Easter Island (Rapa Nui) - Travel and photo tips

General

Easter Island is one of the most remote places you can travel to. Located in the middle of the Pacific, far away from any mainland you will find the beautiful Easter Island. Is it also called Isla de Pascua (Spanish) or Rapa Nui (local). The Island is famous from the movie Rapa Nui with Kevin Costner. The Moais (stone heads) got additional fame through the movie Night at the Museum (Dum Dum give me Gum Gum). Easter Island is part of Chile, so you pay with Chilean Pesos on the island. However, the island has a special status, so that even Chileans are only allowed to travel to Easter Island for a limited time.
You can find more general information e.g. on Wikipedia. All information about attractions, the required ticket and many pictures can be found in the further course and on the detail pages.

Getting there

In general you can go there only by plane with Latam. From Santiago de Chile there are daily flights and once a week from Tahiti. Rarely, there is the possibility that a cruise ship stays in front of the island. However, as the island does not have a large harbor, smaller boats would bring you to the island.

When entering Chile, you will receive a PDI paper, similar to a receipt. Keep that one, because you will need it again when leaving and possibly in the hotel as well. If you arrive in Santiago by plane, you will need to pick up your luggage first. Go through customs and then return it to the second floor. Although security areas for international and domestic flights will be available on the second floor, you will need to go through checking on the first floor to go to Easter Island. There you will also need to submit the entry form for Easter Island. This can either be completed online before, which did not work for me, because it somehow it did not recognize my accommodation and I could not continue, or you fill it out on site. You can get the form from the Latam counter where you drop your luggage.

Duration

During your research on Easter Island your will find great articles like Easter Island in 2 or 3 days. So far I said – do you really want that? You travel to a super remote place to stay just a few days. I’ve been on the island for 8 full days and if my flight would not have been 10 hours late, I almost had one more. I think it was a good duration, but I would have been happy to stay for a few more days as well.

But times have changed. You are not allowed anymore to explore everything by yourself. Within the national park additional to the ticket, you always need a guide now. That increases the costs and shorter travel become more attractive.

Activities

The island has much to offer. So you can snorkel, scuba dive, surf, bike and hike, visit Moais, caves and volcanic craters, visit the museum and a dance show, watch the stars or just chill by the sea.

I would recommend to divide your trip, so, that you walk / hike a few days,, a few days by bike (10-15 € / day) and some of your days with a vehicle (scooter ~ 30 €, quad ~ 50 €, car ~ 60 € per day).

I did not dive and surf, because my time was not enough, but especially if you are a diver, you should definitely do it there, as the water is really clear.

On the subpages you can find pictures of the places I visited. I hope you will find some inspiration.

National Park Ticket

Most of Easter Island is part of the National Park and most of the attractions are located behind a ticket inspection.

Unfortunately a lot changed in 2023. Now you are only allowed to explore the national park with a guide, That means buying the ticket and book a guide who comes with you. All current information for prices and about the latest regulations can be found here: https://rapanuinationalpark.com/en