By air
Mataveri (IPC), ~5.5 h from Santiago
South America · Chile
Easter Island, Chile
Moai statues on a remote volcanic island
Getting there
Best time to visit
January to March — warm; February brings the Tapati festival
Don't miss
Ahu Tongariki
Rano Raraku
Orongo
Anakena beach
Things to do
Sunrise at Ahu Tongariki
The Rano Raraku quarry
Diving in clear water
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: kallerna · CC BY-SA 4.0
What to pack
Sun protection, sturdy shoes
A quieter corner
The Ana Kakenga caves' windows onto the sea
Questions travellers ask
When should I go to Easter Island?
January to March, when it's warm. Aim for February to catch the Tapati festival.
How do I fly to Easter Island?
Flights land at Mataveri (IPC), about 5.5 h from Santiago.
What shouldn't I miss on Easter Island?
Sunrise at Ahu Tongariki, the Rano Raraku quarry, Orongo and Anakena beach. Divers get clear water, and the Ana Kakenga caves have windows onto the sea.
What should I bring to Easter Island?
Sun protection and sturdy shoes. Come hungry too: tuna ceviche and empanadas are the dishes to try.
About Easter Island
- Island
Where it is
Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, is a small volcanic island in the south-eastern Pacific, a special territory of Chile some 3,500 km from the Chilean mainland, and one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world.
History
Polynesian voyagers settled the island, most likely around the 12th century, and carved the moai, great stone figures of their ancestors, at the Rano Raraku quarry. The Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen arrived on Easter Sunday 1722, giving the island its European name; slave raids and smallpox devastated its people in the 1860s, Chile annexed it in 1888, and it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.
People
The Rapa Nui, the island's Polynesian people, speak Rapa Nui and Spanish, and their culture lives on in carving, tattooing, song and dance. Each February the Tapati Rapa Nui festival brings contests such as the haka pei, sliding down a hillside on banana trunks.
Known for
- The moai statues
- The fifteen moai of Ahu Tongariki
- The Rano Raraku quarry
- The Orongo ceremonial village
- Anakena's white-sand beach
Did you know?
Nearly 900 moai have been recorded on the island, and nearly half of them never left the Rano Raraku quarry, where many still stand half-buried on its slopes.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.