Easter Island (also called Rapa Nui or Isla de Pascua in Spanish) had always fascinated me; a remote island in the South Pacific full of mystery and allure. I couldn’t wait to step foot onto this magical island to see the giant Moai statues in person. Fortunately, we made this dream a reality in September 2018.
Below is our complete guide with links to one of the most isolated places on planet Earth.
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Time Needed:
We spent 5 nights on the island. To see everything properly, one should plan for 4-6 days. It is helpful to have an extra day or two, as it will likely rain and your well-thought out plans might need to be modified.
What to Pack:
See our post “What to Pack for Easter Island”. The short version includes clothes, toiletries, and groceries, depending on your budget. We recommend bringing at least some snacks and food, as restaurants are really expensive on the island, even more expensive than hotels or AirBnBs. For example a lunch with coffee or pop for two people would cost approximately $35,000 COP (approximately $70CAD). After 5-6 days, this will really eat into your budget (no pun intended). We also recommend bringing something to do in the evenings. It would be useful to pack a book to read or download some movies or Netflix offline in advance. Wifi is scarce and can be unreliable on the island.
Wifi:
You can use the wifi at the main town square (and two other squares) for free for 30 minutes. When your time runs out, you can sometimes reconnect immediately or come back later. Some cafés and restaurants advertise free wifi, but we found that it often didn’t work or was super slow. Our AirBnB did not have wifi and we used the free wifi in the town square everyday. We found that it was really nice to unplug for a few days and spend our time enjoying the sights and sounds of the island.
Driving:
When renting a car, you should look for an SUV or pickup truck. There are many potholes and non-paved roads to navigate. With no insurance available on the island, renting a small car may be a risky endeavour. If you only drive automatic, you’ll have fewer options, which is the case throughout Chile. There is more information about our car rental in our article “6 Day Itinerary For Easter Island“.
National Park Pass:
In order to visit the tourist attractions on the island, you are required to have the “National Park Pass”, which is valid for 10 days after it is stamped for the first time. We purchased ours at the airport upon arrival and it cost $54,000CLP per person (for non-Chileans).
At each site, there is usually a person in a booth that will stamp your pass. No one checked our tickets when we visited Orongo, which was on a Saturday, however, our tickets were checked at Ana Kakenga the following day, Sunday. With the pass, you can visit all the sites as many times as you wish, with the exception of Orongo (village and crater) and Rano Raraku (quarry), which can only be visited once. You are given a map of the island with your pass, which is very helpful!
Washrooms:
There are very few washrooms at tourist sites on the island (we only saw three). We were disappointed the washrooms cost 500 pesos for use, even though we had purchased expensive park passes.
How to get there:
LATAM operates flights daily from Santiago. See our post “Easter Island LATAM Flight Reviews” for specific details.
Where to stay:
We recommend staying in the main town of Hanga Roa if possible, as the town is close to everything you will need on Easter Island (e.g. car rentals, restaurants, supermarkets, wifi, etc.). Additionally, it is easier to access the hiking routes to Orongo (village and crater), Ana Kakenga (cave), and the Tahai complex (known as the best place to see the sunset in Hanga Roa). We stayed in a super cheap AirBnB on the outskirts of town. It had a shared kitchen in a separate building where the owners lived. There were approximately 18 guests staying in our AirBnB complex of cabañas, however, we never experienced any difficulty using the kitchen when we needed. It was approximately 20 minutes on foot to the town centre, and less than 5 minutes with the vehicle.
We found our location to be a little bit far to walk, especially on days when we did a lot of hiking or when the weather was uncooperative, but the price was right, the facility was clean, the bed was comfy, and the hosts were wonderful!
Our Itinerary:
We planned our itinerary to include a couple of days hiking and one day with a car to see the rest of the island. We planned this around the weather, to ensure we had the best conditions during the 24 hours we had the car. Make sure to bring your park passes with you everywhere. When we drove around the island we found that they asked to see our passes and stamped them at each site.
Check out our comprehensive itinerary “6 Day Itinerary For Easter Island“ for specific details.
Final Thoughts:
Easter Island was our absolute favourite travel experience (so far)! It is one of the most interesting, fascinating, unique and beautiful places we’ve ever seen! Feel free to send us a message or comment if you have any questions about this magical island!
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