Easter Island (Rapa Nui): Getting There and Making It Worth the Trip

Rapa Nui sits in the South Pacific 3,760 kilometres west of mainland Chile and 4,000 kilometres east of the nearest inhabited Polynesian island. It is one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth. The closest comparison is a Chilean meteorological outpost. Getting here requires a LATAM flight from Santiago (5 hours) or, less frequently, from Lima. LATAM operates a single daily service. When the flight cancels due to weather – which happens – you stay until the next one.

The island is triangular, 24 by 12 kilometres, surrounded by the same open Pacific in every direction. The 900+ moai are here because this is where the Rapa Nui people carved them for roughly 500 years, from around 1250 to 1750 CE. Each represents a deified ancestor, erected on an ahu (ceremonial platform) with its back to the sea, watching over the living. How multi-tonne stone figures were transported across rough terrain using only Neolithic tools was a sustained academic dispute for decades. Current evidence suggests they were walked upright using ropes and a rocking motion – a theory that experimental archaeology has tested successfully – rather than the earlier hypothesis of log rollers.

What to See

Rano Raraku is the volcanic quarry where most moai were carved from the island’s soft volcanic tuff. Walking through it is the most extraordinary site visit on the island: 400 unfinished statues in various stages of completion remain in the hillside, some nearly complete except for their eye sockets, some half-emerged from the rock. They have been here so long that soil has built up around them and several are visible only from the chest up. El Gigante, the largest moai ever carved at 21 metres, stands permanently in the hillside – never moved, never finished. National park entry costs approximately $100 USD for non-residents, valid for multiple days.

Ahu Tongariki on the east coast has 15 moai standing in a line on a single ahu, restored after a 1960 tsunami destroyed them and scattered the stones across the coastal plain. (A Japanese crane company sponsored the restoration in the 1990s as a goodwill project.) At sunrise, the rising sun comes directly behind the statues from the east, producing the most-reproduced image of the island. Arriving at 06:00 puts you ahead of most visitors.

Rano Kau crater and the Orongo Ceremonial Village at the island’s southwest corner. The stone house structures are where the annual Birdman competition took place through the 18th and 19th centuries: competitors swam to the offshore islet of Motu Nui to retrieve the first sooty tern egg of the season, then swam back with the egg intact on their forehead. The winner’s clan chief ruled for the year. The ceremony replaced an earlier governance system following the collapse of the moai-building culture in the 16th century – a civilisational stress event still debated but likely involving deforestation, soil degradation, and possibly the arrival of Polynesian rats that destroyed tree seeds.

Anakena Beach is the island’s only significant sandy beach (the rest of the coastline is volcanic rock). White sand, palm trees, two ahu with standing moai immediately adjacent. Genuinely beautiful.

Getting Around and Eating

No buses. Rental car or scooter from operators in Hanga Roa (the only town) is how visitors explore. Car hire runs approximately $60-80 USD per day. The main paved road circuits the island; interior roads are unpaved.

Food on the island is expensive due to shipping costs: everything that doesn’t grow here arrives by sea or cargo flight. Expect roughly 20-30% more than equivalent meals in Santiago. Fresh tuna is the island’s best value – raw in salads or grilled whole. Te Moana in Hanga Roa handles it best.

When to Go

February brings the Tapati Rapa Nui festival – two weeks of cultural events including music, dance, body-painting, and traditional athletic competitions. It transforms the island. Book accommodation and flights 4-6 months ahead for this period. April through October is cooler and less crowded. The moai look the same year-round; the weather and crowd density are the only variables.