Things to Do on Easter Island

Easter Island was a bucket list destination for us ever since we watched 180° South. Stepping off the plane in Rapa Nui was a surreal experience and the three days we spent on Easter Island will never be forgotten. If you are planning your own visit to this mysterious, remote destination, we recommend spending at least three full days on Easter Island. This time is need to soak in all of this history, photograph the beauty, and spend time enjoying island life. Check out our recommendations and itinerary for three days in Easter Island:

1) Hike the Te Ara o Te Ao trail to Orongo

This is a steep 1-hour hike to breathtaking views of the volcanic crater Rano Kau. Full disclosure, there is also a road that takes you straight to Orongo, but hey, we are on our way to Patagonia and couldn’t pass up one last training hike. This hike is not too challenging once you’re past the combination of steep terrain and direct sun exposure. Don’t worry – you will forget the few moments of light-headedness during the climb as soon as you catch your first views of the crater. There are benches along the way if the hike is too taxing.

Once you reach Orongo there is a visitors center where you can learn about the three volcanoes that are responsible for the formation of Easter Island. You also learn more about the interesting history of the people on the island. Orongo is the site of the annual Birdman competition ceremony. In this ceremony, the chiefs of the tribes would compete to bring back the first egg of a special bird that arrived every spring. The chiefs would go to Orongo and then climb down the cliff and swim out to the island and wait to find an egg. The winner was considered sacred and lived in ceremonial reclusion for one year… not exactly the type of grand prize that most people would enjoy.

2) Rent a car and drive around the island

So you want to see some Moai! Having a rental car was key to allowing us to explore on our own schedule. There are other means to see the statues however the freedom a rental car provides goes unmatched. One of the important lessons I learned during this experience is that it is okay to not see every single Moai statue – there are about 1,000 of them on the island! Do a little research before heading over to make sure you see the Moai that you want to see.

We started our driving tour at Vinapu, which had unique views of the island and two toppled Moai. We quickly realized that the majority of the Moai on the island had been pushed over during part of the turbulent and mysterious history of Easter Island. Chris was less interested in the toppled Moai (you only see the back!), but I thought they were still intriguing to see. Vinapu should not be missed during your time on Easter Island.

Our Favorite Standing Moai Sites

Rano Raraku – This is the large Moai quarry where most of the island’s Moai were created and then transported from here to locations around the island. There are several Moai still in the ground here and you can see a few that started to be formed and were never finished. This was a highlight of our day and one of our longest stops during our driving self-tour. We easily spent almost 2-hours here and luckily time our visit to end with an unexpected sudden Easter Island downpour! You want to make sure you have enough time to visit this site because this is one of the places on the island that you can only visit once with your Rapa Nui National Park ticket.
Tongariki – This is another must see destination on your driving tour. This is the famous line of 15 Moai – impressive to see in person! This site is also very popular to visit during sunrise. Another plus of having your own rental car is being able to wake up early and experience a memorable sunrise.

3) Enjoy the beach and explore Hanga Roa

When you are Moai-ed out and return your rental car in one piece (unlike us, we had a small rental car mishap – whoops!), there is plenty to do in Hanga Roa. Hanga Roa is the one and only town on Easter Island. You can relax on the beach, go swimming, or give surfing a try. We opted for watching the surfers while sipping on a couple of refreshing pisco sours.

4) Watch the sunset at Tahai

Since you will be staying in Hanga Roa (not many other options on the island) then you have no excuse to miss a sunset at the famous sunset spot – Tahai. I may have dragged Chris to 2.5 sunsets (the half was due to a late wake up from a pisco sour nap and we arrived at Tahai pretty much once the sun had already set), but I would have watched the sunset from this spot every night if we could! If your Easter Island itinerary includes the experiences on this things to do on Easter Island list then you are guaranteed to have an amazing trip.