Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Nearly covered in a bog of floating totora reeds, the crater lake of Rano Kau resembles a giant witch's cauldron and is a wild greenhouse of endemic…
Must-see attractions in Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Known as 'the nursery,' the volcano of Rano Raraku, about 18km from Hanga Roa, is the quarry for the hard tuff from which the moai were cut. You'll feel…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
The monumental Ahu Tongariki has plenty to set your camera's flash popping. With 15 imposing statues, it is the largest ahu ever built. The statues gaze…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Beach bums in search of a place to wallow will love this postcard-perfect, white-sand beach. It also forms a lovely backdrop for Ahu Nau Nau, which…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
The vast majority of Rapa Nui falls within the boundaries of this national park. Think of it like an open-air museum with mysterious archaeological sites…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
At the eastern end of the island, this high plateau is crowned by the extinct volcano Maunga Pu A Katiki (400m) and bound in by steep cliffs. There are…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Ahu Tahai is a highly photogenic site that contains three restored ahu (ceremonial platform). Ahu Tahai proper is the ahu in the middle, supporting a…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Unusual for its inland location, Ahu Akivi, the first scientific restoration on the island (in 1960), sports seven restored moai. They are the only ones…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Maunga Terevaka is the island's highest point (507m) and the youngest of its three volcanoes. This barren hill is only accessible on foot or on horseback…
Museo Antropológico Sebastián Englert
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
This well-organized museum makes a perfect introduction to the island's history and culture. It displays basalt fishhooks, obsidian spearheads and other…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Your first encounter with the moai will probably take place at Ahu Tautira, which overlooks Caleta Hanga Roa, the fishing port in Hanga Roa at the foot of…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
If you've just arrived and can't wait for your first encounter with the moai (large anthropomorphic statues), head straight to Ahu Tautira. This site…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
This vast cave carved into black cliffs sports beautiful rock paintings with birdman motifs. However, when we passed through it was closed due to falling…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Beside Bahía La Pérouse, a nearly 10m-long moai lies facedown with its neck broken; it's the largest moai moved from Rano Raraku and erected on an ahu. A…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
The volcanic Puna Pau quarry was used to make the reddish, cylindrical pukao (topknots) that were placed on many moai. Some 60 of these were transported…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Off the dirt road to Akivi, Ana Te Pahu comprises former cave dwellings with an overgrown garden of sweet potatoes, taro and bananas. The caves here are…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
The unmissable Iglesia Hanga Roa, the island's Catholic church, is well worth a visit for its spectacular carvings, which integrate Christian doctrine…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
This large ahu has several fallen moai and a village site with foundations of hare paenga (elliptical houses) and the walls of several round houses,…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Easily overlooked by visitors, the little Caleta Hanga Piko is used by local fishers. Facing away from the caleta, the restored Ahu Riata supports a…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Near Anakena, this beach offers seclusion for wannabe Robinson Crusoes but is considered dangerous because of falling rocks.
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
About 2km north of Tahai is Ana Kakenga. This site comprises two caves opening onto the ocean (bring a torch).
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
This new open-air interpretation center aims to help visitors better understand the rubble surrounding many of the island's archaeological sites by…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Beyond the eastern end of the airport runway, a road heads south past some large oil tanks to this ceremonial platform, with two major ahu. One of them…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
About 100m off the coastal road (look for the sign), you'll find a couple of massive basaltic slabs decorated with carvings featuring a tuna, a shark, an…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
For a little dip, the tiny beach at Playa Pea, on the south side of Caleta Hanga Roa, fits the bill (though it's more of a rocky cove than a sandy oasis).
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
You'll find this ahu with a solitary moai along the coastline, north of Hanga Roa.
