Easter Island: A 5-Day Whistlestop Itinerary, Hanga Roa, Chile

Easter Island can be an expensive place to visit however you can save pennies by cutting your trip from the traditional 7 days to 5 days instead. We packed everything into 5 days easily without breaking the bank, it just takes a little forward thinking and planning to cram all the following activities in.

First walk down to the main street in Hanga Roa, Atamu Tekena, and have a mosey around. Next, head to Pea Swimming Pool for the beautiful views over the bay. Make sure to look down at the water, you may even spot some turtles. Continue walking along the seafront to the Harbour and marvel at the moai right next to the harbor. If you’re itching to get in the sea, you can take a dip at Playa Poko Poko. Next head along the coastal path past the cemetery to Ahu Tahai, this is a great place to visit at sunrise or sunset. Crowds gather to watch the sun slowly setting over this moai. We were especially lucky to witness horses galloping around at sunset alongside the moai. If you walk on slightly further, you can visit Mirador Hanga Kioe, which is less busy than Ahu Tahai but I believe it’s on private land so you can only look from afar.

We joined a group tour visiting the south coast of the island: we saw examples of non-restored platforms at Ahus Vaihu in the bay of Hanga Te’e, and Akahanga, where supposedly the famous king Hotu Matu ́a was buried. Rano Raraku, the main quarry, where there are 397 moai still lying or standing at the slopes of the extinct volcano. At Rano Raraku you can see how the moai were chiseled from the rock face of the extinct volcano and dragged to numerous final destinations across the island. Moai lie in-situ in various states as if the Rapa Nui craftsmen just downed their tools and abandoned their half-finished creations. Then Ahu Tongariki, where we saw the iconic 15 restored Moais in a line, the most recent and biggest restoration on the island. Tour companies offer a trip to visit Ahu Tongariki at sunrise which includes breakfast, although we didn’t do it, it’s one of the main tourist activities offered. Afterwards we visited the east coast: Ahu Te Pito Kura and the “Navel of the World”. Last but not least Anakena beach with its restored Ahus Nau Nau and Ature Huke. All in all we found this tour to be informative, reasonably priced and good value for money. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).