circuit can be covered in a day, though two days allows you to revisit sites at different times of light.

Most accommodation is in Hanga Roa, the small main town on the western coast. The Hotel Altiplánico Rapa Nui is among the better mid-range options with good breakfast and a helpful staff. Budget guesthouses are available from around $80-100 per night.

Practical Notes

Visit Ahu Tongariki at sunrise, visit Rano Raraku mid-morning, take a beach afternoon at Anakena, and spend a late afternoon at Orongo for sunset over the crater. That’s a full day that covers the highlights without rushing.

Touching or climbing on the moai is prohibited and actively enforced. The stone is volcanic tuff and fragile; some moai have already been damaged by tourist contact. Given that these things survived 800 years underground and were only unearthed in the 20th century, leaving them alone seems the least you can do.

The best time to visit is March through November, avoiding the height of Chilean summer when prices peak and the most crowded ferries and tours run. The weather is mild year-round.